Betty Elders

Crayons

What Others Are Saying:

CMJ

"Betty Elders has long been one of Austin’s best kept secrets but that's all about to change with the release of Crayons. Her lyrics read like poetry with subtle humor and startling innocence... "Just To Have You Hum Along (The Futon Song), Pastel, and War Between The Fears prime examples of the magic Elders makes with words and music. "
---Jim Caligiuri,

KTRU

Crayons "is her best CD yet ... it's destined to be one the year's 10 best. "
--- David John,

FLYING FISH RECORDS

No description can prepare the listener for the richness. subtlety and breadth of Crayons. Betty Elders' new recording and Flying Fish debut is a marvel of poetic beauty, a testament to human frailty and grandeur, a meditation on the harrowing wonder of existence.

The narratives and moods of the songs are as varied as the colors of life that they reflect. From the playful wit and passion of "Just to Have You Hum Along (The Futon Song)," to the dark foreboding of "The Long Night" and "War between the Fears;" from the languorous intimacy of "Pastel" and "Gypsy's Jewel" to the affirmation and hope of "Crayons" and "What Love Can Do," her poetry is always deeply felt and beautifully rendered. Betty's lovely voice traverses this vast emotional range with ease and clarity, embodying both great power and an aching fragility.

Deftly incorporating elements of folk, rock, jazz and country music, Crayon’s is richly varied and often surprising. Betty’s sure mastery of these musical forms, combined with her ability to stretch and contour them to fit the cadences of her lyrics create a music that is timeless and beyond category. It engenders a deep resonance and empathy in the hearts of the listeners that it touches. We are very proud to present it to you.

THE PRESS NETWORK

"What separates Betty Elders from the faceless plethora of singer/songwriters is the unfettered simplicity and unflinching honesty of her presentation. Elders is, in the purest sense of the word, a poet."
---- Thom Jurek, Detriot’s Metro Times

ONE OF TEXAS' MOST CELEBRATED SONGWRITERS BETTY ELDERS RELEASES POWERFUL DEBUT ON FLYING FISH RECORDS.

NASHVILLE, TN, April 6 -Critically acclaimed and award-winning, singer-songwiter/producer Betty Elders is set to release her debut, Crayons, on Flying Fish Records. The scheduled street date is April 24. The new release is the follow-up to Elder's two highly-acclaimed releases on her own Whistling Pig label.

Elders is most well-known in her hometown of Austin, Texas. For the past five years, she's won the Best Female Songwriter and Song of the Year Awards in the prestigious Music City Texas Industry’s Professional "Insiders Poll". The Austin Chronicle's Raoul Hernandez voted her 1994 self-released, Peaceful Existence, the number one Austin Texas release for the year.

On the national scene, Elders co-wrote Lucinda Williams", "He Never Got Enough Love" on the latters latest release, Sweet Old World. Peaceful Existence was also chosen the 1993 Album of the Year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was nominated for Album of the Year and Song of the Year (Cowboy) at the 1993 Kerrville Folk Festival Music Awards.

Dave Goodrich of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, "Elders wavelength of passion radiates a spectrum of emotion without the slightest flinch or compromise as she draws you into the shadows of guilt and madness, and the brightness of joy and tranquillity. This stunning, artistic achievement is destined to be among the Top 5 Albums of the Decade".

The new release, Crayons, is a continuation of Elders' exploration of the mystery and beauty of everyday life. Her husband, fiddler Gene Elders (George Straits' Ace in the Hole band, Townes Van Zandt, Jimmy LaFave), is featured on this stunning collection of 13 new songs.

EXPRESS-NEWS San Antonio, Texas

Although Betty Elders is an older and (unfortunately) lesser known songwriter than either Rickie Lee Jones, Suzanne Vega or Edie Brickell, she embodies all those fine women's qualities.

Blessed with a rich, emotion packed voice layered with the fragile quality of Vega's, the childlike innocence of Brickell’s and the street savvy of Jones', Elders wraps it around the 13 unforgettable songs on "Crayons," the strong follow-up to 1994's Peaceful Existence.

The songs range from the early Joni Mitchell playfulness of "Just to Have You Hum Along (The Futon Song)" to the pure poetic magic of "Pastel" to the Celtic cadence and warm memories of "My Father's Home."

Elders, who also produced the album, enlists some of Austin's finest musicians to help her color this excellent collection of song pictures, including her husband, fiddler Gene Elders; guitarist Mitch Watkins and mandolinist Paul Classe. ****
---Ron Young