Beth's Music: Links to Beth's CDs, Lyrics, Videos & News

A humorously serious look at life’s trials & tribulations,
American politics, religion, and other social madnesses by Beth Isbell.

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Post by roxybeast » October 13th, 2009, 3:10 pm

<center>NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO PLAYLISTS!</center>
Check out my new YouTube playlists

The first one is a collection of all of my new 2009 trippy psychedelic music videos - specially arranged to provide you with a really nice ride! ...
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... EE3B985CE9

The second one features some of my better live performances from 2008 ...
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... E11078CFEA

And the third one is my personal favorite because it features videos of my beautiful twin daughters Abby & Bella! :)
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... EBB66F8743
Last edited by roxybeast on October 15th, 2009, 1:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by roxybeast » October 15th, 2009, 1:35 am

<center>Transvocalizers Interview with Beth Isbell
by Pam DeGroff, TGForum.com, published Oct 12, 2009
</center>
Beth Isbell is a singer/songwriter who has been musically active for many years, but who will no doubt be a new name to TGForum readers. She lives in Oklahoma, and is originally from Georgia. Her father was in the military, which means the family moved all over the U.S. and even lived in Germany for a while.

Ms. Isbell is best known as a solo artist, but has performed with bands, most notably The Dead Prophets, in the past. Beth has recently released a new album entitled Aardvark. Previous projects include The Good Woman Waltz (2005); Live @ Blue Moon (2008); The Awakening (2008); and the previously mentioned band, The Dead Prophets Live (2008). She also has recordings available from her first two bands: The Flying Lennys Live (2002), and Live Bootleg Recordings from the band Ed (2002).

Beth is also an attorney, whose practice deals with gender rights issues. More on this, along with some great insights, from a very talented and community minded individual who has been gracious enough to submit to our request for an interview. Because of Ms. Isbell’s extensive background as both a singer/songwriter and an attorney, our interview with her will be presented in two parts.

TGForum: When did you first start playing music? Who were your earliest musical influences? And, do you have any formal training?

Beth Isbell: I sort of came at music late in my life. I did pick up a guitar in high school, but quickly lost interest. had college, law school, and a civil rights attorney career to focus on. I really didn’t pick up a guitar again until shortly before I got divorced in the mid ’90s.

I remember my mom and dad giving me and my sister some money to go pick out a record at the PX. My first record. I decided on Neil Diamond’s Hot August NIghts — I liked the picture. My sister suggested that I trade it in for some Beatles. I heard some things on the radio and opted to with Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, then on to Kiss mania. Eventually after getting to college and regaining my senses, I focused on Led Zeppelin and a lot of what is now classic rock. My guitar playing eventually led me to a love of the blues. So today, I would have to say my favorites are still Led Zeppelin, Clapton, SRV, Buddy Guy, Pink Floyd, System Of A Down, and the other artists listed on my website. It’s funny, looking at it as a guitar player, all of my most favorite bands are ones that re extremely hard to play well. But you do what you can do, so as an artist, I think my style is closer to Lou Reed, David Bowie, or even Neil Young, but I also like to play folk,and love to play the blues.

TGF: Talk a bit about your new release, Aardvark.

BI: I released the Aardvark EP in August, 2009. It’s a collection of six acoustic rock tunes. Five originals and a nice cover of Radiohead’s Creep. I received a very nice review by L.A. based Music Connection magazine. My Texas Music review calls it “…alternative art at its best.” I don’t know about all that, but I do like these songs.

TGF: How old were you when you first started dealing with your gender issues?

BI: I was about 3 or 4. I was taking a bath with my sister and upset that I had different equipment than she had. I remember being taken to a doctor for bed-wetting which was resulting from my urethra exiting partly like a female, and the doctor having to do a minor procedure to correct this. He asked me if I’d rather be a girl. I’m still not sure if this memory is real. I liked dressing up as a girl and even did so for Halloween a few years before my parents decided not to let me do that anymore. I’ve always felt female in many ways, but never have considered myself gay. Is that a bit weird? I do consider myself, even now after my transition, to be bi-sexual.

