Annie Bethancourt’s Cozy Little Music Blog.

I never had FALL (capital letters) growing up.

Southern California pretty much skips right over this season of pumpkin spice lattes and lung-brisk air and mosies straight into a half-hearted attempt at Seasonality that, let’s be honest, is slightly depressing in it’s haughty warm-and-sunnier than Thouness.

It’s not that sun and warmth aren’t nice, oh no, they are nice. And I loved growing up in a year-round temperate playground, laughing at the JC Penny ads with rosie-cheeked models frolicking through piles of colorful confetti leaves wearing turtlenecks, courderoy, and scarves, while my friends and I sweltered on porches in the afternoons of our first days of school, lounging in summer board shorts, licking rapidly melting popsicle, and debating about whose turn it was to wield the cooling spray of the garden hose. Yes, sun and warmth are nice.

But change is also nice, as I learned 2 years ago when I moved to Portland and experienced my very first FALL! (exclamation point). The trees weren’t just green! They were red! And Yellow! And Orange! And there were pumpkin patches and spiced ciders and hot drinks wafting of cinnamon and homes smelling like baked bread and mouth-watering soups and nights spent on porches with tea and friends and and and and…more.

So here I am again in my third FALL. Loving it, loving life, loving YOU. Honestly? It’s been a hard few months. But when you are surrounded by smiling faces who want to bake pumpkin muffins with you and knit and drink wine in front of a toasty fire, nothing can be all that bad, right?

So I have a fall present for you. It’s a song that my roommate Erica spoke of as such: “Did you know this song makes me love fall even MORE? It puts a little cardigan around my heart and the feeling of pumpkin bread pudding in mah belly.” It’s a Fall song about falling in love, or wanting to fall in love, and it’s called “November.” And it’s going to be on the new album coming out in a little over a month. And you can listen to it on my myspace page by clicking HERE.

Then, if you’re so inclined, you can RSVP to my CD release party that’ll happen Thursday, Dec. 10th at the Woods in Sellwood, and become my friend HERE

Lastly, I hate to break up this Seasonal Appreciation Fest by talking about my impeding departure, but I’ll be going back to Costa Rica after Christmas. And recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with the Daily Vanguard, who wrote a lovely article about my music and strange migratory patterns, and you can read it HERE

Happy Fall!
Annie

Hello Friends!
I am officially abandoning my typical “all-lowercase” writing style in order to write a professional, eager post about my music and my new CD that’s coming out in mid August/early September.

Let me cut to the chase: I am ridiculously excited about this new CD. Like, UBER excited. And I don’t use German words in common speech very frequently, so that should clarify the measure of my amped-ness over this album.

It is coming out AMAZINGLY.

I have been knocked out of my socks by the ways in which people have come forward to make these songs come together, they owe their very existence and color and life to Dallas Kruse, Barrett Johnson, and Dan Baker—without them there would BE no recordings. Let alone recordings of my songs with players from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on it. (Say what?? Yeah, seriously. I told you it’s ridiculous.)

Anyway, I am writing you because you’ve been a friend to me and a fan of my music in the past, and I’m asking for your help. I was blessed by the ridiculous faith and gifts of friends to get these songs recorded, and now I want to get these songs to you! I’m hereby initiating the beginning of the AnnieBeth Brigade, a group of people who want to get this music out there in the world. If you’re interested in helping, let me know! I am open to any and all suggestions you might have for me and my dream musical career.

Lastly, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the nature of how we give and receive, and realizing that as long as we give what we can, and receive what people want to give to us, we allow a beautiful cycle to take place, and everyone is taken care of. So I’ve decided to put a “donate” button on my website. My dream is for anyone who wants my music to have it. So go ahead and burn those cd’s of mine you have, give them to friends. Check out live recordings online, come see my shows for free if you’ve got nothing to put in the tip jar. And if somewhere down the line you have $5 to throw in my new online tip jar, go for it! Your gifts allows me to keep using mine, and hopefully other people are blessed by it, too.

More specifically for this CD, I’m doing a pre-order for all of those who told me “When is it coming out?? I want one NOW!!” If you put $20 or more in the online tip jar before July 31st, an autographed copy of the first pressings will be yours, sent to your door as soon as they are in my hot little hands. You’ll help me with the replication costs, PLUS I’m also going to e-mail sneak peeks and maybe some surprise versions of the songs to anybody who pre-orders, along with photos from the studio and fun insider info, so when everyone else gets their new Annie B. CD you could be the cool kid saying “Yeah, the orchestrated version if nice, but I really like the stripped down studio version of ‘November’ a lot, too….” It’s a WIN-WIN!

