Aunt Bettys – Off the Record

In April 2024, the Aunt Bettys reunited for the first time in nearly fifteen years at a tribute concert for Michael Knott. With a rotating cast of vocalists stepping in for their late friend, the band tore through three classics. The performance was electric, and when it was over, something had shifted.

Backed by the response to the vinyl reissue Kickstarter, the band went back into the studio to record Off the Record, a five-song collection revisiting some of the album's standout tracks with a line-up of friends breathing new life into the words.

• Michele Palmer (Adam Again) brings defiance to "Mother Trucker."
• Seth Roberts (Watashi Wa) channels the manic energy of "Star Baby."
• Bill Campbell (The Throes) takes on "Rocket & A Bomb," alongside Knott's daughter Stormie Fraser.
• Steve Hindalong (The Choir) steps from behind the bongos and takes over vocals on "Double," bolstered by the mournful sounds of Matt Slocum's cello and Rick McDonough's lap steel guitar.
• Ryan Lee Mead, who leads the band GoForth (with Bettys members Andrew Carter & Chuck Cummings) closes out on "Rock & Roll."

Chris Colbert, Mike's studio engineer in the early days of Blonde Vinyl, and now a Grammy-winning engineer in his own right, steps back into the role with a strong analog mix and master. The result is a record that sounds like it could have been made in an alternate version of 1996.

The EP's cover features an early pencil sketch by Stephen Cefalo, a study drawing for the paintings that adorn the recent Aunt Bettys vinyl reissue. It's honest, unfinished, and raw, exactly like these recordings.

Off the Record isn't a replacement or a tribute album in the classic sense. It's the Bettys doing what they do best, rocking with the speakers up, while acknowledging the absence at the center of it all.