Heavens to Betsy, the feminist punk duo comprising drummer Tracy Sawyer and singer-guitarist Corin Tucker, have announced their first performances in over three decades. The reunion began with an unannounced DIY show at an intimate Portland venue in June, promoted through handmade flyers that drew immediate ticket sales from devoted fans. The band’s last active period ended in 1994, though they have maintained periodic contact over the intervening years.
The reunion came after their original label, Kill Rock Stars, approached the musicians about reissuing a long-circulating 1992 demo. The label subsequently suggested a performance, which both Tucker and Sawyer initially approached with uncertainty. The demo, recorded on a borrowed four-track cassette and originally distributed on roughly 100 dubbed cassettes, is being officially released as part of a new LP titled Baby’s Gone, which also includes material from two 7-inch EPs. The band’s upcoming tour will span the United States.
Tucker and Sawyer formed Heavens to Betsy while in their late teens and early twenties, starting their musical journey after a cross-country trip to study the independent music scene in Athens, Georgia. They delivered their first-ever performance at the International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia, Washington, in the mid-1990s, a now-legendary festival that also featured acts including Fugazi and Bikini Kill. During their active period from 1991 to 1994, the band released one album, Calculated, and became recognized as part of riot grrrl’s foundational roster alongside Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.
The band’s body of work addressed feminist themes including bodily autonomy, sexual abuse, and economic justice through sparse arrangements and emotionally direct songwriting. Both members are now in their early 50s, a shift Tucker acknowledges requires adaptation for live performance while maintaining the uncompromising tone that defined their original recordings. The reunion has drawn attention from younger audiences who discovered the band’s catalog through subsequent generations of feminist punk and DIY music communities.
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