I tried, like a lot of later developing MtFs to put all this aside, and focus on my school, career, and even getting married. But in my 30s, all that changed when a psychiatrist asked me about these issues and diagnosed me as having gender identity disorder. After that, I began to gradually transition.

TGF: In the long run, how has being transgendered (and transitioning for that matter…) affected your music?

BI: Well, it has definitely made the journey more difficult. It’s harder to find good musicians willing to play with you and initially for fans to accept. All of which just makes me work harder and harder on getting so good, so that eventually it won’t matter. What I’ve noticed about society is that people are willing to overlook differences, even ones they don’t accept, if the work is brilliant. So that’s my focus. Long way to go, but getting closer.

TGF: There’s this great quote on your website: “I am the bastard love child of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, except that one day while Jimbo took a trip in the dessert, Janis was in NYC banging Lou Reed. It’s all a little bit fuzzy from there…and yes, I’m definitely a girl..well, currently.” There’s also this: “I’m sort of like Neil Young with female parts”. Your influences seem varied a great deal.

BI: I respect good singers. Some of them have a natural, amazing talent. But you can work on and develop your voice. So there is hope. Joe Cocker is an example. What folks in the audience want more than talent is passion. They want to experience your soul.
I suppose that my musicial tasttes very so dramatically because I think of myself as a songwriter. Great songs draw me in, whatever their genre’. There are a lot of famous artist that would never have been famous if not for the songwriter that wrote their bigtest hit. It’s a passion and obsession.

TGF: I listened to some of your videos. Your voice reminds me of Lou Reed by way of Bob Dylan. Do you have a favorite vocalist? Any favorite female vocalists, besides Janis Joplin?

BI: My voice gets compared to David Bowie and Lou Reed a lot. Some folks that have seen me do blues-rock at live shows, make comparisons to Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison. I guess that’s because I take it another gear sometimes when I’m a full band that’s really rocking and the crowd gets into the mix.

I’ve getting a lot of requests for Janis Joplin tunes lately, so I guess I shold start working on some of her material. Singer-wise, there are so many great ones to pick from, but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Nina Simone. I also like Nancy Wilson from Heart. Her sister gets all the vocal attention, but Nancy’s a great singer and songwriter, and a really underrated guitar player. I like her style a lot.

TGF: You have another great quote that I like: “…everybody only wants overproduced static perfection…” I love that. It seems to me that for rock at least, most bands are nothing more than a singer/songwriter with a rhythm section. Musicianship doesn’t seem to matter any more. If you want to hear some chops, you’ll have to go to blues or jazz.

BI: Yeah, you see a lot of that. I think what matters is a good song and good delivery of it. Hopefully, with a lot of passion and soul. I don’t agree that good musicianship doesn’t seem to matter anymore. At least where I live, there are way too many really good musicians compared to good venues. The art of the truly good and memorable solo is not nearly as common, except as you say in blues or jazz, but there is still a hook, beat, drive, or something else catchy going on that is making a particular song popular.

But I do worry that the industry doesn’t seem to want to do any hard work anymore. Artist development is largely dead. Now, they want perfection handed to them on a silver platter. If you’re demo is not state of the art, don’t bother. Unless you have 10,000 or more fans who will actually come to a show or buy your latest release, don’t waste our time. The other side of that view is that if we already have that, who needs you? There are very few A&R folks left who have the vision to see beyond the demo packaging.

Part 2 next month. Check out Beth on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bethisbell

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Post by roxybeast » October 15th, 2009, 4:37 am

I think I may have a FREE VIDEO DVD to giveaway at shows & anyone who buys my new CD Aardvark ... features a dozen songs plus the Colors sneak preview - 6 trippy 2009 music videos & 6 more from 2008 shows. The audio levels have all been compressed to be within the same volume range, so turned out really nice! Anyway, hope you dig the show! :)

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Post by roxybeast » October 15th, 2009, 2:17 pm

New Video: Acoustic cover of "Rock N' Roll" by Led Zeppelin!! :), ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp8IGfHiaXo

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And, make sure you save & share this link to the video player
with Rock N' Roll & all the new trippy psychedelic videos ...
and even some of my live original songs from 2008 shows ...

http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/s ... ist_397280

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Post by roxybeast » October 15th, 2009, 6:04 pm

New lower CD sales prices effective immediately with new orders from MyTexasMusic.com ...

