Betsy Baye Finds her Groove

June 4, 2003

“We‘re not into doing back porch jug band blues. We‘re doing blues with fire.“
So says Betsy Baye, the spark plug vocalist who fires up the Groove Engine, which has been rocking the west Michigan coast for the past three years, performing at venues from Muskegon to Boyne City.
Betsy Baye and Groove Engine are true to their mission: they will be the headliners at Blue Sunday, June 8 from 2-6 p.m. at the Town Club in Elk Rapids. Their performance coincides with a meeting of the new Mid/North Michigan Blues Society which has been launched to promote blues music across a region extending from Mt. Pleasant to Sault Ste. Marie.
Headquartered outside Frankfort with bandmembers coming from as far away as Detroit, the group includes Betsy on vocals/harmonica, her husband Al Anderson on tenor sax and keys, John Giordano on guitar/vocals, Dale Swords on bass/vocals, and Sam Jones on drums. Most of the bandmates have decades of experience under their belts; Giordano and Swords are both veterans of the Detroit music scene dating back to the ‘70s, while Jones has rocked out as a drummer with bands from New Jersey to Los Angeles.
Betsy got her start singing informally around the Detroit area in the late ‘80s, performing at weddings and having fun with the karaoke scene. She gained a reputation as “the singing waitress“ while working at a popular eatery called Pepino‘s in the downriver area. Upon moving north in the early ‘90s, she met future husband Al, who was playing in a local bar band. Next came guest spots with Benzie‘s You‘re Soakin‘ In It band and a gig as vocalist with the Rhythm Kings. Audience feedback pegged Betsy as an outstanding blues vocalist with a powerful stage presence, setting the stage for her heading up the Groove Engine in 1999.
“We‘re having a blast,“ she says. “It‘s really great when the crowd‘s having a good time and everyone‘s dancing. I remember a time when this guy came up and said he wasn‘t sure if he‘d like rhythm and blues, but we were so hot that he couldn‘t leave.“
For the unitiated, BB&GE formulate their success partly on the fact that they‘re very discerning in what they choose to play.
“We‘re a hair more sophisticated than the average bar band,“ says Anderson. “We play R&B, but it‘s not the same old-time ‘Mony, Mony‘ stuff that everyone plays. And yet we don‘t play songs that are too obscure either.“
Tunes the band covers include the likes of “Europa“ by Santana, “Green Eyed Lady“ by Sugar Loaf, “Whipping Post“ and “Memory of Elizabeth Reed“ by the Allman Bros., and songs by Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeshi, Nora Jones, Joan Osborne and Koko Taylor. Baye is also a fan of Janis Joplin‘s work, and covers “Move Over“ and “Mercedes Benz,“ both of which are crowd-pleasers.
Indeed, Baye‘s voice has some of the same tough, streetwise Texas attitude and resiliance leavened with sugar that made Janis Joplin so compelling, and she‘s got the kind of lets-get-it-on brass that gets people out of their seats and busting a groove on the dance floor. Her Groove Engine bandmates are a crack unit of musicians, as capable as any blues journeymen you‘ll find on a national level. Their recording of “Stormy Monday,“ for instance, is as nuanced in capturing a mood as that of the Allman Brothers.
“We‘re trying to get people into the music that the band is excited about,“ Anderson says. “If we don‘t enjoy playing a song, we drop it. We can go into a virtually empty space and just fly because we enjoy what we‘re playing.“
Some bands -- particularly in the R&B genre -- aren‘t so lucky, and the music can get stale with endless takes on “Mustang Sally“ and the like. Groove Engine believes that its more discerning approach to less shopworn R&B tunes helps generate more heat for the audience as well as the band. “There‘s a fine line performing songs that people can dance to while keeping it interesting for the band,“ Anderson adds.
The band has also written a number of original songs with more in the works. “I‘m always writing poetry and we‘re putting together some really hot funk stuff,“ Baye notes. They plan to record a show featuring current and new material at the Little River Casino in Manistee at the end of June.
Beyond that, they plan to keep letting the good times roll. “We‘re a good group of friends and we work off each other very well with our music,“ Baye says.

Check out Betsy Baye & Groove Engine June 5 at Shimmer‘s in TC, and June 6 and 8 at the Town Club in Elk Rapids.