When his family moved to Phoenix for the final time, in 1961, he began learning guitar, hanging around coffeehouses, mariachi bands, bluegrass groups, and a place called "J.D.
The Phoenix acoustic scene was active and thriving and Bethancourt associated with John Denver, the Irish Rovers and Jim Connor ("Grandma's Feather Bed"), and with some of the best in Dixieland, ragtime, and traditional Mexican musicians.
He was also a regular on the Emmy award-winning Wallace and Ladmo Show on KPHO-TV (Ch.5) in the 1980s, and worked with children in the Arizona Commission for the Arts' "Artists in Education" program for about six years.
For almost 17 years, Bethancourt was the house band at Funny Fellows, a Phoenix restaurant, performing with his large collection of traditional and non-traditional instruments.
Bethancourt was nominated for the Arizona Governor's Arts Award, and his recordings are now on file at the University of East Tennessee's Appalachian Archives Folklore collection.
He taught acoustic instruments of all kinds out of Boogie Music in Phoenix, Arizona, and was active in an historical reenactment group, the 9th Memorial Cavalry.