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Tetzlaff Wins Holiday CD Awanrd
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Overcoming Adversity
In 1999, she piced it back up. She even had her own radio show played on stations in Tennessee and Kentucky. One day, she received a call from Ben Herman, a member of the Tennessee Country Music Association. He had listened to her radio show and asked her to join their organization, which she did. The association has a yearly competition for members to enter songs they've written and sung. At the end of the program, the entrants are awarded. Tetzlaff has won 14 Tennessee State awards since joining the organization. That membership lead to a membership in the National American Country Music Association and more competitions and more awards. Last year, she was awarded the top entertainer award and top vocalist and walked out of the competition with seven awards total. The day of our interview, she was planning to leave for her fourth year of competition in the national association at Pigeon Forge, Tenn. She was looking forward to the event. Due to her business obligations, she was only able to enter her new album and some songs in this year's competition. She wasn't able to perform them live as she did last year. Tetzlaff and her husband, Paul, run a successful vending machine company. They have the contract with the State of Indiana to run the machines at the rest areas on I-65 at the 231 mile marker, in Jasper County. She said she was an advocate to get the federal rights to vending machines for the blind throughout the country. She and her husband first ran their bushiness in Evansville, Ind., and when the lucrative Kankakee area opened up, they jumped at the opportunity to move to northwest Indiana. This was in 1986. "It was a fantastic move," Tetzlaff said. She explained they are responsible for the "whole nine yards" filling machines, maintenance and keeping them clean and presentable. Paul is also her manager for her music career and keeps all her engagements organized. He is instrumental in getting her singing engagements and selling her many albums, 21 in all. They recently updated her Web site, www.bettytetzlaff.com, where visitors to the site can listen to whole songs. She explained that previously, only snippets of her songs were available on her site but she wanted people to be able to hear the whole song. Her albums are available for sale on the site as well. Keeping her family's traditions, two of Tetzlaff's daughters sing with her. A couple of her albums feature them as well. One daughter, Rita Edwards, who lives in Evansville, has sung on several of her mother's albums and has performed with her in Tennessee. Another daughter, Debra Spangler, a teacher at the Rensselaer middle school, has also been involved in making music with her mother. Edwards is accompanying her mother on this trip to Tennessee to be her camera person and to offer her support. She and Betty will be going to Italy in the summer to site see and to promote her albums in that country as well. Tetzlaff has had interest on her Web site from Australia and she wants to broaden her fan base to Europe, starting with Italy. This will be her first trip outside the United States. Her husband doesn't plan to leave this country and will stay to work to keep the vending machines filled during the busy summer months. Once legally blind himself, he has had successful surgery that gave him back his eyesight about two years ago. Betty, too, hopes to have the surgery done but has to wait for it to be approved in this country. The surgery is still considered experimental although it has been done all over the US. Paul's doctor, Betty said, is one of the top surgeons in the state, "or the world". He has examined her and agreed she is a candidate for the new procedure. She's hopeful it will be approved soon but says, "If it doesn't happen, it's not going to crush me."Nothing has so far! She likes to perform and often does so for a little, if any, fee. She has been performing for free at the local V.F.W. and will soon begin performing at the Roselawn American Legion, beginning on April 4 as part of their new "Music Jam" sessions, conducted in conjunction with their Friday night fish fry's. Entry to the music session is free. The night promises country, gospel and bluegrass music with a large dance floor. The fish fry runs from 5-8 p.m. and the Music Jam runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Come for fish, stay for the music. The Roselawn American Legion is located on State Road 10 between I-65 and State Road 55 in Indiana, just east of the railroad tracks on the south side of the road on the top of the hill. She will also be performing for the United Methodist Women at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Rensselaer on May 7. |
Local Country Music Artist Brings Home Seven Awards
