Betty Bangs! On a Saturday Night

I have to tell you that this article wouldn’t even be happening without my friend Jason. See it would always come up in my Facebook feed that he was interested in going and seeing this band called Betty Bangs. I mean like constantly, all the time. I was intrigued, they looked fun, and I’m always looking for new bands, so finally I asked him if I could tag along when he went to their next show.

That show just so happened to be September 4th of last year at Eldorado’s. I guess it’s true when they say things have a way of coming full circle because five months later, I was back at Eldorado’s for yup, you guessed it, a Betty Bangs show. This time however, I was no newbie, matter of fact, I’ve seen about seven of their shows since that first night. Yup, you read that right, seven. I now understand why Jason was always interested in seeing them. (And not just because he has friends in the band either.)

Let’s go back to that first night. I remember telling Jason “I’m leaving after this next song” about six times that evening because every time I was about to leave Abby and the gang would suck me back in with another song that I loved and hadn’t heard in forever. “That’s how they get you” was simply his reply. (Little did I know Abby would tell me something very similar in our interview for this article, but more on that later.)

So needless to say I was hooked. The band definitely had a new fan in myself and actually since then, they’ve become one of my favorite local bands if I’m being honest. There is never a dull moment at a show and I’ve never heard the same set list twice, which is impressive for any band. They like to shake it up and keep it fresh for anyone coming out to see them. Betty Bangs has a great sound and a fun all-around vibe to them that is contagious to anyone in the audience.

Let me tell you a little bit about Betty Bangs. Abby, John, Dan, Cliff, and now Ross make up the group. Ben was their original drummer when I first saw them and Cliff hadn’t quite joined the band yet. Abby is the powerhouse lead singer. John is the lead guitarist and backup vocalist who has been bugging me for months now and I can’t seem to make him stop. Absolutely kidding, I love John and he’s incredible with that guitar, so much so he’s actually in like 12 other bands here in town. Dan is your man on bass, but not just any ol’ bass, the stand-up bass, and he too is damn good at what he does. Then you’ve got the two “newest” members of Betty Bangs. First up is the man they call Saxual Chocolate, or Cliff, he’s on the saxophone and is well known for his sax changes in the middle of the band’s sets. Next up is Ross, who is behind the drum kit and also happens to be Abby’s brother.

I wanted to get into the meat and potatoes of this band who had sucked me in on night one, so I asked Abby and John if they would let me ask them a few questions before their show at Eldorado’s on the 20th and they agreed.

First question was obvious, tell me about how Betty Bangs got started? Abby started “John and I met at a show at the Shrunken Head. We just started chatting in the back, I think.” John adds, “yeah, well that was part of it.  Riviera Royals that’s where we first kind of met. Didiere is from France and he only comes in for two months and then he goes, so after he left we started talking and go, hey let’s see if we can put something together. We actually started out as a Duo.”

I was shocked for some reason to find out that they started out as a duo and asked “really?!” “Yeah, doing acoustic stuff for fun,” Abby replied. I think I was shocked because now during a Betty Bangs show there are at least six different people on the stage at any given time. John went on to explain, “it took a while, it was like six months. Then Dan started playing and then we got a drummer but it was only  last year when Cliff kind of started filtering in, now we’ve become the orchestra that we are.”

Which brought me to the topic of Cliff and how he became a part of Betty Bangs. “John, I don’t know how you met him, but he would sit in with the Riviera Royals and we just thought it would add to the sound a little bit. We weren’t really planning on doing it all the time but then he started and we were like man that really adds a lot. I don’t know that it’s ever officially become permanent but I hope so.” Abby said. John jokily chimes in “he’s in the probationary period eight months later.” Abby adds, “he’s gotta be on his best behavior.” John went on to say about Cliff “yeah seriously, we love him and of course he plays in multiple bands too so some times he’s not available so we miss him, but he’s definitely added so much to really fill our sound up.”

