Back in 1991, festivals centered on indie rock weren’t really a thing yet, but Calvin Johnson and Candice Pedersen, the co-founders of K Records, basically conjured one into existence. They organized what they described as the International Pop Underground Convention, a six-day marathon that brought punk and indie outfits to their hometown of Olympia, Washington. The lineup boasted Fugazi, Bikini Kill, L7, the Melvins, Built To Spill, the Fastbacks, Unwound, Nation Of Ulysses, Seaweed, and Johnson’s own project Beat Happening. Yet the festival’s most historically meaningful moment was the show called Girl Night, largely because it marked Corin Tucker’s first ever live performance before an audience.
According to the lore, Corin Tucker was a teenage resident of Eugene, Oregon who had just completed her first year at Evergreen State College. Earlier that year she’d seen Bikini Kill and Bratmobile perform and was utterly inspired. When someone asked if she had a band and would be interested in playing the festival, she said yes—even though she hadn’t written a single song yet. She recruited Tracy Sawyer, her longtime friend since middle school, to handle drums, and they formed Heavens To Betsy. The Girl Night lineup also included Bratmobile, 7 Year Bitch, the Spinanes, a couple of side projects from Bikini Kill members Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail, and the premiere Heavens To Betsy show. Tucker, visibly terrified, stepped onstage with Sawyer, performed two songs, and left the crowd in a stunned hush.
Heavens To Betsy went on to release one classic album, Calculated, plus a handful of 7″ singles before disbanding in 1994. No sooner had they split than Tucker joined forces with Carrie Brownstein to form Sleater-Kinney, and their collaboration produced remarkable work. Earlier this year, Tucker and Sawyer reunited, performing Heavens To Betsy’s first shows in 32 years. They’ll soon begin a North American tour and release baby’s gone, a 16-track compilation that includes the 1992 demo tape they recorded. That tape was recorded by Molly Neumann of Bratmobile, who also wrote the liner notes for baby’s gone.
One track on that demo, “seek and hide,” never made it onto any of Heavens To Betsy’s later albums. It’s among the songs they played at their first show, and a remarkable discover reveals footage of them performing it that very night. The video is rough and unfocused, yet it serves as a powerful time capsule. Tucker’s petrified look is clear, but at the song’s end you glimpse the raw vocal force she would become.
Thirty-five years ago, two teenage girls hopped onstage at the IPU festival and sang songs about love and menstruation. The other girls and the punk crowd cheered, and heavens to betsy was born.
We are grateful to be able to share this first performance with you, ahead of the release of baby’s gone tomorrow.
baby’s gone is a compilation of our earliest recordings, including eight tracks laid down by Molly Neumann, originally issued only on cassette, as well as our early 7″s.
Many thanks to Rob Jones and Kill Rock Stars for helping us bring these songs out to the world. After all this time, the heavens to betsy story continues.
Below, check out that video and Heavens To Betsy’s upcoming tour dates.
TOUR DATES:
10/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
10/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill ^
10/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill %
10/24 – Olympia, WA @ Capitol Theater, Girl Night Part 2 #+
10/28 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall ~
10/30 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
10/31 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom #
11/01 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church #
11/05 – Seattle, WA @ Nuemos
11/08 – Pasadena, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium –
11/14 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
11/15 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
11/21 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt
11/22 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
* with Tuffie & Scrunchies
^ with Street Eaters & the Lilies
% with For Horses & Cut-Rate Druggist
# with Calamity Jane
+ with the Softies, Grrrizzly, & DJ Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile
~ with Team Dresch
baby’s gone is out 10/16 on Kill Rock Stars.
