Soul singer Bettye LaVette

Episode notes

Photo by Danny Clinch / ANTI- Records

Bettye LaVette is a singer with over 60 years in the game. She’s recorded dozens of albums with record labels like Atlantic, Motown and more.

Since the early 2000s, Bettye’s released a series of eclectic, inspired albums where she’s recorded her take on songs by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Fiona Apple, and even Led Zeppelin.

Her 2008 record, The Scene of the Crime, earned her a Grammy nomination. Since then, she’s earned five more Grammy nominations for her performance in the Blues and R&B genre.

This year, Bettye released a new album. It’s called LaVette!

It’s an album of music written by Randall Bramblett, a solo and session musician who’s worked with Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman and Steve Winwood, among many others.

On Bullseye, Bettye LaVette stops by to chat about her latest album LaVette! She gets into her childhood and her long, tumultuous path to music. Plus, Bettye lets us in on how she chooses the songs she wants to record.

‘LaVette!’ is out now. You can catch Bettye LaVette on tour, too. Tickets are available here.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Bettye LaVette

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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