Tetzlaff explained there were six women in competition in the category for female vocalist. She was surprised and delighted when her name was announced for the award. She was even more surprised and elated when she was again announced as winner of the Female Entertainer of the Year. She said, " I told a joke. That must have done it." Her joke went something like this: "I heard about this man who was so stingy, he wouldn't give his wife any money. When the man became ill and facing death, he told his wife he had $20,000 and made her promise to bury the money with him when he died. The wife being dutiful promised to do just that. Tetzlaff brought home five more awards, Songwriter of the Year for her Holiday song, "Remember Our Savior," a Christmas song; Most Promising Songwriter of the Year for her gospel album, "Jesus Loves Me," Most Promising Songwriter of the Year for her Gospel song, "Beyond The Rainbow," Most Promising Songwriter of the Year for her country album, "Come Back Darling," Most Promising Songwriter of the Year for her country song, "Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose." The awards were presented after a weekend of competition by TCMA members on Nov. 5. Tetzlaff was accompanied by her daughter and her grandson. Tetzlaff, who is legally blind, has been singing all her life. She said she "got serious and started writing songs 10 years ago." She sings with a gospel group called "Soul Singers" and her family group, "The Spears Family." She decided to go on her own and write music as well as sing. In her first competition last year in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., she brought home four awards. She then competed in the National North American Music Association International held in March of this year where she was awarded the 2006 Most Promising Songwriter of the Year for her holiday song, "Christmas Is The Best Time Of The Year." She also won the 2006 Rising Star Songwriter of the Year for her gospel song, "Mother's Love." With those awards under her belt, she was ready for this year's competition in October. Tetzlaff is planning a Christmas album to take with her when she heads to the national competition in March. She decided to make a Christmas album since two of her holiday songs have received awards. She has already done most of the vocals for the album. It is ready togo to her production company for he graphics and producing. She plans to have a new gospel album that should be finished by summer. She is working on it at this time. While in Tennessee, she looks forward to singing in Nashville at the Lymon Auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry first started. There is a guitar that sits on the stage. She looks forward to getting on stage and playing that guitar. She plays both the guitar and piano besides being a talented singer/songwriter. Tetzlaff has done 16 albums altogether, some with family members. She sings with her daughters, Rita Edwards and Debbie Spangler. Their collaborative album in entitled, "Beyond The Rainbow." All of her albums are available through her web site, www.bettytetzlaff.com and are also available at the DeMotte rest area on I-65 at mile marker 231 where she runs a vending machine business. Tetzlaff can be seen performing at the Lowell VFW once a month. Her next performance will be Dec. 2. The VFW offers a night of nice, clean fun once a month, no alcohol is served. She said, "They have a nice dance floor. People just come out and dance and just enjoy themselves." She also attends the Jam Sessions held at the Fase Senior Center in DeMotte. The sessions start at noon and last until 3 p.m. On the third Friday of the month, an evening Jam Session is held from 6-10. She enjoys singing at both these events. And of course, she sings in church every Sunday at the Lighthouse Gospel Church in Shelby. |
Local Gospel Musician Receives Two Awards
Each of these awards came with a trophy that was presented at an awards ceremony held on March 12. Special guest star Stella Parton, sister of Dolly Parton, appeared on Sunday. People from across the United States, Canada an New Zealand attended this week long event. On Thursday the entertainers attended the Hall of Fame Awards Show. Entertainment included Rhonda Vincent and her bluegrass band Rage. Following Rhonda was Mr. Whispering Bill Anderson and his country band. Miss Jeanne Pruitt was Mistress of Ceremonies. Also appearing was Monty Robbins, the son of Hall of Fame Legend winner Marty Robbins, to accept his fathers award. Accepting for Skeeter Davis, another Hall of Fame Legend winner, was her sister Carolyn Sue Pennick. |
Music of the Soul
And now she can add one more - four Tennessee Country Music Association awards. Last month, the DeMotte resident received the four awards, including songwriter of the year and most promising female vocalist of the year, at an annual Tennessee Country Music Association contest in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The awards were the culmination of years of hard work and discipline for Tetzlaff who has been singing for 35 years, the past eight of those years seriously. In addition to recording and singing alone, she has recorded albums with other artists, including her daughters Rita Edwards of Evansville and Debra Spangler of Rensselaer, as well as local gospel group "The Soul Singers", who she also performs with regularly. Tetzlaff, who is legally blind, also plays two instruments - the piano, which she has played for 22 years, and guitar, which she has played for 30 years. Her decision to begin sharing her musical talents by writing her own songs was a family-based one. Tetzlaff's older brothers were song writers as well as her sister. "I thought I'm just going to give it a shot, too," she said. "It's particularly nice to sing a song that you've written. It's a lot of hard work, but it's rewarding," she explained. "I love song writing...It's just part of my life now." Tetzlaff's music can be heard during her