Of course, one new member leads to the next and I wanted to know about Abby’s brother Ross, and how excited she is to have him sit in with the band for a bit. “I am super excited because he’s amazing and he’s one of the few people that I’ve ever seen that plays the drums with as much feeling. I mean you are used to singers and guitar players getting into the music, drummers are kinda just in the back. He feels everything that he plays and it’s very dynamic I think. He’s very solid and he takes it very seriously. He just came in and said “it’s funny that John printed me out a set list like I don’t have all of mine laminated and in a binder with notes” so many drummers just fly by the seat of their pants, it’s just sorta their personality but he takes it very seriously so.”

The next thing I wanted to learn about was how they would describe Betty Bangs and their sound to anyone who hasn’t seen them before because I never know how to. People ask me “well what kind of music do they play?” and my typical response is “it depends on the night you see them” and it leaves a lot of confused people so I thought maybe Abby and John would have a better way of putting it so here’s what they both told me:

Abby: “John and I really carefully pick songs that we think the audience is going to like but also that we feel strongly about, and that’s conveyed to them. There’s some give and take on that but typically we just pretty much agree on what’s going to work and what doesn’t. I’m really inspired by old country, Dolly (Parton) and Pasty (Cline) have always been my favorites but there’s some really strong 90’s female stuff that we do and some 60’s and 70’s classic rock. Female powerful stuff is what really draws me and I think that sets us apart from a lot of the cover bands around. I mean there’s a lot of talent in Columbus and I think because we choose songs we feel strongly about and then we started adding in the originals that are usually about my stupid life and are relatable and just kinda down to earth, I think people feel like they can sit down and have a drink with us.

John: “You can’t really peg us for a genre, truly. Sometimes a person could come and say oh they do a lot of country and then the next time they’re like I didn’t know you did rock or all these different things. We try not to be one specific thing because we like so many styles. I think that’s one of the things that somebody who comes to see Betty Bangs finds out, you’ll probably hear a couple that you know, probably going to hear some that you haven’t but you’re going to like it all. It’s going to be versatile enough that we please just about any audience.  They may not be familiar with a lot of this stuff but it’s always fun stuff that they go, oh who did that song originally, that’s really cool. Then we turn them on to the things we like as well.”

All of that is absolutely true too. It’s also one of the reasons I think I love the band so much. One show you can hear a June and Johnny Cash cover, and the next show your getting Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Or sometimes you’ll get Garbage like on Saturday night. They busted out ” I’m only happy when it rains” and the angstey 90’s teen who still very much lives inside of me was beyond excited. You never know exactly what you are going to get when you go to a Betty Bangs show and I think that’s what keeps it fun and entertaining for not only the audience but the band too.

That being said I had to ask if there was one thing you could say to anybody who wanted to come see you guys but haven’t yet, what would you tell them to get them to a show?

Abby: “I 100% guarantee that you will hear at least one song that you haven’t heard in forever and think, oh I forgot that I loved that song. And I think that’s what makes us fun.”

.John: “You’re always going to hear something new with us. Whether it’s new originals or different songs. I just think people will love that it’s a different energy, it’s a different show. The musician ship is great because we’ll take some chances, we’ll skin our knees but then we’ll laugh about it and do a shot and say alright let’s do the next one.”

Abby: “Yeah we want to be good but we never take it too seriously that it’s not fun or that we make people uncomfortable if we do mess up. We mess up, I forget words, we just laugh it off. At the end of the day, we’re just doing this for fun. We all have our own lives and jobs and this is strictly because we love it and I think that comes through.”

So if you’re looking for a fun band, with great energy that truly just loves bringing the music they love to the masses in their own sparkly way, look no further than Betty Bangs.

I guarantee they’ll suck you in so hard that you’ll tell people you’re leaving after this next one, but you don’t because you want to know what they are going to play next.

A huge thank you to Abby and John of Betty Bangs for taking a couple of minutes out of their busy show night schedule to talk to me!

Make sure you head over to their Facebook page for all the latest happenings with the band and where you can go check them out for yourself.

Don’t quote me on this, but I think their next gig is coming up in March at Last Call Music bar.

You can also check out all my pictures from the show (if you’d like) over in the concerts photo gallery tab!

Cliff

John and Abby

Ross

Dan

Betty Bangs