- She’s Everyone’s Bestie!
SARATOGA SPRINGS – Back before (but not too much before) you had ‘Jenny from the Block’ you had ‘Betsy from the nabe’ – the neighborhood being Hoboken, New Jersey. Happy days personified.
And so we harken back to the days the Ronettes, the Chiffons, the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las and so many others that lit up stages and screens around the world. The girl groups with the ‘do’s, sometimes in chiffon, maybe even a poodle skirt or two.
And if you were lucky, you got to see the PastElles perform.
Set against a backdrop of NJ summers at the shore, WCBS-FM 101 playing the old school stuff, preferably with Cousin Brucie behind the mike. A time of nostalgia. And you pull into the club and there they were.
Your best girl or guy at your side, the way it’s gonna be forever. And your other gf’s on stage: Lisa, Lizzete and Betsy. It was the time of the oldies, and this trio was selling it, man.
Well, I never saw the PastElles, but I can hear them in my head.
Because I saw Betsy and the ByeGons a few times recently.
And I hear the roots that Betsy Cannon developed long (but not so long) ago.
And that’s why it says here you should put this group on your First Night dance card.
Because all the ByeGons, including Ms. Betsy, Tom Keller (guitar), Joe Treiber (bass), and George Cannon (drums) have the pedigree.
Plus, it’s the oldies. And nearly everyone likes them.
If you’re into jazz, you like the oldies. If you’re into country, you like the oldies.
Surf music? Sure!
Metal? Maybe.
Rap? Probably.
The roots of classic rock ‘n’ roll were spawned from what most now call the oldies. And that’s what the ByeGons deliver.
So Betsy married PastElle sound man George and somehow meandered up to this region with a stop in Riverdale along the way. Having kids, the whole deal. You hear what I’m saying? And Betsy, well, the good mother grows restless with the kiddo’s and decides that after they leave that “I’m going to get fit and not be a trophy mom anymore,” she laughs.
Fast forward and behold the finished product— yoga instructor at the Saratoga Y and private trainer by day, front singer for the music she loves at night, with the former sound man George now her husband and drummer.
“I’m performing the exact music I want,” Betsy says, and it’s easy to believe. All you have to do is close your eyes and remember…
Betsy and the ByeGons
Empire State College Rotunda
2 Union Avenue
Shows at 9, 10 and 11 p.m.
betsyandthebyegons.com
saratoga-arts.org
