Beth Hart: Why we love her - The Fan's Stories.
A few years ago my friend Mark and I discovered a mutual love of the Blues, which our respective partners don’t share quite as passionately as we do! Mark and I made a pact to become “Gig Buddies” so we could enjoy going to live music events together and not miss out on seeing some of our favourite Blues Artists. This then led to us to collaborating on The Rock and Blues News music blog in our spare time. We have seen some superb blues acts over the last 3 years, including Gov’t Mule, Robert Cray and Joe Bonamassa. However, there has been one particular performer who, more than any other artist, who we love to see live – and her name is Beth Hart.
Since discovering Beth Hart’s music, I have met and become friends with many of her other fans worldwide and I have been to see her play live not just in the UK but in Europe too. We were at The Le Carre Theatre for the recording of her live DVD with Joe Bonamassa. Last week we travelled from London to Amsterdam to see Beth play at The Heineken Music Hall and attended her VIP Meet and Greet. The day after my 50th Birthday in May I am going to see Beth’s show at The Barbican in London with both Mark and my partner, Karl. I couldnt think of a better way to spend my half century – my two favourite guys either side of me and my favourite female singer in front of me.
So just what is it about Beth Hart that makes so many fans want to travel all over the world, just to go and see her play live? How does she manage to inspire so many different people and why do they relate to her songs above and beyond anyone else’s music? What is her special secret? I have been speaking to her fans and they have told me all their wonderful stories but first I will tell you mine.
This is how I became a "Beth-o-Holic"!
Mark first introduced me to her music by showing me a live video from her famous Paradiso gig in Amsterdam. From the very first moment I saw her and heard her sing, I was captivated by her raw unbridled physicality on stage and her powerful voice. I knew in a heartbeat that I had finally found a female Blues artist that I could actually relate to. If I were a singer I’d want to behave just like Beth Hart on stage. Here was this unbelievably cool looking woman, dressed very casually in low slung jeans and a halter-neck top, fuelled with adrenalin and really belting out the blues. She was sporting some great tattoos too, and she didn’t seem to care about the fact that it got really HOT under those stage lights. She was a real American Rock Chick with attitude and soul. Watching her climb down off stage, so she could sit on the floor cross legged and really get up close and personal with the audience, I immediately knew I was going to become a lifelong fan of this unique woman. When she proceed to mesmerise all those around her with a highly charged, very sensual rendition of Am I the One, I realized this lady had a talent for performing music that can’t be taught or learned – all the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, an excited tingle snaked down my spine. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she bared her soul and sung her heart out - and from that moment on I was totally hooked.
BETH HART - AM I THE ONE? - LIVE AT THE PARADISO
After that I proceeded to work my way through all her albums chronologically. As I listened to her lyrics, I began to feel as if this woman uncannily knew EXACTLY how I had felt during some of the darkest moments in my own life. She was literally – stealing a line from a famous Roberta Flack song - “strumming my pain with her fingers and singing my life with her words”. Through her honest, heartfelt lyrics and powerful melodies, she was taking me on an intimate shared musical journey and we were living in the same skin. We laughed, we cried, we struggled to understand the complexities of life and tried to make sense of it all – and we did it all through the wonderful power of music.
This is a very special gift that Beth Hart possesses, and it is just one of the many things that endear her to all her fans. Her songs resonate deeply with her listeners for a number of reasons. They have often been the cathartic soundtrack for recovery after a bad relationship break-up or a personal tragedy. People can relate to Beth because she sings about her own fears and emotions. Through her music Beth Hart reaches out to people, touches them and connects with them. When you have Beth's music with you, you dont feel so alone in a situation - and if you are listening to it and getting it, neither does she. Beth Hart brings people together. Through her music, fans all over the world are connecting together and forging special friendships that grow from sharing a love for her music.
