Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center will welcome Bet Williams to West Chester, as she returns to her Philadelphia-area roots on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 PM.

Williams launched her singing career with The Bookends at Penn State University, and the Bet Williams Trio is always a popular act at regional folk festivals.

A long-time favorite on the Americana music scene, Williams left the U.S. more than 10 years ago to tour extensively in Europe. Now, she’s back with her original trio – which includes Kevin MacConnell on upright bass and Dave Biddison on drums – to perform her humorous classics, radio hits, sultry, and serious songs and to debut some new material.

With an astounding, four-octave-range voice, clever lyrics, and a charismatic stage presence, Williams infatuates audiences with “superhuman reserves of energy,” according to The New York Daily News. Full of raw emotion and a startling honesty, she ventures places most singer/songwriters hesitate to go.

The Philadelphia Inquirer said that “her lyrics are at once thought-provoking and humorous, poetic and passionate. The emphasis is on rootsy, blues-influenced music that showcases her four-octave powerhouse voice.”

On festival stages or in small theaters, Williams creates huge soundscapes with her voice and acoustic guitar that reach beyond the boundaries of folk, blues, world music, or rock.

“Bet Williams is a performer who is seething with life,” according to NPR.

No wonder she has appeared on stages with artists such as Taj Mahal, Joan Osborne, Herbie Hancock, Arlo Guthrie, and Lucinda Williams.

Armed with beautiful melodies, an extraordinary voice, and an intricate rhythmic guitar style, Williams’s songs come to life through the power of their stories. Whether it’s the humorous “Barbecue Song” (in which audiences often sing along and wave spatulas in celebration) or a stunning a cappella piece about a woman’s tragic life in Afghanistan, she uses her vast world travels to fuel her writing and give voice to revolutions of the heart and mind.

All are welcome to attend a reception with Williams after the show, a meet-and-greet birthday celebration. Click here for tickets.

[uam_ad id=”80503″]

.

[uam_ad id=”80502″]