Acoustic rock quartet Redhead Betty Takeout will celebrate Thanksgiving Eve at Triumph Brewing Co. in New Hope, Pa.
By: Matt Smith
Redhead Betty Takeout started as a cover band in the mid-’90s and will play its fair share of crowd-pleasing classics at Triumph Brewing Co. in New Hope, Pa., Nov. 23.
These days, however, the Main Line-based acoustic quartet is gradually shifting its focus to original music. Earlier this year, the quartet released an EP, Solace Sessions, and the band traveled to Burbank, Calif., last week to record another EP with producer Mike Post. Redhead Betty Takeout also used the trip to film a video for its Solace Sessions song "2am."
"We’ve been trying to write a lot," says guitarist/vocalist Tim O’Donnell, who lives in Doylestown, Pa. "We’ve always done it. We’d come up with songs once in a while and slip them into shows. Now we’re saying, ‘Let’s take a look at what we’re writing. Do we like what we’re communicating, what we’re trying to say? Are we coming from an honest place?’
"We’ve been taking a look at the greats," Mr. O’Donnell continues, "the people we admire, asking, ‘Why are their songs so good?’"
Named for the crush of one of Mr. O’Donnell’s friends at West Chester University (she worked at a take-out restaurant), the band also includes singer Neil McGettigan, guitarist/vocalist Drew Rolli and bassist Alex Long. Redhead Betty Takeout hopes to use the California-recorded EP as a demo to send to radio stations, record labels and management companies.
Mr. O’Donnell says the band will play two long sets at Triumph the night before Thanksgiving, and pepper the first half of the first set with original tunes before people are partying too hard to fully appreciate them. "We like to have people’s attention," he says.
Although a popular bar band that’s been together for more than a decade, Redhead Betty Takeout has never before played the night before Thanksgiving.
"The offers always pour in," says Mr. O’Donnell, "but it was always, ‘Thank you very much, but no thank you’… This year I’ll be in town, and everybody else will be in town, so we’re going to see what all the hoopla is about."
Redhead Betty Takeout recently played a 10th anniversary concert, and Mr. O’Donnell is proud of the band’s longevity.
"For how long we’ve been together," he says, "we’ve sort of gotten over a hump in our relationship. In bands like U2 or the Rolling Stones, it’s like a marriage at this point. They’ve had their squabbles but realize it’s about something bigger than them. With these guys, it’s the same way. We see the bigger picture. We really want to write some music that touches some people."
Redhead Betty Takeout will play Triumph Brewing Co., 400 Union Square, New Hope, Pa., Nov. 23, 10 p.m. For information, call (215) 862-8300. On the Web: www.triumphbrew.com. Redhead Betty Takeout on the Web: www.redheadbettytakeout.com

