Kids love Betsy Q. And when kids like something, they want to hear it.
Again. And again. And Again.
Fortunately, Betsy Q. is one of those rare children's performers whose
music can be left running in the car's tape player without giving Mom or Dad the urge to
drive off a cliff.
There are two reasons for that. Betsy Q. was a rock 'n roller for 20
years, and her music retains that influence. And she's raised two kids. She says she
remembers what it's like to be on a long car trip.
The Goochland County resident writes her own songs. They melodies are
singable and bouncy, simple enough for tots to follow but with enough sophistication to
keep them interesting to folks over 4.
The lyrics, which contain a sizable dose of whimsy, offer something for
everyone from toddlers to grade schoolers. Betsy Q. doesn't talk down to her audience. She
speaks straight to them via a childsize imagination. An ordinary milk spill threatens to
overtake every room in the house. A bug in a bowl of soup becomes an elephant. Squirrels
in the trees viewed from a hammock talk back.
Most of her concerts are closed affairs, at schools
for central Virginia to Newport
News. She has been recommended by the American Library Association and recently
started playing some concerts in libraries.
She usually comes to the Peninsula once or twice a year for a public
concert. This one will benefit the American Cancer Society, and it's in honor of her late
father, Charles Quaiff Sr. (The "Q" in Betsy Q. is for her maiden name.)
Betsy Q. didn't start writing for children until her own were grown.
"I was a rock 'n' roll mom," she says. "I had purple and blue hair when I
was going to PTA meetings."
About six years ago, her last rock band, "The Rare",
dissolved, and she started receding her first children's tape, "Butterfly
in My Soup." Then she hit the kids' concert circuit. The hours are better, she
says, and she prefers the audience.
"It's just great to get honest feedback from children," she
says. If they don't like you, they let you know."
And if they do like her, they let her know. "I get a lot of hugs
and kisses."