BETH HART FANS AT HER AMSTERDAM GIG
My first chance to see Beth play live came when Mark and I got tickets to see her at The Pyramid Centre in Portsmouth in 2013. We stood right at the front and I took my camera with me to record some live gig footage for my music blog. When Beth sang the Billie Holiday song “Don’t Explain” she sat right on the edge of the stage. During the instrumental break she took time out to sign a young guys CD and have a quick chat to him. I captured all of this on film and posted the video up on You Tube. The following year Mark and I were at another Beth Hart Gig at The Roundhouse in London and I got chatting to the young guy standing next to me. I found out that he had travelled all the way from Scotland to see her. His name was Honza Berka and he had also been at the Portsmouth gig. “Beth signed my CD and a wonderful lady called Chrissy Hamlin posted a video on YouTube of her doing it. It was the best moment of my entire life so far!” He told me proudly. It suddenly clicked and I realized that he was the guy I had filmed! Since then Honza and I have become good friends on Facebook. He’s written a gig review for my website and I’ve followed his adventures closely as he travelled from Scotland to L.A recently, just to see Beth play in her hometown.
BETH HART - DONT EXPLAIN - PORTSMOUTH PYRAMID 2012
Another good friend I have met has been Alberto Di Lione who runs the Beth Hart Italian Fan Club. Mark and I met up with oth Alberto and Honza in London when Beth Hart played the Royal Albert Hall as part of Bluesfest 2014. We also saw them recently in Amsterdam, when we met up at Beth's gig at the Heineken Music Hall - along with many of the lovely people whose stories are featured in this article.
BETH'S FANS MET UP BEFORE HER AMSTERDAM GIG & MADE HER A PRESENT!
At the London Bluesfest gig, Beth actually made me cry. I was going through a pretty tough time personally, and when she sang “Leave a Light On”, something just got to me inside. There was one line where her voice broke and quivered a little more than usual and the emotion of the song just took me over. All of a sudden I was in the Royal Albert Hall with tears streaming down my face and my friend was squeezing my hand, thinking I’d totally lost it! No artist or band has ever reduced me to weeping openly in public before – but it felt good and I clapped till my hands were red raw at the end of the song.
Beth loves to meet her fans in person. She’ll often perch on the edge of the stage to sing to the front row or she'll go off for a walkabout in the audience to shake fans hands. She rewards fans by smiling and waving if she recognizes you as a regular gig goer. At some previous gigs it has been possible to purchase VIP packages which include a chance to sit on the Sound check and meet Beth Hart in person backstage before the gig. At the Albert Hall she spent about 20 mins chatting to fans waiting outside the Stage Door after the concert. When you chat to her at a meet and greet, it's a great experience. The wierd thing is that you feel you "Know her" already through her songs and from watching her perform. When you are in the room with her, you feel her warmth and genuine personality shine through in the way she speaks and responds to fans. She remembers the faces, and names of those fans she's met before. She helps those who have been through similar problems in their lives by sharing her own stories. Fans who have spoken to her about very personal things, feel a special spiritual connection - she's someone who understands. Someone who has been to hell and back but who is still here, still fighting and she inspires others to do the same. Many fans get tattoo's of her lyrics because they mean something special to each individual and give them the strength to cope in difficult times.
BETH HART MEETING FANS AT THE AMSTERDAM VIP SESSION
I first got the chance to meet Beth Hart at the Roundhouse in 2013. She had a head cold, but was so friendly and welcoming to us, you'd never guess she felt ill. We all huddled together in the dressing room and got to ask her a load of questions and chat to her for about an hour. She answered us all honestly and didn’t pull any punches. She was genuine, open, warm and funny, despite feeling under the weather. You just couldn’t help falling in love with her a little bit on that day. I was ill too - I had terrible sciatica and was dosed up with pain killers and had heat pads on my back - I should have been at home in bed. I would have crawled over broken glass to get there that day. Nothing was going to stop me from meeting Beth for the first and seeing her play live. You know that when you are standing there at the front of the stage being mesmerized by her voice and music, all the pain will magically disappear. Her music has a certain healing power and it always works wonder for me. Inspired by her, I had recorded a CD for charity a year before in memory of my dad who had died from cancer when I was just 14. I gave her a copy with the inscription – Thanks for being the Inspiration behind this project. She was so lovely about it and gave it to her husband Scott to look after. I often wonder if she has ever listened to it! She probably think I was a terrible singer, but I’ve no doubt that she’d say it was “the doing it that really counted” and we’d have a laugh at all my bum notes and mistakes.
