Bette Smith

She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles in 2010, and studied at The New School in New York City, where in 2014 she earned a B.S.

[5] In 2013 her older brother Louis, dying of kidney failure, urged her to further pursue her dreams of becoming a professional full-time singer.

Jetlagger was released on 29 September 2017 on Big Legal Mess Records[10] (a subsidiary of Fat Possum).

[11] In 2018, WNYC Studios' Radiolab invited her to contribute an original song to its compilation project called 27: The Most Perfect Album, with each track inspired by one of the 27 U.S.

Produced by Drive-By Truckers’ Matt Patton and engineer Bronson Tew, The Good, the Bad and the Bette included three songs co-written by Smith[22] and includes contributions from Luther Dickinson from North Mississippi Allstars and Patterson Hood from Drive-By Truckers.

[27] Her studio collaborations in 2020 and 2021 included tracks with Joe Louis Walker, Larry Brown, Fabrizio Grossi & Soul Garage Experience, and others.

On 25 February 2022 she and Kirk Fletcher released another single on Cleopatra Records, a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar.

In 2023 she released two more singles with Cleopatra Records – "Tennessee Whiskey" with guitarist Harvey Mandel[31] and "Sign Your Name" with guitarist Arthur Adams[32] – and was invited to perform at several festivals, including the Holland International Blues Festival,[33] Harvest Music Festival[34] and, in early 2024, on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise with Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Shemekia Copeland and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram.

[36] The title track was public radio station KCRW's "Today's Top Tune" on May 8, the day it was released as a single.

Bette Smith performing at Beaver Creek Blues Festival in Colorado, 2024
Bette Smith performing at Bilbao Blues Festival in 2023