The last thing you might expect to come out of the School of Engineering is an R&B album. But you probably haven't heard of Tara Betterbid, aka taragirl.
Although taragirl refers to her sound as "organic R&B," someday her name could be added to the Philly soul pantheon, alongside Patti LaBelle, Jill Scott and Jaguar Wright. Her music merges soul, funk and R&B, creating a one-of-a-kind powerful, complex sound. A few years after graduating from NYU with a degree in broadcast journalism, she unpredictably decided to pack up her things and left New York without looking back. "I loved New York, but I had to leave," she said. "So with nothing to lose, I trusted a new city." In four years since coming to Philly, a city known for a rich history of soul music, taragirl has already made a name for herself, opening for artists such as Avant, The Brand New Heavies and Hil St. Soul.
At a sold-out performance January 27 at the Wold Live Cafe Onstage the 29 year-old Betterbid opens her concert with "Voicemail," one of many songs of heartache found on The 26th Power, her first album. Though by day Betterbid claims the title of Executive Assistant to the Engineering school's Deputy Dean, tonight she's simply taragirl. Throughout a setlist full of classic soul covers, including the Jackson Five's "I Wanna Be Where You Are" and Stevie Wonder's "You Met Your Match," taragirl's voice, face and body exude a captivating passion. It's a strong indication that the singer/songwriter from New Jersey has finally found her place in two different worlds: both the thriving Philadelphia music world and the nine-to-five grind at Penn.
Somehow taragirl manages to reconcile the two, often scheduling meetings and press interviews during her lunch break. "It's extraordinarily challenging balancing my music career and my Penn job," Betterbid admitted in a recent interview. "I'm at a level in the music industry where I should really use every spare moment to further my career and myself as an artist, but I don't have that luxury yet."
At her core, taragirl's a real artist with a real mission: to get her music heard by as many people as possible. "It's certainly not to make a profit. Please, if that were the case, I would have quit the music industry a long time ago," she laughed. She sells her debut album, The 26th Power, for just $10. It's an album that's home to words of comfort --- comfort from the pain of breakups, the past, even tomorrow. Taragirl's heartfelt lyrics and strong voice urge listeners to believe in love, in themselves, and in the power of soul music.
The album, which Betterbid single-handedly wrote and arranged, took about a year and a half to complete. She recorded it in Philadelphia with the help of producer Simon Illa, one of Philadelphia's hottest music producers. 26th Power opens with "1st Things 1st," a compilation of voice messages left on her voicemail playing as she extemporizes melodically in the background. Other tracks include the elevating "Stop Holdin On," a song about moving forward and looking ahead; the extremely catchy "High Life;" "Why Can't Cha," in which she openly asks her boyfriend why he can't treat her like the queen that she is; and bonus track "What is Soul Music?" which taragirl simply defines as "truth."
A lingering view of the crowd Saturday night shows people of all races, ages and styles, linked only by their obvious enjoyment of the performance. Heads bob, hands clap arms wave, fingers snap. It's a pleased, packed house. Even those who have to squeeze in the corners, stand in the aisles, sit on the steps and lean against the bar are satisfied and for now, so is taragirl.