MEETING BETH AT THE ROUNDHOUSE IN 2012
MEETING BETH AT THE HEINEKEN MUSIC HALL IN AMSTERDAM (2015)
Beth Hart Fans from all over the world have been telling me their stories over the past few months for inclusion in this article. I joined a great Facebook page called “Beth-o-holics” and asked fans to comment with their own experiences so I could write about them in this blog post. I was inundated with replies and they all moved me in some way, and confirmed my own thoughts and opinions about Beth Hart and her music. It is clear that Beth reaches out and connects with so many fans on so many levels but don't just take my word for it....hear what other fans think & find out how they discovered her music and what impact it has had on their lives.....
VICKY NALLON from England wrote:
I first came across Beth via Joe Bonamassa - like I imagine a lot of the newer fans did. After hearing the Don't Explain album in 2011, I have now seen her perform live six times, including in my home city of Manchester. I was at The Royal Albert Hall in London for her Bluesfest performance, and I have also travelled to Brussels in Belgium to see her. The first time I saw her was at The Ritz in Manchester. I had only just become a fan, and only found out she was performing there at 5pm that day. I was out of the door and in Manchester within 90 minutes, buying a ticket off a tout outside the venue. I was blown away by her performance and that was me - sold as a Beth Hart fan. In May this year I am going seeing her twice - in Leeds and in Liverpool. She is, in my opinion, simply the best musician, vocalist and performer of her time. My life has become richer for her being in it, and may she long continue to bring joy not only through her music, but also through her gritty attitude to life.
TARA ILLSLEY from England wrote:
I've seen Beth every time she's been in the UK for the last four years - I was in Amsterdam in April to see her at the Heineken music hall! Then I am seeing her again in the UK in May at the Barbican. Her lyrics, her life story and her passion towards music are nothing but inspiring – she’s a wonderful lady & musician!
JUDY HODGESON from England wrote:
I first saw Beth with Joe Bonamassa. Since then have seen her a quite a few times and think she is incredible. I am going to be there in Amsterdam in April and in Glasgow and Leeds. It will be my own little Beth tour.
MADELON JANSEN from Holland wrote:
I just love her!! I discovered her in 2007 somewhere on YouTube!! And she has never escaped from my mind since! I love her music, and I love her in person - she is a big inspiration to me! I have seen her play many times - I think everybody needs to see her live at least once in their lifetime!! I have travelled to different Countries in Europe to see her play and even went to her gig in Georgia and travelled to Asia to see her. My biggest dream came true one time –I actually had the opportunity to sing with her a few years ago in her dressing room. She is amazing!
Because of Beth I am now a singer too!! I love her music and I am happy that we play a few of her songs with my band! She gives me the power to do this, so this it’s an honour to sing her songs!! I love it when people come up to me at a gig and ask who the original artist is!! She gives me the strength to go for it every time!!
LISA REYES from America wrote:
We flew from New Orleans to Nashville. We pulled up to Grimy's record store and there she was up on the balcony above us looking down at the challenger we rented. I offered her a chance to drive it as a joke!. She signed my song setlist from the show the night before. We got to talk to her and told her how much her music affected us. We were in the front row....and I tell you tears were pouring down our faces. Incredible just amazing
JACQUELINE VAN DASLAAR from Holland wrote
I first heard Beth for the first time quite some years ago at my friend’s house. I don't remember which song was playing, but I thought that she had too much vibration in her voice and I didn't like it. I didn't want to go with my friend to her famous show here in Paradiso when the live album and DVD was recorded. What a crazy fool I was. I'm still blaming myself for that.
A while later I wanted to go to see another concert by another artist. My friend said, I'll join you if you'll join me to see Beth. It seemed a fair deal. I finally saw Beth Hart live and WOW! She just blew me away. I was speechless but excited at the same time. I had goose-bumps all over during that whole show. She made me smile and cry at the same time. Seeing and hearing Beth perform live for the first time is like discovering a whole new world. It's a rollercoaster of emotions. Through her performance, her voice, which is sometimes so full of pain and in all the emotions in her lyrics she touches me so deeply – the feelings in her songs are so recognizable to me. I'm very grateful to my friend for convincing me to come with her and I haven't missed a concert here in Holland since.