Aardvark $6.49

The Awakening & Live@Blue Moon $7.49
(note - price is for BOTH cds together, DO NOT SELL SEPARATELY)

The Dead Prophets: Bonus Edition $7.49

The Good Woman Waltz $7.49


Also, I have a new Free music video DVD to giveaway with any purchase.


To take advantage, log on to http://www.mytexasmusic.com
and search for Beth Isbell or the name of the CD you're interested in.

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Post by roxybeast » October 16th, 2009, 2:00 am

SPECIAL OFFER: Starting November, get Beth's new FREE DVD called "Revolution" with any cd purchase! That's three sets, over an hour and a half of great music, including the 2009 psychedelic solo acoustic video set "Classic Psychedelia", the 2008 solo acoustic coffee shop video set "More Coffee Please!", and your choice of Beth's new solo acoustic rock ep "Aardvark" for $6.49, or "The Dead Prophets: Bonus Edition" psychedelic blues rock full band cd*, or her "Live @ Blue Moon & The Awakening" house concert solo acoustic folk rock cds*, or The Good Woman Waltz nashville studio full band cd*. And the good news, the price has been cut to only $7.49*. Or download any cd (without the free new "Revolution" dvd) for only $4.99. Just click on the link by the cd you want & help a girl out! ... and, thanks!

For More Info:
http://www.studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=16212

or,

http://www.mytexasmusic.com/bethisbell

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Post by roxybeast » October 18th, 2009, 2:37 pm

If you were already signed up on my street team - you just received a free CD & DVD ... if you haven't yet, sign up for my street team now & next time, you'll be in the loop ... just click on the link to sign up & thanks! :), ...

http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/s ... ist_397280


or you can go to my reverbnation site: http://lnk.ms/3fbFP

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Post by roxybeast » October 21st, 2009, 4:31 pm

<center>WELCOME & SPECIAL OFFER!</center>
Here's a FREE DOWNLOAD of my cover version of Creep from my Aardvark EP! All you have to do is click this link, look for the Creep download & click ... you don't have to sign up for anything to receive the download, but my hope is that you'll sign up for my e-mail list ... thanks! http://bethisbell.fanbridge.com/campaig ... ?id=558305


Note-if you open the link above, the text of the message says you get the download for opting in ... but I found out after I sent it that all you have to do is click the song link to be able to download it, and you actually don't even have to sign up to the e-mail list ... but obviously that is the hope ... So it's a free song & a nice cover version at that - so just click the link!

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Post by roxybeast » October 31st, 2009, 6:58 pm

Just finished applying to Berklee College of Music on Halloween, because I'm such a musical monster!! :) http://www.berklee.edu/

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Post by roxybeast » November 28th, 2009, 5:24 am

HOORAY! My original song "The Dildo Song" made the Top 10 Finalists in the Comedy Category of the 2009 USA Songwriting Contest! My 2nd year in a row to do that! :),

List of Top 10 Finalists in All Categories - 2009 USA Songwriting Contest: http://www.songwriting.net/winners/

Listen to ... "The Dildo Song"
Humor from the female point of view! ...
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/1651303

LYRICS:

The Dildo Song
©2009 Beth Isbell

Think I'll head over to the local bar,
to find me a lover,
Cause life here at home ain't all it needs to be,
And if I can't find a lover, I think I'll head over to 7-11, to find me some batteries,
Cause sometimes lovers ain't all they need to be,

And I guess that's the way it's always going to be with you,
Do you think I don't notice when the phone rings, or who you're talking to,
You tell me if I leave you, you won't love me anymore,
But darlin' .... that's what this dildo's for!

And men think that we need 'em, just to do the things they do,
But technology has proven, that it's just no longer true,
And you think that I need you, just because I love to screw,
But darlin' ... this machine does too!

And I think I'll head over to the local pub, to find me a woman,
Someone who really understands my needs,
And maybe we can walk across the street to our local adult bookstore,
To make sure we've got all the supplies that we'll ever need,

And men think that we need 'em, just to do the things they do,
But technology has proven, that it's just no longer true,
And you think that I need you, just because I love to screw,
But darlin' ... she does too!

