(05 October 2001) The latest release from Woodstock, NY-based Bet Williamsis a breezy eleven track collection entitled Rose Tatoo (EpiphanyRecords (USA) 0002 2, 2000). The artist's prior recordings include Elephants and Angels (1990) (orderhere) and Building A Bed (1992)(orderhere). Musical Discoveries' visitors will recall Bet's collaboration on theEpiphany Project album (review).

After developing a cult following at Penn State University in the late 1980's, Bet packed up her poetry degree and a handful of songs to take them on the road. From House of Blues in Los Angeles, to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville to the Bottom Line in New York City, Bet has shared the stage with a variety of artists including Arlo Guthrie, Joan Osborne, Baba Olatunji and John Gorka.

On Rose Tatoo, Bet provides the vocal talent and acoustic guitar. She is joined by Phil Parlaipano (electric guitar, organ, mellotron), MarkHarris (bass), Steve Theards (drums, loop), Scott Babcock (percussion), BruceWatson (electric guitar) and Robin Moxey (electric guitar) amongst others. Coco Beaujolais provides backing vocals on some of the tracks.

Bet is known to be a passionate and dynamic performer with powerful voice can be earthy one moment and angelic the next. Songs like the bluesy "Killed My Man" and "Blow A Little Smoke" show Bet's humor and strong, soulful style while the highly infectious "OOh La La" and "Welcome To My World" demonstrate her ability to craft powerful rock and roll hooks.

Lightly arranged acoustic ballads like "Rose Tattoo," "California" and "Thunder and Stone" reveal a more sensitive side. The contrasts within "Just Like You" between ballad and gentle rocker certainly make it one of the album's standout tracks. We especially enjoyed the Americanastyle of "Walk Down The Road" and bluesy "Killed My Man" and "WaterUnder The Bridge" not only in contrast to the other tracks on the album but for the stunning vocal work within them. "Mary," a song about a woman panhandling, show Bet's compassion and gift for storytelling.

Musical Discoveries' readers will appreciate the tremendous production qualityof the album and the fact that vocals are mixed way up, well over the instrumentals.However the instrumental arrangements are an equally strong element of the album,sometimes overlooked in a female vocalist's work. This is an album to be savoredand played over and over. As Guitar One magazine put it "She's blessed with all the right stuff; a fantastic voice, a talent for songwriting, good musicianship and a charasmatic stage presence."

Rose Tatoo is certainly an album to delight female vocal enthusiasts,especially those that track Tori Amos and Sheryl Crow to whom Bet has beenfavourably compared. Find out more about the artist at her website and read further reviews, listen to soundbites and order the album from amazon.com here. Certainly worth a cross-country journey, Rose Tatoo is amust listen!