Last year I decided to travel to see more of her in different European countries as well. I was always scared to travel all by myself before - for several personal trust issues, but wanting to see and experience Beth live as much as possible made me do it. So I travelled abroad on my own by car several times and conquered my fear of flying on top. I was so inspired by her; she made me do that. I even flew to LA and San Francisco last month, to see her perform over there in her own hometown. This was instead of going to Georgia last November, which I unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute because of personal circumstances.
I'm also a very lucky person in that I got to meet and talk to her several times. I learned that she's not just a great and talented artist, but an amazing, warm, caring, sweet person as well, which is so precious and important to me. I’m dealing with some issues myself, just as she has done, and there are certain private things that have been haunting me my entire life. I convinced myself when I was young that I was not worth anything at all. I taught myself how to wear a mask and built some huge walls around me. I lost many people and close friends. By sharing some things in common, she really is a huge inspiration and a great help to me. It’s because of Beth and seeing her perform at the live gigs that I’m still here. She is giving me the strength to hold on. With her music, her lyrics, her kind words and her personal touch she helps me and some friends of mine more than she'll ever realize and know.
Another great thing about it all is the fact that I have met and connected with a lot of people because of Beth and her music. I have met other fans from abroad too and some are my real friends now. I can't wait for this Spring Tour to see Beth, the band and all my friends again,and I love going abroad again for more of her gigs. I never can thank Beth and the Band enough. Beth AND her band really deserve so many more credits - Beth, Jon, PJ, Bill and Bob, "This one is for you". I Love you all.
I don't talk very easily about myself or my feelings, so this has been tough to write, but Beth is such an open helpful person herself so I wanted to do it for her. I feel honoured to have my story featured in this article –especially if lots more people become aware of her music, her talent and her great personality because of it.
HONZA BERKA from Scotland wrote
I was about 16-17 when I heard and saw the Leave The Light On music video on a German channel and that was it. I then downloaded everything I could find on the Internet for free - which was just a few songs back then including Jacky's Song and Learning To Live which I remember listening to as I was leaving my home country of the Czech Republic . This song really speaks to me about why I had to leave my home and how I felt. Although some of the lyrics suggest a painful experience, I feel like it is a hopeful song and you know that you'll be alright. "I feel like I'm leaving home, like the clouds are parting and I'm not alone". I wasn’t alone as Beth’s music was right there with me. I was obviously scared of the big unknown – I was still pretty young and up until then had always lived with my parents but I felt like I was eventually going to suffocate and needed to leave for "a place where I can lay my shit down, somewhere that I can finally be myself". I needed the whole experience of "learning to live", making mistakes but doing my own thing.
When I got my first wage packet, I bought all of Beth Hart’s albums. Screamin' For My Supper was the first one to arrive. I popped it into my CD player straight away. During Just a Little Hole, I knew I was officially deeply in love with Beth . It was the lyrical power and vocal delivery of the lines “in December I got your letter and by the springtime they let me know you were gone, if I only loved you better, I’d see you smile again but what’s done is done”. I had goose bumps all over. Beth Hart’s music just keeps giving me them and I also get a good feeling that I’ve never, ever had before when I listen to her songs!
Back in those days I'd been hoping for a chance to see her play live just once in my lifetime and since then it’s been more than I'd ever dreamed of. My first gig was in Porstmouth in March 2013, that night was incredible. She signed my CD and I was in heaven as she was holding my hand and singing Don't Explain. I've now seen Beth 8 times in many places including in Paris, where I first met her last year, I have also met her in Prague and most recently in LA & San Francisco. I've now said a few times that "I could die happy". Some of you will definitely hear me say these words out loud again in Amsterdam next month when I will see her again at the VIP meet and greet. I'm a lucky ticket holder to a few more shows after that too – in Milan, Glasgow & Paris again.
I don't want this journey to ever end. I have a tattoo which says “Here in my Heart" and I showed it to Beth when I met her at the stage door of The Albert Hall after her Bluesfest gig last November. It is inspired by her song There In Your Heart, I have this on the left side on my chest but I also have "Life is too short" & "Beautiful Child" tattoo’s taken from the Screamin'... & 37 Days albums. These are on my forearms.
