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Bett Butler

A songwriter who believes it's all about storytelling.

About Me

Award-winning Texas songwriter/pianist/vocalist Bett Butler swims upstream with tracks that defy categorization. Writes Austin music critic Michael Corcoran: “A true artist....Her forte is creating rich story songs…we have to call jazz because the right word hasn’t been invented.” In historic and culturally rich San Antonio, Texas, she co-owns Mandala Music Production with bassist/composer/producer Joël Dilley, where they play fetch with their boxer Mingus and create music licensed for use on HBO, Discovery Channel, Cooking, Travel, and Playboy Channels, and more.

Of her debut album SHORT STORIES, Robert Lindquist of SINGER MAGAZINE wrote, “Her poetry and vision, combined with keyboard prowess and sterling vocalizations, amuse and entertain track after track....This CD is a sheer joy to listen to.” Her second album MYTHS & FABLES won a performance grant from the Artist Foundation, and her third, AMERICAN SAMPLER, placed in the top 10 in the iTunes Great American Songbook category its first week in release and won Best Cabaret Album in the Independent Music Awards (where she was recently a nominee in the Spoken Word category). Her latest release, WINTER LULLABY: SONGS FOR THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, fuses classical, jazz, and world music with songs in multiple languages—many with her own translations—plus originals capturing the complexities of the season.

John Swenson of UPI wrote, “Butler is a unique package….Her voice, a smooth, slightly husky alto that can slide up to thrilling high notes, has a comfortable, soothing timbre but she changes attitudes from song to song with the facility of a trained actor, striking a balance somewhere between the silken elegance of Norah Jones and the edginess of Patricia Barber…. I marveled at the spell this singer could weave…recalling similar moments listening to Billie Holiday, Betty Carter, Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell. Bett Butler brought me to that place where music can salve the deepest wound, mend the heart most broken.”

My Jazz Story

I was first exposed to jazz when I won a portable AM/FM radio in a contest and discovered the stations at the low end of the dial. Billie Holiday's world-weary voice was a gateway for me into a world of musical storytelling, where I've been fortunate to live ever since.