Quick Q and A with Betty Soo
 by Kathy S-B  ·  16 November 2009

Betty Soo is most definitely someone to “watch.” Music lovers who frequent the festival and conference circuit have been thrilled to watch her emerge onto the scene and are delighted that more and more people are being introduced to her outrageously wonderful music. Find out more about Betty on her website and catch a bit of her live on this video

I’ve got to tell you, Heat Sin Water Skin, is one of my favorite new CDs this year. It’s been described as “edgy and gritty.” Was adding a new element to your sound intentional or is it just a different part of you that wasn’t necessarily evident before?

Well, part of it was intentional, part of it not. I wasn’t searching for more grit, necessarily, but several of the songs themselves had more edge and needed to be recorded to reflect their content — so the record was going to go in that direction naturally.

Who were your earliest musical inspirations? Who did you really enjoy listening to when you were young?

My family, for starters: my parents and my three sisters — my mother’s mother too — are all very musical. I grew up listening to jazz, pop, classical, country, rap, everything on the radio plus a bunch of alternative stuff my older sisters would bring home. Then when I was in high school, one of my sisters started sending me tapes of singer-songwriter stuff, and I started getting into that. When I moved to Austin to go to college, that totally changed everything.

Love the fact that you’re candid about the fact that your Korean heritage is quite unique in the singer-songwriter world. Have you received any funny reactions from folks who think you may actually be a good-ole gal “Betty SUE”?

Not that much — if people hear I’m coming somewhere, they usually see my name before they hear it, and the spelling tips them off. To be honest, this is one of the things that media outlets ask about a lot, but it’s something I hardly ever think about.

What was it like working with Gurf Morlix who has worked with luminaries such as Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier?

Working with Gurf was the best. He’s honest, funny, and obviously an incredible talent. His playing is so thick and full of feeling, but his ears are the best. I feel I’ve made a lifelong friend from the process. I thought working with him would be more intimidating than it was, but he put me at ease right away, treating me like a friend, an artist, and a peer — which is an amazingly humble thing to do. He let me steer this record, and he offered help making it what I wanted it to be.

You’ve just come back from a tour in Europe. Highlights? Lowlights?

You wouldn’t believe how clean the bathrooms are in Switzerland! :-) Actually, I can hardly think of low-lights. The tour was really great. I felt really lucky to have some good radio support before I went. The audiences were very receptive, very welcoming, and very attentive. I can’t wait to return.