You tell me if I leave you, you won't love me anymore,
But darlin' ... that's what a dildo's for!
Yeah darlin' ... that's what a dildo's for!
Last edited by roxybeast on November 29th, 2009, 6:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by roxybeast » November 29th, 2009, 6:42 am

Cool ... finally picked a song for my Berklee audition ... Ray Charles' "Drown In My Own Tears" ... allows me to both play & sing my heart out! :),

_______________________

Well, this old dog is trying to learn some new trick for my Berklee audition, so spent the night trying to gather up some web resources for sight reading, ear training & guitar stuff to work on ... found some really cool stuff, so sharing just in case any of you might also be interested:

This is like way too cool ... if you have ever wanted to learn how to sight-read music you MUST click on this link ... http://www.sightreadingpractice.com/cgi ... 57071&cr=1

Another great free on-line tool to improve your music sight reading ... totally cool, try it! http://martypapa.blogspot.com/
(notes move along the staffs, and you get points by hitting correct piano keys that correspond to the notes! Fun game)

This site allows you to print out music staff manuscript paper pdfs & also has composer worksheets, theory worksheets, etc. – designed for elementary music education teachers … http://makingmusicfun.net/

This is an excellent article on basic music notation concepts with sound examples of each idea:
http://www.notationmachine.com/how_to_r ... gmusic.htm

Piano chords made easy ... just click on the chord name & it shows you what keys to play:
http://notationmachine.com//chords/piano/index.shtml ... I can easily see how this tool would be great for both ear training and composing

If you have an iPhone … Shazaam allows you to hold your iphone up to a song playing anywhere (radio, etc) and it will identify the song title & artist & download it for you AND GuitarToolKit is a tuner, guitar chord finder, supports every alternative tuner and you can hold it up to radio & it will tell you the chords its hearing & how to play it! Now, that’s amazing – I wouldn’t have believed it if a friend hadn’t showed me that it actually works the other night! http://www.agilepartners.com/apps/guitartoolkit/

Transpose any song immediately - just type in the chords, set the # of half steps to move/transpose, and then click submit - & immediately gives you a new chart with the new chords in the transposed ... http://notationmachine.com//chords/tran ... ndex.shtml

Free music dictionary - heard a musical term, but don't understand what it means - just type it in & this will give you the answer, with sound/chart examples ... http://notationmachine.com/dictionary.shtml

Guitar chord finder - select chord letter name & desired extension & hit enter and it shows you how to play the chord http://notationmachine.com/chordmachine/ ... unfortunately just gives you the basic chord shape and not all the variations, but still helpful

Here's a free online sight reading training tool specifically for guitar - just click on a note on the fretboard to correspond to note on the music staff ... http://sed.free.fr/sight/fret_ie.html

Here’s a very helpful guitar sight with lots of good articles & resources … http://www.ibreathemusic.com/

Cool article with instructional videos on tapping ... http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/185/1

K, so if you like me have trouble understanding or applying modes, but you do understand pentatonic scales, this article on Modal Pentatonics is for you ... http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/178

And finally, a cool guitar blog from an excellent guitarist & teacher:
http://ericvandenberg.wordpress.com/

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Post by roxybeast » November 29th, 2009, 6:44 am

Free musician jokes database ... http://notationmachine.com/musician_jokes_page.shtml

Examples - if you type in guitar ... & these are just the first 10 (the site has a lot more per topic) or you can type in any instrument :),

Guitar:

1. Q. What do you throw to a drowning guitar player?
A. His amp

2. Q: Why are so many guitarists jokes one-liners?
A: So the rest of the band can understand them.

3. One night at a gig the band leader yells at the bass guitar player "Your out of tune! Fix it!" The bass player pulls on all of the strings and says "The tension is the same on all of the strings...it must be in tune." and the guitar player yells at him "You idiot. The pegs have to be all lined up!"

