BETTY BLOWTORCH ARE HELL ON WHEELS
Betty Blowtorch Rocks!
Betty Blowtorch are fired up and blasting a flamethrower full blast with their roucous, untamed, in your face wild brand of music and ready to take the world by storm in the new year! Betty Blowtorch, yes, that Betty Blowtorch who made there place in rock n roll history in the late 90’s with their intense and firey punk hard rock music with the release of Are You Man Enough, as one of the hottest and top rated bands of the New Millenium came to an abrupt end when their front person, Bianca Halstead was tragically killed in a car accident in New Orleans on December 15, 2001 while on tour with Nashville Pussy. After disbanding, the band was resurrected after ten years with Mia X RockNRolla on bass and lead vocals bringing the same in your face, no holds barred energy to the stage as Bianca and the band has been doing shows, writing new music and looking to release a new album and tour in 2024. The band realized that they had the energy and drive to bring back the band and to honor Bianca with their music.
The band includes Blaire N Bitch, Judy Molish, Sharon Needles, and Mia X. Betty Blowtorch originally began in 1997 when Bianca, Sharon and Blaire were in a band called Butt Trumpet and jammed with Judy and realized they had something special and Betty Blowtorch was born! A hard as nails, punk filled attitude, over the top group of talented and excellent musicianship that jelled like molten lava setting stages on fire with their great music. The band released ‘Are You Man Enough’ on Foodchain Records in 2001 featuring in your face originals like “Hell on Wheels”, “Shut Up and Fuck”, “I Wish You’d Die”, “I’m Ugly and Don’t Know Why’, and “Size Queen” featuring Vanilla Ice.
“We are still here, still rock and will be coming out with new stuff in ’24”, says Blaire. “Bianca, Sharon and myself were in Butt Trumpet. A year after that band broke up I got a call from Sharon asking if I wanted to jam with her and Bianca and I said hell yeah. We always had a fun time playing and had great chemistry. When we jammed with Judy we knew we had to do something.. Betty Blowtorch!
“It was about 10 years after Bianca we did a tribute gig and decided from then on we would continue to play. We missed playing together and felt that we needed to continue to honor Bianca. It’s amazing after over 20 years people still really miss and love Bianca.”
Mia X stepped in to do the ten year tribute for Bianca and brought the same kind of intensity and fire to the stage and the band realized it was time to move forward with the new lineup. Blaire said, “When we did the ten year tribute gig Mia played bass and sang. We were all floored and knew right then that if we were to continue she would be the absolute perfect choice. it wasn’t just the fact she could belt it out but the attitude and energy.. amazing.” Judy added, “Mia is a perfect fit for us. She has the exact energy, vocal style and overall chemistry that works perfectly with Blaire, Sharon and I. We are Betty Blowtorch through and through, same energy, same attitude with Mia adding that front person energy ands her own rocking touch to keep us playing and recording. Obviously no one can replace Bianca, we rock on in her memory. Mia hasn’t replaced Bianca, Mia has added her natural style to allow us to keep rocking and performing and allowing Betty Blowtorch to continue to play and create new music.”
While their music rocked hard they crossed over with a definite punk attitude says Blaire. “Probably slightly more Punk because of the attitude. I think Punk is a little more fearless (a little more of a fuck you approach to life which I can definitely identify with). On the other hand Rock N Roll is just a good time all the way around – who doesn’t want a good time – all the time.” Judy adds, “I like to think we are a mix of rock and Punk and in the end we are Betty Blowtorch.”
The band has plenty in the works but this time around are working pretty much independently on a DIY basis. “We are writing new tunes, we will record, release and play more shows,” said Sharon. Judy said, “We released 2 new songs, Stronger Than Fear and TP Whoreder on Bandcamp this past summer. We are still working on new songs and are hoping to record an EP this spring, also a possible live spilt single with Cut Rate Druggist is in the works.” Judy said, “The band camp releases are just the start. We recorded them during the Covid lock down, so it was a new experience us jamming individually and at home and sharing tracks. PreSonus helped us out but getting us some gear and we experimented with some new stuff. Eventually we released TP Whorder, obviously influenced by the Covid situation, and also Stronger Than Fear with we now play live at shows.”
Judy says the band has been working independently and are not any major labels which gets misunderstood. “That we are all still here playing and doing things independently. I think sometimes people think we have some big management, label or booking support system around us and that we may be unapproachable. That’s not the case at all. We are doing it ourselves and looking to get out and play more, get help with new releases and getting ourselves on festivals.” Which is a great reason to contact the band and include them in your plans for 2024!
After all, no one brings the kind of attitude and energy and musicianship to the stage like Betty Blowtorch. Their attitude on stage says it all. “Have fun and kick Ass!” sahys Blaire. “Music–riffs, hooks and sing along choruses–Shut Up and Fuck, I Wanna be Your Sucker…how can you not sing along with that!” Judy adds, “Yep, have fun, rock out and as Bianca used to say ‘don’t take yourself too seriously!’
Be sure to find Betty Blowtorch on Facebook, their Bandcamp site and other media platforms including Youtube! They are ready to roll into your town and rock your world and Betty Blowtorch are Hell on Wheels and one band you do not want to miss! There are great rock bands and great punk bands….and then there is Betty Blowtorch!!
People can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp.
Our webpage is www.bettyblowtorchofficial.com
Rock On!!
You can also see the documentary film released in 2003 by filmmaker Anthony Scarpa “Betty Blowtorch and her amazing true life adventure” Available on Amazon.
