Betsy Wise
Welcome to Betsy Wise Songs! I live a life steeped in music, teaching and gigging, with a strong belief in the healing and transformative power of music.I have been making music my whole life starting with classical piano and singing harmony with my family. I began songwriting as a teenager inspired by songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Nancy Griffith, and 60’s rock and roll.
With degrees in Art and Elementary Education, I have 25 years of experience teaching, singer/songwriter gigging, and harmony singing in the long-standing Bozeman rock band Hooligans. I have played recently in musical endeavors such as White Sage, Acony Belles, and most recently Betsy and Johnny, with John Sanders on upright bass. The duo also expands with fiddle and mandolin when the need arises.
Emphasis on voice empowerment is a key element to my teaching. In addition to Song Bird Studio I lead the Bozeman chapter of the Montana Women’s Chorus, a non-auditioned , community building, voice empowerment chorus.
Betsy Wise Duo
Betsy and Johnny
Playing locally for 2 years together, Betsy and Johnny is comprised of John Sanders on upright bass and myself on vocals, guitar, acoustic or electric, banjo, and uke.
The addition of fiddle or mandolin is not uncommon.
We play a mix of my originals and other eclectic covers from Bonnie Raitt and Nora Jones, to Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, or the Grateful Dead. The sound is laid back but full of groove. Not too loud for dinner but present enough for a waltz.
“Betsy has a voice that feels like home. It is soothing and effortless and versatile. Her songs are poignant and relatable on so many levels. When I listen to her music there is a physical change within me. My shoulders descend, my mind is calmed, and a smile appears out of nowhere. Betsy Wise is the whole package.”
- Carri Roberge
Contact Betsy for a booking.
My New CD!
Betsy Wise
“Honored to be a part of this dignified and groovy musical creation of long time friend Betsy Wise. The songs are great, and the album plays with the emotional arc of a seasoned singer songwriter. John Sanders delivers amazing bass parts. A host of other wonderful players also contributed, including: Megan Makeever Ali, Amy Leach, Michael Gillan, Chelsea Hunt, Silas Rae, Chris Cundy, Shaun Phoenix, Stormi Oshun ... each in perfect resonance with the songs. It's a great album, worthy of close and repeated listenings... and sharing with friends. Congrats Betsy!”
- Chris Cunningham- Basecamp Studios
“Love this CD! Betsy has found a way to transport you to a place of peace and calm and leaves you energized!”
- Jana Rasmussen
My First CD - First Love
“This collection of songs is for all the things I love first - My family, incredible friends, my life, a song with a groove, and the divine that surrounds us.”
- Besty Wise
To order First Love, Contact Betsy
Songbird Studio
Instruction in: Voice, Guitar, Ukulele, Songwriting, and Beginning Claw Hammer Banjo.
My goal as a music teacher is to empower the musicality in each person who comes to my studio. I love the challenge of finding how each student learns and to meet them there.
Mostly, I want my students to have fun and leave feeling uplifted by music and successful knowing they are building skills and knowledge and actually making music.
I have students of all ages and abilities from small children and budding teenage songwriters, to middle-aged first-time instrument players or people looking to learn something new about the guitar or their voice.
Located in downtown Bozeman my studio is a warm, peaceful, and inviting place to learn how musical you are, or to step up your skills on an instrument you already play.
“I took guitar lessons from Betsy for nearly 4 years. She taught me to understand the instrument, to play the chords, and even to write my own music. But more importantly, Betsy showed me how to love music, to love learning about music and how to create my own. She is now an amazing friend and someone I will always look up to.
Sincerely, Bethany” (14)
Contact Betsy for lesson openings.
SummerSing
I also teach every summer at SummerSing, a week long women’s instrument, art, and chorus camp directed by Judy Fjell at Boulder Hot Springs. There I offer guitar, choral, and songwriting instruction.
"Betsy Wise is one of Montana’s contemporary treasures. She’s got a voice that’s smooth and easy, with a guitar style to match. Her open-hearted warmth and generosity touch her audiences, whether she’s leading an informal singalong or performing at a big concert venue."
- Montana Singer-Songwriter and Musical Activist Judy Fjell
KGVM Interview - Local Musician’s Spotlight
December 18, 2019
Montana Women's Chorus
Founded by Judy Fjell in 1990 and spread across Montana in Bozeman, Helena, and Missoula, the Montana Women’s Chorus is a non-auditioned women’s voice empowerment chorus open to singers of all abilities.
Since 2010, I have led the Montana Women’s Chorus here in Bozeman. The Chorus meets twice monthly for rehearsals. We sing for Earth, the children, Women’s rights, and the good of all. Mostly we gather together to create community and strength through vocal expression.
“Montana Women’s Chorus is more than singing beautiful uplifting songs of healing with awesome women from all backgrounds. It is more than an activity to get me out of the house and meet people. It is where I am filled up just by showing up - regardless of how crummy I may have felt when I arrived.
Betsy has a unique ability to make every person in the room feel seen and heard. She leads with grace and patience and love. I am a better person because of it. “
- Carri Roberge
Contact Betsy for info on rehearsals
Celebrating Women
I am currently the coordinator of Celebrating Women, an annual women’s soul filling retreat at Boulder Hot Springs, MT. I have been involved in the organizing of Celebrating Women since 2001.
The mission of Celebrating Women is to foster women's community, inspire and empower women to realize their dreams, plant seeds for a better world, and have fun!
www.celebratingwomenmt.com
Betsy with the Hooligans
I have been singing with Hooligans since I met Tom Garnsey in 1989. I love a chance to rock and to be a part of something bigger than myself. Singing harmony is a great passion and love of mine since childhood.