I love Beth Hart so much for so many reasons. Her voice is just out of this world, and her lyrics are just as moving. I showed my grandmother - who doesn’t speak any English - Beth’s performance of Baddest Blues and she actually started crying, she was so moved by it. It was so special for me to see that and it made me love Beth - and my grandmother - even more. This is what Beth’s music does – brings people together. It is such a beautiful gift. And on top of all this, she is the sweetest person and it is just impossible not to care about her. It makes me so happy to see that she loves life more these days and “feel s like flying in circles around the moon”. Keep on shining your light Beth! Most people will never know or understand how much her music means to me and that's cool but other fans will know exactly how I feel!
MICHELLE WHEATON from America wrote:
I discovered Beth in 2005 when I saw her in San Francisco. She was performing an acoustic set as an opening act for another artist. I was extremely impressed. Then I bought the DVD “Live at Paradiso” and became a hardcore fan. Since then I have travelled from California to see Beth in Europe multiple times. I’ve seen her in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. I also flew over to see Beth and Joe Bonamassa record their DVD in Amsterdam. I will be seeing Beth in Denmark again this summer. Beth’s music and live shows are incredibly inspiring and an added bonus is all the great Beth Hart fans I have been able to connect with over the years. I hope to keep doing this forever!
HANNA FUNCH from Denmark wrote
I saw Beth and her band for the first time in 2005...and was totally HOOKED!!!! I also gained a bunch of wonderful new friends who were also her fans….we were the first group of "Rotten Friends"....Me from Denmark and the rest from the US. After 1 year of deep friendship they invited me to come to meet with them all.They surprised me with a flight ticket for my birthday. WOW! I got over there to LA on Nov. 16th 2006 and we all got together for the Knitting Factory show on Nov. 17th. What a surprise for her to see me there. The guys in the band knew I was coming but not Beth. I created the Facebook page Beth-o-holics and wrote a very apt piece called "Are you a Beth-O-holic?" on the groups front page which details all the stages one goes through after discovering her music. I had the most intense experience in my life with that trip to America and I went back again 6 months later. Beth has changed my life...I'll owe her forever for being that miracle that brought the most fantastic people into my life....
EMMA LOUISE FORNEBO ENGER from Norway wrote:
I discovered Beth through a friend in 2010, and after that I just loved her and her music! She has helped me to deal with some serious personal problems, and I wouldn't have come so far if it wasn't for Beth. She literally saved my life. I took a “pinky promise” with her backstage and vowed to her that I’d never self- harm again. I also have a collection of tattoos.
ANNE HELENE NODELAND from Norway wrote:
I'm also going to the gig and the VIP session in Amsterdam and can't wait to meet all these lovely people I've gotten to know a little bit over the internet – all due to Beth Hart and her music. I first heard of Beth in 2011 after she had played an intimate concert in my hometown of Hamar in Norway in December 2010. I had heard she was amazing and that she was coming back to Hamar in june 2011. She was playing at the Hamar Music Festival, and I was working as a volunteer in the Bar. I was SO looking forward to finally seeing and hearing her, but that day there was SOOOO many people at the festival and I didn't get the chance to get away from the bar.
I kept on listening to her music though. I got a CD from a friend that I listened to in my car all the time. The lyrics and her voice did something special for me, and even before I got to know her story in full, I understood that she had been going through a lot and that there were a lot of similarities to our life stories. I've been to three concerts now. Including Oslo, Norway in 2013, Fredrikstad, Norway in july 1014 and her Royal Albert Hall gig in London in 2014. I'm going to Amsterdam, Hamburg and Prague this April, and at least two more this summer.
In Fredrikstad me and my friend Hege got to meet Beth and Scott – totally by accident - at the hotel after the show, and I have to say that that meeting changed my life! Without telling you too much personal stuff I have to say that it has saved my life AND helped med a lot with my daily struggles. She saw straight through me and touched my soul and it was all done in a few minutes. If only she could realize how amazing she is as a person as well as a musician!! I also have a Beth tattoo. It's on my right ankle. The sign that was there from before means a lot and together with Beth's sun and "Setting Me Free" the whole tattoo and meaning of it is now complete.