4. Q: How many guitar players does it take to cover a Stevie Ray Vaughn tune?
A: Evidently all of them.

5. Q: How do you get a guitar player off of your front porch?
A:Pay for the pizza.

6. Q: What do you call a guitarist who breaks up with his girlfriend?
A: Homeless ..

7. Q: Did you hear about the guitarist who was in tune?
A: Neither did I

8. Q: What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin?
A: Who cares - neither one's a guitar

9. "Mommy! Mommy! When I grow up I want to be a guitar player!"
"Now Johnny, you can't do both!"

10. Q: What do a vacuum cleaner and an electric guitar have in common?
A: Both suck when you plug them in

-----------

Bass Players:

2. Q: Did you hear about the bass player who locked his keys in the car?
A: It took him an hour to get the drummer out!

3. Q: What's the difference between an upright bass and a salsa bass?
A: The upright holds more beer.

4. Q: What's the difference between a bassoon and a trampoline?
A: You take off your shoes when you jump on a trampoline.

5. One string bass player was so bad, even his section noticed.

6. One night at a gig the band leader yells at the bass guitar player "Your out of tune! Fix it!" The bass player pulls on all of the strings and says "The tension is the same on all of the strings...it must be in tune." and the guitar player yells at him "You idiot. The pegs have to be all lined up!"

7. Q: Why do bands have bass players?
A: To translate for the drummers.

8. Q. What's the difference between a bass player and a toilet?
A. A toilet only has to take crap from one butt hole at a time.

9. Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A:To get away from the bassoon recital.

10. Q: Whats the best thing to play on a stand up bass?
A: Solitaire.

--------

Drummers:

2. Q: How do you know when there's a drummer at your door?
A: The knocking keeps speeding up!

3. A drummer walks into a library and says: "Hi I'll have a burger,fries, and a large coke." The librarian responds: Sshhhh....do you know where you are? This is a library!" The drummer, sheepishly, and in a whisper says: "Sorry....I'll have a burger, fries and a large coke."

4. Q: What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
A: Hey guys, let's do one of my songs.

5. Q. What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?
A. With a drum machine you only have to punch the information in once.

6. Q: What did the drummer get on his I.Q. test?
A: Drool.

7. Two drummers walk into a bar . . . which is funny 'cause you would think the second one would have seen it coming!!

8. A guy walks into a shop.
"You got one of them Marshall Hiwatt AC30 amplificatior thingies and a Gibson StratoBlaster geetar with a Fried Rose tremulo?"
"You're a drummer, aren't you?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"This is a travel agency."

9. Two girls are walking along when they hear... "Psst! Down here!"
They both look down and see a frog sitting beside the road. The frog says to them, "Hey, if you kiss me I'll turn into a world famous drummer and make you both rich and famous!" The two girls looked at each other, and one of them reached down and grabbed the frog and stuffed it in her pocket.
The other girl said, "What did you do that for?"
The first replied, "I'm not stupid. I know a talking frog is worth heaps more than a famous drummer any day!!!"

10. One day, a tuba player wanted to torture the drummer behind him, so he hid one of the drummer's sticks.
After looking around for a few minutes, with a frantic, wide-eyed expression, the drummer fell to his knees, flung his arms wide, and screamed to heaven:
"Finally! The miracle, after all these years! I'm a Conductor!"

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Post by Arcadia » November 29th, 2009, 7:35 pm

first time I listen to chistes about musicians, funny! :D

and so many news!!! I´ll follow the links later and let you know! :wink: muchas gracias, beth

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Post by roxybeast » December 1st, 2009, 4:53 am

If you like playing Texas style blues, love SRV, and want to learn more of that style ... I've really been digging the way this guy teaches, check it out ...

http://www.steviesnacks.com

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Post by roxybeast » December 9th, 2009, 2:02 am

Just bought a mandolin for my girls for Christmas, got it out of the box & tuned it up ... and played this song ... just made it up as I went ... haven't even looked at the chord book yet & have never even played mandolin in my life! So for my very first original improv song experiment, turned out to be a cool song! :), ... I think now I might have to buy me one of these, so I'm not having to borrow theirs all the time! ha ... yes, me with new haircut & no make-up - deal with it! :),

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhYHXsXhUzc

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