Betty Elders

Betty Elders, based in Austin, Texas—a city renowned for its songwriters—counts among its elite talents. Her poetic lyrics paired with heartfelt acoustic melodies have drawn notice for more than a decade. Artists including Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, Crow Johnson, Brand New Ways, Leslie Smith, Eric Taylor, and Beth & April Stevens have covered her material.

Joan Baez promoted Elders among several other singer-songwriters. Baez featured the Elders composition “Crack in the Mirror” on the 1997 album Gone From Danger and invited Elders to join a multi-artist revue Baez hosted at the Bottom Line in New York, Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut, and Ben & Jerry’s Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. In addition to solo showcases, Elders joined Baez for duet performances of “Crack in the Mirror” and “Long Bed from Kenya.” A live version of “Long Bed from Kenya” recorded at the Newport festival appeared as a bonus track on Borders Books editions of Gone From Danger.

Elders revealed musical promise early. Piano lessons began at age four, and she wrote her first songs within two years. At ten, inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and Robert Louis Stevenson, she started composing verse. Three years later her poem “Snow” was presented to faculty members at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. On her own label, Whistling Pig, Elders issued the 1981 cassette After the Curtain.

Relocating to Austin with her parents in 1984, Elders refined her performance approach. The 1989 release Daddy’s Coal, her first album-length project, earned critical praise and multiple honors in Austin’s Music City Texas Insiders Poll: Best Independent Tape, Song of the Year (shared by two tracks), Best Female Songwriter, and Best Female Vocalist. Her second album, Peaceful Existence, received favorable reviews in outlets throughout the United States as well as in Italy and the United Kingdom.

Elders issued her first nationally distributed album, Crayons, in 1995.