In sickness and onstage
March 25, 2010 1:00 PM
If you’ve lived in Antigonish for the past couple years and are into music, you may have heard the name ‘Bette and Wallet’ tossed around. The foot-stompin,’ bass pluckin,’ banjo-ticklin,’ French and English howlin’ duo (pronounced ‘Bet and Wall-et’) consists of Antigonish native Mary Beth Carty – spawn of the great Ed Carty – and Gabriel Ouellette of Portneuf, Quebec. And they rock hard.
Bette and Wallet have been a band for four years now, with one album under their belt and a sophomore release on the way.
With songs like “The Aliens are Nice,” “Squeegees” (about squeegee kids), and others about cloning and genetic modification you might think a Bette and Wallet show would resemble a Scientology sermon, but in actuality it’s a light, energetic affair and you can tell Mary Beth and Gab are just having fun.
Many of their songs have been written in a traditional style, and because they sing in both French and English they have been garnering lots of attention as of late from cultural centers in places like Montreal where bilingualism is a real reflection of society.
When asked about their songwriting, Mary Beth says “I am always on the look-out for weird contemporary subjects to treat using ancient song-forms.” It certainly provides a refreshing change from Rhianna and her umbrella.
Bette and Wallet are currently on tour in Quebec making their way back to the Maritimes, and after a summer on the road playing folk festivals (Winnipeg, Dawson City, and Calgary to name a couple) they plan to head to France.
Regarding touring, Mary Beth says being on tour is a lot of fun, but after weeks of sitting in the car and eating at restaurants… “I’m getting a gym membership.”
Their next show in Antigonish hasn’t been booked yet, but apparently at the Legion they have an “amazing, in-tune, upright piano,” which appears to be an attraction for Carty.
If you were looking for an opportunity to spend more time down at the Legion, this looks promising. Keep your eyes open for posters.
Being in a band with your partner seems like it might have its hurdles, but so far Mary Beth and Gab have managed to avoid any Fleetwood Mac scenarios (although that’s probably aided by the fact that it’s just the two of them).
When asked about sharing songwriting responsibilities, Mary Beth replies “my strength is in the texts, and Gabriel’s is in the instrumental arrangements. We make a great team.”
They certainly do, and with any luck they will be playing at a folk festival near you this summer so you can check them out for yourself.
