Peaceful Existence Peaceful Existence With the 1993 release of Peaceful Existence, Betty Elders became one of Texas' most celebrated singer/songwriters. She has caught the attention of artists and critics alike around the world -- from Australia to Japan, from England, Belgium and France to Canada, Germany and Latvia. The genuineness of her writing continues to endear her to all who listen. Her music -- while containing elements of rock, blues, jazz and country -- faithfully retains the unpretentious simplicity of the folk genre. By turns wistful or wry, straightforward or subtle, her songs are both powerful and personal. Additionally, Peaceful Existence has readily found a home with the new A3-formatted U.S. radio stations .
BETTY ELDERS Peaceful Existence, Place her alongside Nanci Griffith and Iris Dement. Exquisite country/folk, tremendous original songs perfectly communicated, sparse accompaniment. Magic.
A novel's worth of nuance. Betty Elders Peaceful Existence [Whistling Pig Music CD WP 1217 (1993)] Betty Elders' high, flexible voice and percussive guitar playing recall Shawn Colvin, but she is no folkie clone. Elders is a vivid, minimalist songwriter, as evidenced by the tunes here and those that others like Kathy Mattea and songwriting collaborator Lucinda Williams have conveyed. Nobody Imparts suppressed emotion better than Elders, as evidenced by the dramatic tension that permeates "The Ballad of Marley Rose Peyton" and the Faulkneresque "Crack in the Mirror." Elders views the apocalypse almost wistfully in "The Quiet," and conveys a novel's worth of nuance out of the eight lines of the extended, dreamlike "Falling Rain." Musical accompaniment, mostly by guitarist Mitch Watkins and violinist Gene Elders, is understated and sympathetic.
(MP)
Betty Elders, Peaceful Existence You can hear all four elements in Betty Elder's distinct voice. It flows as smoothly as cool water on the haunting Crack in the Mirror, it breathes sensuous air into the melancholy Cowboy, it simmers with controlled fire on the country waltz Light In Your Window, and it's earthy and rock solid on Edge of the Universe.
With Peaceful Existence, this Austin based singer/songwriter has crafted a fine 11 song CD that explores the pain mystery, and beauty of everyday Life.
My favorite track is The Quiet, especially for its poetic lyric: "When the quiet came it caught him by surprise/Like a question with a comma or a dot above a lie/And he raged and he ranted and it’s said he went insane/But he only went for coffee when the quiet came."
The supporting cast of players lend subtle touches with delicate synth washes, ethereal electric guitar, muted trumpet, violin and congas.
-- BD
More than a self-written, self-produced, self-released, folk-country masterpiece, Peaceful Existence is closer to a spiritual transfer that ranks with the finest work of Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Van Morrison, and Nanci Griffith. The tension in the riveting "Ballad of Marley Rose Peyton" even surpasses Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown." And "Long Bed From Kenya" mixes longing and reality into one of the most breathtaking bittersweet song ever recorded. 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. Raring: A+.
---Dave Goodrich
Betty Elders has a poets way with words on artful new album. Betty Elders is living proof that not all the great music in the world is found on major record labels. Driven by business calculations that demand an artist's work and identity be reduced to readily marketable common denominators, the majors let a lot of great talent fall through the cracks.
On Peaceful Existence, Elders, an Austin, Texas-based singer/songwriter, lends a poet's way with words to simple and stately melodies, and sparse, often haunting, acoustic instrumentation. Such tools were once the principal assets of Joni Mitchell and any number of the poet laureates of popular 70’s acoustic music.
Even if defying easy, or lazy, categorization has become more a liability than an asset today, Elders has happily taken matters into her own hands, writing, co-producing and marketing her work herself.
Elders clearly grasps the beauty of simplicity and open spaces, letting strong songs stand on foundations of shimmering but subtle acoustic guitars, colored with occasional keyboards and her husband Gene's fine fiddling.
She writes lyrics that are engaging and frequently compelling, with a certain left-of-center quality that keeps them from becoming banal and obvious. Balancing sentimentalitv and skepticism. Elder's songs sit squarely in the real world without ever becoming world-weary. While she's been denied the mass audiences major labels can deliver, Elders retains the freedom to express herself unhindered by the constraints of big-business bean counters. And that's not necessarily such a bad place to be.
----Gordon Ely
Cassette cat.# < becs-101 > $9.99 /// CD cat.# < becd-101> $14.99
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