local solo performances as well as her performances with The Soul Singers, on area juke boxes including one at Rico's in Rensselaer and the Lowell VFW and on seven different radio stations, including WLQI at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. In fact, Tetzlaff credits her performances that air on radio stations in Tennessee as contributing factors to her recent award wins from the Tennessee Country Music Association. She received the four awards on Oct. 23 after performing on Oct. 22 at the Showplace Dinner Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. A member of TCMA, Tetzlaff was invited to compete in the annual contest; this was her first time to compete in it. As a competitor, she was allowed to perform two songs but could also enter two to her songs as well as an album. She chose to perform two gospel songs, "Heaven is a Beautiful Place" and "God's Amazing Grace". Her performance garnered her the "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year Award" for 2005. The two songs she entered also earned her awards. The first song, "Don't Let Time Slip Away", tells the story of a girl whose parents get divorced. "It's sad but it's pretty, and it's about life, stuff that happens today," Tetzlaff said of the song that earned her the "Most Promising Song of the Year Award". The second song, "Childhood Memories," was written about her own childhood. "My mom used to read me the Bible and take me to church," she said. However, as an adult, Tetzlaff became busy and grew away from her mother's teaching before returning to the Lord. "Childhood Memories" earned Tetzlaff the Horizon Award for Songwriter of the Year. "I've been writing songs for about eight years seriously and to have a couple of them recognized - it was so great," she said. The final award Tetzlaff received on Oct. 23 was "Album of the Year" for her country album, "I Love You, Darling". "There was a lot of folks there from Tennessee, and for me to walk off with the album of the year, I thought that was so cool," she said. Tetzlaff's awards at the 11th Annual TCMA contest earned her the right to compete at the ninth annual national contest, scheduled for March in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. "I hope I win something there," Tetzlaff said of the contest. Wen she competes in March, she will be required to use new material. "I got it ready to go," she said, explaining that the two songs she will perform are "Beyond the Rainbow", a song about missing children, and "We're Going Home". "They're two of my favorites," Tetzlaff said. Tetzlaff's recent awards did not come without a lot of hard work and dedication. "Everyday I work on my music," she said, noting if she is not writing a song, she is working on the details of a song she has already written. "If you really want to sing and write music, you've just got to devote time to yourself," she said. She also noted that an aspiring songwriter must be willing to write down their ideas whenever they get them. "If I get a good idea for a song at 3 a.m., I get up at 3 a.m. and start it," she said. "You have to be disciplined and set the time aside every day." For Tetzlaff, her regularly set aside time is early in the morning, from 6 to 8:30 a.m. "while the mind is fresh," she said. She credits bother her family and her faith for the success she has achieved in her performing, recording and writing. "I really appreciate my two daughters helping me with my "Beyond the Rainbow" CD last year," she said of daughters Rita and Debra. Tetzlaff also has three sons, William M. Glaser and Lester T. Glaser, both of Indianapolis and Charles A. Glaser of DeMotte. "I really couldn't do what I do without God's help and without my husband's help," she added. "He (her husband Paul) is such a big help to me". Tetzlaff is working on her 16th album. For more information on Tetzlaff and her previous work, visit her web site, www.bettytetzlaff.com. |
Local Group Releases CD
Nine of the 14 songs on the new disc are originals written by Tetzlaff herself, the rest are standard gospel tunes, like "Amazing Grace" and "Precious Memories". "I do a lot of songwriting, and I just love it," Tetzlaff said. Fans of local radio station WLQI's Sunday morning programming will recognize Tetzlaff's music from her show each week at 10 a.m., and she also recently performed at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Rensselaer. The group - which includes Tetzlaff, her husband Paul, Ron and Gladys Donahue with their daughter Christina - has been playing together for five years. They met at the Southlake Baptist Church (now the Gospel Lighthouse Church) in Shelby, where they were all attending. "We just all enjoyed music and started playing together," Tetzlaff said. |
Dear Betty & Soul Singers, Thank you for sharing your time and talents with us here in Downtown Lowell. I think it is so wonderful that God was praised and glorified in public along the streets of our Downtown! You all are so good! Your own compositions were very powerful! Thank you for helping The LDMA to provide these wonderful Free Downtown Events to the Community! We Wish You Much Happiness and Success! Mona, LDMA Representative |