INGER MARIE EKRE from Norway wrote:
I just discovered Beth back in 2006. I was sitting on the airplane, and they had Leave the light on in their play list. Beth and her music has saved my life more than once. I have struggled with being bipolar too, and even when everything was so dark in my life, her music was with me all the time. She was there for me when no one else was. I have been to many of her concerts but have only travelled in Europe so far. I have lost so many friends because of my illness so it is even more amazing that I have made so many more new friends because of Beth’s music. She will always be my biggest hero. I have some tattoo's of her too...
ANJA OTT from Germany wrote:
I discovered Beth in a pretty unspectacular way really. One day I was flipping through some YouTube clips in search of some videos of Jeff Beck. I was watched the recording of his performance to honour Buddy Guy at the Kennedy Centre. All of a sudden Beth Hart entered the stage and started to sing. I don't know how I managed not to fall off my chair. She blew me away with the very first note. I didn't know her at all.
My journey started with watching almost every clip of hers on YouTube and then ordering every CD I could get my hands on. The day for my first Beth Hart gig in Berlin came in 2013 and it was just unbelievable. I was standing in first row and grabbed the hand written set list after the show. After that I met other fans on facebook and one of them became a really good friend of mine. I met them for the very first time in Paris last year. We met Beth in person a few hours before the show. She was phenomenal. I don't have any tattoos of her but to be honest I don't need them - Beth and her music are always treasured in my heart and will be so forever.
HEGE OSTLI from Norway wrote:
I discovered Beth's music in 2013. My friend Anne Helene Nodeland told me to listen to leave the light on. I did and then I couldn’t stop listening to this beautiful voice. Her music touched my heart. My first concert experience was at Månefestivalen in Fredrikstad in Norway. It was amazing. I met her at the hotel after the show with my friend Anne. Beth is the most Inspiring woman I’ve ever met. This meeting meant so much to me for many reasons. I got a tattoo of the lyrics to her song learning to Live after I met her. I was there for her Bluesfest concert in London, and I was at the Amsterdam VIP event and will be going to her Hamburg gig in April. Her music means everything to me now. Her music makes it easier to hold on when life takes a turn and bites you in the ass.
As you can see from the above stories, Beth Hart appeals to many different people, in many different countries, for many different reasons. All of those fans who love buying her CD’S and going to her gigs are there because she moves them in some way with her voice and her music. Whether they are dancing in the aisles to her up-tempo numbers, or crying at her ballads, they genuinley love her and care about her. She can do no wrong in their eyes. If she forgets the words to a song or plays a very rare bum note on the piano, they forgive her and laugh along with her.
Sometimes her albums take one or two listens before you begin to develop your own favourite tracks. Because she has managed to cross over into other musical genres such as Jazz, Blues, Rock and Gospel, it’s sometimes difficult to pin down her style - just as you get into one album, another one comes along from a slightly different angle to take you off somewhere completely new. She keeps evolving and changing, constantly challenging herself as a songwriter, and she is getting better and better each time.
At the VIP Meet and Greet in Amsterdam, she confessed to us openly that her very tough work schedule had made her feel a bit down over the past few weeks. She told us that when she feels like that, she often doesn’t enjoy performing – but that we’d never guess it from her performance. It is this combination of vunerability and inner strength that draws the fans towards Beth Hart. She is not some Diva standing on a pedestal demanding to be worshipped and living the a life of celebrity. She is a down-to-earth person, who feels things deeply, and goes through all the same doubts and struggles in life that we all do. Beth Hart said that through sharing these thoughts with her fans and by talking about them honestly and openly, it helps her too. The Connections are just as important to her as they are to the fans. The fans support is very dear to her, and she makes sure she gives then what they come for at every gig, regardless of how she is feeling inside.
I am now so glad to be part of the world-wide Beth Hart Family. My life is better for it and I will never get bored listening to her music and doing my own little bit to help promote it. I want others to discover her music too. I believe she is one of the most influential female vocalists of her time and she deserves every bit of success and happiness that comes her way. ……
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC BETH! XXXX
