Album Notes

Painted Betty is an arresting band of musicians from New York’s Hudson River Valley. The group buoyantly blends elements of jazz, blues, country, folk and tango into a good time. Betty is comprised of two brothers, Tim Hall, guitarist, vocalist and elegiac song writer who works as a NASA scientist by day, and Andrew Hall, a seasoned bassist who has worked with the likes of Sparklehorse and The Brooklyn Philharmonic. Jazz clarinetist and philosophy professor David Rothenberg is internationally known for his playing with, and writing about, the natural world (read Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song), and has recorded with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel. David gives Betty it’s particular nimbus and rich buttery flavor. Drummer Eric Starr leads a multifaceted life composing music on commission, performing jazz and authoring how-to books on music. He also contributes keyboards on several tracks of Painted Betty’s debut album “Fifty Bucks and I’ll Show You.”

Singer Deb’s Madsen’s lusty and expressive voice contrasts with her caliginous songwriting and gives Painted Betty it’s signature themes of audacity and disintegration. Vocalist Sonia Ryzy-Ryski brings a lush and versatile soprano to the group that moves intuitively between blues and Spanish ballads. The album is comprised of songs written by four of the band members and two covers. The dual singers dish out a dynamic repertoire that covers about as many aspects of the human experience as you care to experience. Joe Dizney of Philipstown.info calls Painted Betty “sophisticated and eccentric.” The irony and playfulness with which the band approaches its subject matter never fails to deliver. Their diversity and chemistry has delighted fans at venues such as the Catskill Chill Festival 2010 and the famed Depot Theater in Garrison NY. As Sam Tallerico of ColdSpringRadio.com so aptly put it; “they’re hot, they’re sexy…You never know what kind of style they’re going to sing next; you just know you’re gonna enjoy listening.”