Crystal Beth unleashes her first full-length studio record, PUSH THRU, a solo incarnation using wailing vocals, amplified clarinet, beat-boxing and electronics to weave a sonic universe all her own. She has been described as “world music from an imaginary planet..quite compelling & magical” (Seattle Times), ”a supremely versatile and virtuosic maverick” (The Stranger), and “one of the most fearless and innovative musicians in the city…” (Earshot Jazz). Known for crafting aural rituals that encompass industrial chants, alien disco breaks, heart gushings, and robot love songs, Crystal Beth redefines the possibilities of the voice and clarinet in tight experimental pop songs and undulating, cathartic noise cries. Crafting moments that ricochet between meditation and a full body purge, she is an electric, adrenaline inducing performer voted Seattle’s Best Classical Musician and nominated for NW Vocalist of the Year. Under her full name, Beth Fleenor, she has been featured on recordings with polymaths including Wayne Horvitz, Jherek Bischoff, and Julie Slick, among many others. PUSH THRU is now available through 7d Media.
“….fare perhaps best described as world music from an imaginary planet….quite compelling and magical….” (Seattle Times)
“Crystal Beth creates her own sonic cult through stage thrashing her way through “cathartic hardcore purge pop,” and wielding psychedelic clarinet melodies and bethnic chants.” (The Stranger)
“If you’re getting tired of music that’s even remotely formulaic, {Crystal Beth} is for you. Her experimental mixing of genres is powerful and refreshing.” (Seattle Weekly)
ABOUT THE BAND (FOR SOLO INFO SCROLL DOWN)
Part rock show, part motivational conference, part cathartic release ritual, part dance party CRYSTAL BETH & THE BOOM BOOM BAND is ferociously powerful, psychedelic clarinet and primal scream fronted rock band. Crystal Beth spits electric fire and cleansing water in dense currents of bethnic chants created to unblock your nervous system and drop that dopamine!
With the reflexes of a mongoose and the swagger of a leftist John Wayne, Crystal Beth spins her own universe of cathartic hardcore purge pop art punk, brandishing a sword of Boom Boom liberation – sweaty, trance inducing, heart-pouring – these are sonic cupcakes for your soul.
Known for pulling listeners in off the streets and into some deeply emotional release states, and dance-y good times, the project was described by one audience member as “what happens if you cross Frank Zappa, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, and Janice Joplin,” and by another as “some crazy combination of Bjork & Mike Patton, but with a voice truly her own.”
The Boom Boom Band features Crystal Beth (aka: Beth Fleenor) on clarinet & vocals with Kathy Moore (guitar), Michael Owcharuk (keyboard), Julie Slick (bass) and Adam Kozie (drums).
*Crystal Beth is a psychoactive stimulant that increases alertness, concentration, and energy, and in high doses, can induce euphoria, enhance self-esteem, and increase libido.
LISTEN TO CRYSTAL BETH ON BANDCAMP: https://crystalbeth.bandcamp.com/
“You can find {Crystal Beth} fearlessly indulging her wildest creative inklings whenever she materializes in a musical forum…Crystal Beth & the Boom Boom Band falls somewhere between the grisly skronk-punk of Stickers and earthy freak-indie of tUnE-yArDs, but even fans of those left-of-center acts will be thrown for a loop. Wailing vocals not bound to any conventions but {her} own, paired with percussive “Bethnic chants,” are set over freely drawn jazz figures and world-y rhythms.” (the Stranger)
“Beth Fleenor – aka Crystal Beth – is an undeniable, unstoppable musical force, and one of Seattle’s treasures. She uses her voice and clarinet – not to mention the deep connections she forms with her collaborators – to channel strange, disturbing, and beautiful sounds into existence from beyond most of our imaginings. “Battle Cry” has no words that would be recognized in any language, but words would be needless ornament here. The band’s joyful, stomping skronk and Beth’s chants and shrieks bypass the language centers of the brain and drill directly into the deepest, primal folds, beckoning you to surrender to sound, to find peace and clarity through a modicum of musical insanity.” (Ball of Wax)
“Crystal Beth & the Boom Boom Band are what happens when accomplished jazz musicians decide to take a reckless holiday in the rock realm. The Seattle group—led by the feral vocalizing and bass clarinet of Crystal Beth and featuring the flagrantly virtuosic guitar of Tristan Gianola—assay a kind of artful, deranged rock that recalls the Dirty Three and the Geraldine Fibbers at their most agitated and, alternately, at their most lugubrious. Check out the waltz-time rager of “Flesh” off Yugen 3 for evidence of the former.” (the Stranger)
“Each song by Crystal Beth & The Boom Boom Band is so different that it’s difficult to describe their sound, but I will give it a shot. The five-piece group makes multi-instrumental psychedelic jam rock with a sense of humor. Singer/songwriter Crystal Beth’s (Beth Fleenor) vocal chords seeming possessed by a different and equally talented spirit on each song. Always shocking. Always odd. Never boring.” (Tim Basaraba / Nada Mucho)
CRYSTAL BETH (SOLO)
When performing without the Boom Boom Band, Crystal Beth (solo) spins sound using voice, clarinet, loops and effects, weaving a participatory aural ritual that encompasses urban chants, alien disco breaks, heart gushings, and robot love songs.Believing that “art is the discipline of being,” Crystal Beth seeks to use sound to open the channels of communication between and within individuals and environments.
Beth Fleenor 