There are very few things in life that can persuade me to 1) drag myself down to Broadway on a Friday night (or downtown Nashville in general), 2) pay for parking, and 3) subject myself to the tourists and colorful individuals who frequent places like the Hard Rock Cafe. But a B.ET.A. show is one of them. The fifth act in a rather bizarre Friday night lineup of singer/songwriters and indie rock bands, B.ET.A. stood out with her electro-infused dance pop, persuading all of the stragglers and early arrivals to actually stay for her set, despite having sat through four other performers. These included John Flanagan, The Dirty Holidays, Amanda Price, and Dom Liberati. We were actually kind of disappointed we didn’t get to catch John Flanagan, who played first, because he sounds like Mika, and he’s equally as pretty.

Once B.ET.A.’s set rolled around, we were thoroughly entertained. Bottles were poppin’, Cristal was flowin’, and everyone was waiting to dance to the infectious songs that B.ET.A. has rapidly become known for, including “This Beat Is My Bitch,” “Welcome to Queendom,” and “Superfabulous.” Friday night was probably only B.ET.A.’s fourth “real” show in Nashville, but it was evident that she’s gained some fans with every performance, because you could see a number of people singing along and exhibiting the all-too-familiar, skanky behavior that her music seems to provoke. This is understandable, however, because she blends the best of all that is mainstream dance pop.

Obvious influences include Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, and even a little Leona Lewis. B.ET.A. is a standout, however, because her talent and creativity extend far beyond the stereotypical dance pop diva, as well as the image she has created for herself. She writes her own songs, she plays the piano quite well, and her vocal capabilities are enviable by any female singer/songwriter–most certainly by female pop vocalists, who are typically recognized for everything except their singing voices. If you know what I mean 😉 It’ll do Nashville some good to have the added variety and flavor that B.ET.A. brings to an over-saturated scene of country, indie folk, and indie rock.

While B.ET.A. doesn’t have any live shows coming up, she will be coming out with a new single later this month, and is tentatively releasing her debut EP in January. In the meantime, download a free single of the song, “Welcome to Queendom.”–Erin Manning

Thursday night turned into a minor show-hopping adventure, when we showed up at 12th and Porter much too early to hear the Brooklyn-based band, Hank & Cupcakes, open up for Garrison Starr’s CD Release Show. To kill some time in a productive, yet entertaining way, we decided to saunter over to Mercy Lounge, where Tallest Trees, Kopecky Family Band, and Kyle Andrews were playing. Much to our dismay, we arrived to hear that Tallest Trees would no longer be performing–something about the lead singer falling over the side of an escalator…? That’s a lie. We heard the poor guy just had bronchitis, but we didn’t care too much because that just meant that we cut to the chase with hearing Nashville’s darling little indie group, Kopecky Family Band, who were just delightful.

They played mostly songs from “The Disaster” EP, and chose to open up the show with the jangly pop tune “Howlin’ at the Moon,” which is from their brand new collection of B-sides “(Of Epic Proportions).”  The always-energetic group then launched into several of their most CMJ/NPR buzzworthy songs “Birds,” and “Lucky,” where their classical influences shined alongside Kelsey Kopecky and Gabe Simon’s floating harmonies.  Towards the end of “God & Me,” the entire band (all seven of them) proved that they are deserving of the attention they’ve been receiving as of late, with a climactic choir of “woah’s” and the usual Kopecky on-stage antics, i.e. dancing and tambourines being thrown haphazardly in all directions.

Afterwards, we skedaddled back to 12th and Porter, hoping to catch Garrison Starr. Unfortunately, we were only able to hear the DnB dance duo, Hank & Cupcakes. When we say “unfortunately,” we actually mean fortunately, because they sweetly shocked our systems more than a boom box in a library and left us wanting to go out booty-dancin’ into the wee hours at Graham Central Station. Too bad they won’t be playing in Nashville again sooner. They were the perfect end to our Thursday night.--Erin Manning