To Pre-Order click HERE!

So, that’s it, friends! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for all of the beautiful words and love you have given me over the past years of my musical endeavors. It has nourished and grown me, and the words in my heart and in my songs, more than you can even imagine.

Love,
Annie

p.s. FYI: it says “Donation” but it’s actually a payment, not a non-profit write off
(warning mentioned for my mom’s sake, who thinks the IRS will come after me…)

p.p.s. cool picture courtesy of Hunter Richards and David Eggerichs (check ‘em out in my friends section!), from the music video we filmed on Tuesday. Yay!

i have a beloved friend. his name is barrett johnson and he writes the most tender music ever sung by a dude in cowboy plaid who looks like a 1920’s boxer

barrett likes doughnuts, coffee, old records, crosswords, and naps. he loses poorly at scrabble but he lets you take sips of his precious iced tea. he is both loving and prickly, kind of like that favorite childhood teddy bear that’s seen some wear. and i treasure and value his friendship greatly.

the other day we took naps at his house, followed by some song-singing amongst the bed-messied covers, and he snapped the picture seen here. a few days later we were hanging out late at night at zion, and he and dallas kruse recorded me singing a cover of “Creep” by Radiohead.

have a listen HERE
and remember: you ARE special. and you DO belong here.

love,
anniebeth

i’m sorry…i can’t hold back anymore.




i….i….




i have to share something with you.



it just might be a sneak peak at a track from my upcoming album.
it could perhaps include fun things like handclaps, snaps, and accordion.
there’s a chance it’ll make you grin like a silly idiot all day.

and it’s highly possible you will find it HERE

love.
anniebeth

* wonderful drawing by the ever-talented pip craighead, he of the perpetual kind word and mastermind behind the anniebeth heart-faced owl.

this cover song sunday video goes out to cindy b: a lady of many ideas and talents who, though not a member of the elite “nerdy air-head club” formed by my dad and brother and i back in the late 80’s (“mom’s not really ‘nerdy air-head material’,” as one devout club co-president stated), nonetheless filled my childhood days with fun, love, encouragement, arts n’ crafts, love, hugs, warm fuzzies, love, and kick-ass birthday parties. oh, and did i mention “love”?
happy mother’s day, mom!

* note: this song selection has absolutely NO connection to the fact that, for the formative music years of my life, my mom put on “Tapestry” every time she wanted us kids to join her for a marathon tidying session, causing my brother and i to wince at the sound of miss carol king’s tunes and refer to her disdainfully as “cleaning music.”

i’m back!! in portland!!!!!!!!

can you tell by my excessive use of exclamation points that i am excited? well, i am.
and i am doubly excited to turn 28 this upcoming tuesday.
and i am thricely excited to have a show that day, to celebrate my return to the town-of-stump, and the beginning of my 29th year, and pretty much life and friends in general.

so if you’re in town, come hang out with me! i’ve got new and old songs, and new and old friends playing their songs, and there’ll be pizza (duh, it’s a pizza place) and beer (duh, it’s portland) and lots of cool people milling around, so don’t be the sad kid who finds out after the weekend that everyone went to a party that he forgot about. be there.
xo,
annie

hey northern california friends,
what would you say if i told you i would be playing a not-so-secret show in the san francisco/oakland area this sunday? above the Saigan market? with so many good bands your indie music-loving head’s gonna explode? and we could laugh and sing hootenany style and maybe get some pokey from the asian market downstairs? well, i hope you’d be saying: HECK YEAH! because, check it:

chinese food with parents, subsequent fortune cookie promises good things.

yes please,
annie

my old friend jesse from fuhs (that’s fullerton union high school, for all of you not “in” with the O.C. school district lingo…) has started a gallery with a few of his buddies, and they have been kind enough to open up their space for a lovely last anniebeth orange county springtime concert. hooray! barrett johnson, justin grennan, and tom purtill will be rounding out the night, so if you enjoy three part harmony goodness you should definitely stop by!

triple vocal powers, unite!
anniebeth

happy easter!

in honor of all things related to renewal, redemption, spring, flowers, joy, singing, dawns, and walking through damp grass, i bring you this week’s cover song video with me in my green easter dress and an extra-special guest accompanying me on piano—the Very Rev. A. Robert Bethancourt, who makes his own wonderful music and just happens to be my dad.

elated to be here (just like Cat was),
anniebeth