Promotional images can be found here:
Genres: Folk - Old Time - Ozark - Explorer Folk
Tagline: Explorers of Ozark Music -or- Adventures in Music
Contact: Betse Ellis betse@betseandclarke.com
Recommended if you like (RIYL) ----> John Hartford, Grayson & Whitter, Black Twig Pickers
Betse & Clarke's VERY BRIEF BIO:
Their music is familiar... and totally different; a fiddle and banjo duo with a sense of adventure. Old time music and song celebrated alongside inventive new compositions: a passion for the depth of tradition and a look to new creative paths.
LONGER BIO:
Regular folks, exceptional music: This duo from the heartland (Kansas City, Missouri) has its roots in Ozark old time music, honoring traditional songs and tunes that resonate with human experience.
For each concert setting, Betse & Clarke take an audience on a musical field trip. Betse Ellis plays powerful and beautiful old time fiddle tunes, sings traditional Ozark songs, and shares her own songs with themes relating to human experience. Expect her to tell some stories along the way, featuring personal moments with her fiddle mentor Violet Hensley. Long known for her energetic style in her former band The Wilders, Betse’s earned a level of maturity while maintaining her contagious enthusiasm. Clarke Wyatt is an engaging finger-style banjo player, drawing inspiration from great traditional and inventive banjoists of earlier decades such as Mike Seeger and John Hartford. His guitar style is rooted in old time traditions, with sparks of ingenuity inspired by the likes of Norman Blake. The combination of deep reverence for tradition and commitment to creativity makes this duo a captivating act to witness. They are dedicated instructors as well as performers and enjoy teaching at camps and workshops as well as private instruction. While tradition is important to Betse & Clarke, they are musical innovators and are inspired to make music beyond the old time genre. Over the last year, Clarke has developed a compelling electric guitar technique and is working on a series featuring his drum kit practice with a variety of talented electric guitarists. Betse is working on free improvisation and new compositions on her fiddle, sometimes on an electric five-string.
Together since 2014, this musical couple has traveled across the United States, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Performance Highlights: Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival ~ Walnut Valley Music Festival ~ John Hartford Memorial Festival ~ Portland Old Time Music Gathering ~ Ozark Folk Center ~ Guinness International Bluegrass Festival (Co. Waterford, Ireland) ~ Bluegrass Music Festival at Ulster American Folk Park, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland) ~ Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival (Dumfries, Scotland) ~ House concert tours for Home Routes (Canada) ~ Folk Alliance International Conference (as official showcase artists and music camp teaching staff)
More about the album "River Still Rise":
http://www.betseandclarke.com/new-music/
http://www.betseandclarke.com/riverstillrise
http://www.betseandclarke.com/rsr-pressrelease
Two tracks from the album:
http://www.betseandclarke.com/rsr-secret
What THey're Saying:
"... Betse and Clarke are trailblazers of sound and vision." -- Mark Manning, host of Wednesday Midday Medley, KKFI FM
"Betse and Clarke go together like peanut butter and jelly." -- Chuck Haddix, host of The Fish Fry, KCUR FM
"Authentic…from the heart with plenty of soul. Betse and Clarke are as good as it gets.” -- Daren Dortin, Ozark Highlands Radio Executive Producer/Music Director, Ozark Folk Center
"They draw you in and welcome you into the music with open hearts. And before you know it, you are in the music with them." -- Suzanne Savell - President, Bubbaville (Portland Old Time Music Gathering); Director of the Traditional Music Program, Appalshop 2003 - 2008
"Betse & Clarke drag the classic fiddle/banjo combo kicking and screaming onto the modern stage, combining the subtlety of chamber music with the energy and power of punk rock." -- Kelly Wells, Co-founder, St Louis Folk & Roots Festival
Additional quotes about "River Still Rise" on ------> New Music Page <------
NOTABLE PAST HAPPENINGS:
Betse & Clarke were an Official Showcase Artist at Folk Alliance International 2017. Additionally, they both instructed at the Music Camp.
"Requiem for Little Sadie" (from River Still Rise, 2016) was highlighted as a Best Local Music track on KCUR's Up To Date listing of 2016 recordings.
River Still Rise was also a top choice for KKFI's Wednesday Midday Medley Best Albums of 2016. WTJU in Charlottesville, VA also highlighted the album in its Best of 2016.
Betse & Clarke completed a three-week tour of Ireland in August-September 2016. In addition, they taught at Targhee Music Camp, Earful of Fiddle, the Folk Alliance International Music Camp, and performed at Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, Fiddle Club of The World (Chicago chapter), and many more events, including organizing, producing, and performing a sold-out Homecoming Concert in Kansas City.
Kansas City Star Pop Music Critic, Timothy Finn, placed B&C's "Bird Notes" EP among favorite local recordings in 2015.
They received a standing ovation at their 2015 Blackpot Festival set in Lafayette, Louisiana, and most places they've performed.
They performed with Living Treasure of Arkansas, Violet Hensley, at the Ozark Folk Center in October of 2015, also to a standing ovation.
Earlier in 2015, Betse & Clarke were a featured performing act at the Portland (OR) Old Time Music Gathering. They were chosen as official showcase artists at Folk Alliance International Conference. They appeared at the John Hartford Memorial Festival, and the Wallsburg Music Festival, in Austin, Texas, as part of the Midcoast Takeover, and Kansas City's Westport Roots Festival. Both Betse & Clarke are 2015 fellows of Artist, INC.