Heavens to Betsy, the Seattle indie rock duo that launched Corin Tucker's career before Sleater-Kinney, reunited for a surprise performance in Portland last night. The band, featuring Tucker and Tracy Sawyer, had not toured together in 32 years.
Tucker formed Heavens to Betsy with Sawyer in 1991, releasing two albums on K Records before the band dissolved in the early 1990s. The group's scrappy, politically engaged sound anticipated the riot grrrl movement and established Tucker as a songwriter of genuine power and conviction. When Sleater-Kinney formed in 1995, Tucker shifted her focus to that project, which became one of the most celebrated indie rock acts of the past three decades.
The reunion marks a rare return to Tucker's formative years. Heavens to Betsy operated in the shadow of larger movements, building a devoted following in the Pacific Northwest before Tucker moved on to create the restless, genre-defying work for which she became known. The surprise performance follows decades of silence from the duo, a gap that speaks to how completely Tucker's career trajectory shifted when Sleater-Kinney formed.
The Portland show suggests renewed interest in early '90s indie rock and the artists who shaped it. Tucker has remained active in music throughout her career, releasing solo albums and continuing with Sleater-Kinney, but this Heavens to Betsy appearance offers fans a chance to revisit the raw, earnest songwriting that started it all.
Whether the reunion will lead to additional shows or new material remains unclear. For now, the Portland performance stands as a remarkable moment for a band that helped define Pacific Northwest alternative rock during one of the medium's most creatively fertile periods.