An 'Easter Bunny Walk-A-Long' is planned this Saturday, April 10, in downtown Lowell. It is the first of 11 free community events planned for the year by the Lowell Downtown Merchants Association (LDMA), and the arrival of spring. The Easter Bunny will greet children, distribute candy treats and pose for photographs (a photographer will be available) along the downtown sidewalks from 11:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. Saturday. "What makes the event so much fun is the anticipation of the children," said shop owner Pete Yaselsky. The Easter Bunny could be anywhere, walking up and down the sidewalk or coming out of a shop, and the kids get so excited at each 'bunny sighting'". Adding to the festive atmosphere, 'The Soul Singers' will perform downtown from 11:00a.m. to 3:00p.m., bringing their own brand of gospel music to the streets of Lowell after impressing spectators last December at the Lowell Parade of Lights Festival. Some chairs will be provided by merchants, but visitors are urged to bring their own lawn chairs to assure themselves a spot to listen to the music. "Along with the music and the Easter Bunny, there will be a few vendors along the sidewalks and participating shops will offer special sales," added Yaselsky. |
Sincere Thank You from all of us here at LDMA- Dear Betty and The Soul Singers, Thank you for coming out and bearing the cold weather to bring such beautiful song to the community. Your style and voices are so lovely! We received many compliments on you! You brought so much to the Christmas Celebration. We appreciate your kindness in volunteering your time and your talents. Saturday, April 10th, we will be hosting our "Easter Bunny Walk-A-Long and Praise Music Event" along the sidewalks of the Downtown. We would like to invite you back to perform the Praise Music. Sincerely, |
"Soul Singers" Perform In Downtown Lowell The "Soul Singers," a gospel group, will be performing along the sidewalks of downtown Lowell on Saturday, December 13, at 4:00 p.m. They will be singing Christmas tunes, along with some of their own works, as a prelude to the Parade of Lights, which will step off at 5:00 p.m. The members of the Lowell Downtown Merchants Association, hosts of the parade, hope to see parade spectators come early to enjoy the performance. "We felt it would be a wonderful addition to this special night," said Kathy Sickinger, treasurer of The LDMA, "The Soul Singers were very gracious in accepting our invitation." The five-member group, including three past Lowellians, have a unique and heartfelt sound. Betty Tetzlaff, originally from Cumberland, Kentucky, hosts her own half-hour radio program, "The Best of Betty Tetzlaff," that airs in Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. She has written over 20 of her own songs. Having lost her eyesight over 30 years ago, she learned Braille to read and write. Now, she said, "I just sit down with my guitar and put the words and music together." She and husband Paul Tetzlaff, also with the group, met in the early 1980's and wed in 1985. Ron Donahue, his wife Gladys, and daughter Christy, complete the group. Christy Donohue is a 1997 graduate of Lowell High School who loves bringing gospel music to people through song. Ron Donahue will be on keyboard, Betty Tetzlaff on guitar, and all will be doing their share of vocals. The group will be performing in front of the Lowell Chamber of Commerce building located at 428 E. Commercial Avenue. Parking is available in the north and south parking lots behind the downtown shops. |
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The Press Room
Roselawn's Betty Tetzlaff is holding the 2008 Most Promising Album of the Year for Holiday C.D.s. She's shown standing outside the Country Tonight
Theater in Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee on March 16th. She says, "I feel honored to have my Christmas C.D. recognized at the national level, especially since I wrote
all the songs. My hope is this C.D. will bring enjoyment to others."
Betty Tetzlaff of Thayer, Ind., has never let her disability stop
her from doing what she wants to do. Totally blind since the age
of 32, she has always had eye problems but they never slowed her
down. Raised in a musical family, Tetzlaff learned to play the piano
and guitar where she sant with her family at church and other community
events in Brooksville, Ky. Her father played the violin and banjo
and the children sang. She started singing in public in her early
teens, and wrote her first song when she was 28. Later after marrying
and having children, five of them, she put singing aside to raise
her family.
Local country music artist Betty Tetzlaff came home from Sevierville, Tenn. with an arm load of
awards she received from the Tennessee Country Music Association (TCMA). Tetzlaff, already an award winning
singer/songwriter, brought home two top awards, 2006 Female Vocalist of the Year, New Country and 2006 Female Entertainer of the Year, New Country.
Betty Tetzlaff recently competed in the North American Country Music Association International (NACMAI), in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee during the week of March 6-12. She won two awards for her songs, the 2006 Most Promising Songwriter Of The Year for her holiday song "Christmas Is The Best Time Of The Year" and the 2006
Rising Star Songwriter Of The Year for her gospel song "Mothers Love".
Fifteen Albums and more than 70 songs - These are just two of the numbers which could be listed on local singer-songwriter Betty Tetzlaff's resume.
Local gospel singer Betty Tetzlaff of Roselawn and her group, the Soul Singers, are
putting out a new CD titled, "Gospel Favorites Vol. 5".
