Betterman’s Rule
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Betterman’s Rule is a Manchester, New Hampshire based rock/blues band that could certainly give The Black Crowes a run for their money. The Band was founded in December of 2003 by lead singer and rhythm guitarist Pat Page and drummer Dan George. Soon after, bass player Bobby Whitworth and lead guitarist Byron Marks rounded out the foursome. The band immediately began writing material and entered Bobcat studios in Seabrook, New Hampshire in April of 2004. The original intent of the band was to complete an 8 song CD before doing any shows. The band found that perfecting a product sometimes takes a little longer than one can initially expect. While still in the studio, the band was itching to play out. They played their first official gig on July 30th 2004. One whole year later, the appropriately titled CD “The Paper Anniversary” was completed. Betterman’s Rule officially released “The Paper Anniversary” at Scorz in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Betterman’s Rule has played all over the New England area as well as CBGB’S in New York City. They have also played at the Transit Music Group sponsored Mill City Festival in Manchester, New Hampshire and recently made the grueling trek to Northern New Jersey to play a gig at Krogh’s in Sparta.

Radio airplay includes Lebanon, New Hampshire’s Rock 101.7 and a Mojo Studios Live broadcast from The Red Parka Inn of Glen, New Hampshire.

Let’s rock America caught up with all four members of the band for an exclusive interview.

Let’s Rock America: Betterman's Rule seems to have a serious blues influenced sophistication. The Black Crowes seem to come to mind. What were your influences individually in order to come up with this bluesy/pop sound?

Bobby Whitworth: I'll leave the "blues" discussion up to Pat. He's the main driving force on that side of the sound! I'm definitely one of the helpers on the pop side. My main influences, stuff I listen to everyday, are Butch Walker (any of his bands from Floyd's Funk Revival and Marvelous 3 to his solo work), Third Eye Blind, Better Than Ezra, and Live. Those are bands that drive me to create melodic bass lines that sometimes harmonize with the vocals. Dan and I lock it up tight on the back end, making a nice pop/rock foundation for Pat and Byron's guitars.

Pat Page: I certainly come from the bluesy side of it. In the beginning my mother was always playing music in our home. Aerosmith, Zepplin, Heart (ever hear of an album called Dreamboat Annie?). Then I was attacked by the eighties glam metal thing, Ratt, Whitesnake, Crue, etc. Further on down the road I found the blues ala Stevie Ray Vaughn. Thing was I wanted to know who influenced him to play the way he did and holy cow can you say Albert King? BB, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, the flood gates opened and the world was never the same again. Anyway after I settled back in to popular music, The Black Crowes grabbed my ear and here we are. I write based on what feels good and what sounds right which is really the basis of blues music anyway. Take it from where you find it and bring it someplace new. That’s what it’s all about.

Byron Marks: I tend to lean more towards the Pop/Rock side as well. A lot of my writing and playing comes from a mix of the old school R&B that I grew up listening to combined with the rock influences that I picked up along the way. I agree with Bobby on the Butch Walker thing. Bobby hipped me to him a couple of years back and it's turned me on to a whole new approach as far as writing and even thinking (musically).

Bobby: I’ve been listening to Butch since 1994 when I saw him 12 times in 2 years at a bar in Stillwater, OK. He was touring with his band Floyd’s Funk Revival at the time. He used to know my name and hang out with me. I’m sure he doesn’t remember me anymore. It’s been a while. LOL!

Byron: Prince and Rick James also find their ways into my playing and writing though I don't get too much of a chance to incorporate that into the Betterman's sound. I try to take a lil sumthin’ sumthin’ from everything that I listen to. The more colors you have, the better the painting I say.

Dan George: I have a different agenda when it comes to writing songs. I’m not think “blues” at all and try to infuse Dishwalla or Vertical Horizon into the mix. Make the music a little more modern.

LRA: Your CD "The Paper Anniversary" was contrived in a matter of months after the entire lineup was formulated. Was your original intent to be an original band or did you guys think of doing covers to make some dough?

Pat: We are now and will always be an original band! While we do play some covers, we work really hard to make sure the ones we do play fit with the bands overall sound. Trust me, you won't hear anybody else playing some of these songs.

Byron: We've all been in cover bands before and didn't want to go that route with this band. Though we do play a few covers, the focus is on original music.

Bobby: Just a few, 1 or 2 a set, to attract people who hadn't heard us before. Get them interested.

LRA: The music is obvious, but did you have to quit day jobs to bridge your dedication to the band?

Pat: I've actually been working nights for the last couple years and let me tell you its been rough. The truth is that I'm getting ready to start playing solo acoustic nights. Throw all cautions to the wind to make the dream THE REALITY.

Byron: Since I'm independently wealthy, I can afford to not have a day job and dedicate my time 100% to the band, though sometimes the bands schedule interferes with my yachting. If you believe anything I just said I have a bridge in New York I'd like to sell you.

Dan: No. There is no way to make a living off of an original band in this area. Until we get a chance to go bigger, it’s the daily grind for me.

Bobby: It’s never been my intention to quit my day job for a band. If something undeniable happens, then I’ll weigh the options, music is my passion, but I’m with Dan, it doesn’t put food on the table or pay the bills!

LRA: What do you mean by "Betterman's Rule"? Who named the band and why Betterman's Rule?

Bobby: The name was my fault... er, I mean idea! I came up with a list of about 60 names and we went through them one by one, voting "yea" or "nay". "Betterman's Rule" was the only one that not one person said "nay" to. The 60 name list came about from me brainstorming for a few days then I started grabbing every CD in my collection and writing down song names. One that was interesting was a Beastie Boys song on Ill Communication called "Futterman's Rule". I loved that name, but "Futter" didn't sound very, um, nice for a band name. I started thinking about other two syllable words and a Clint Black tune from the late 80's popped into my head, called "Better Man". Perfect. It was a couple of years later that I found out it was also a "male enhancement" drug! That was embarrassing! LOL!

Byron: There really was no "Bigger and Deeper" reason that we named the band Betterman's Rule. It was the only name that we all immediately agreed on. We came upon the whole definition later on but it's not like we had some kind of board meeting to decide what type of statement we wanted to make with this band. Just one of those moments where everything lined up and we all said "Yeah, that's the name right there".

Pat: It truly was the only name we all agreed on, although, for me, it was the only name that truly stood out. It said everything I wanted this band to be based on.

LRA: Tell us about yourselves individually. What instrument do you play, where are you from, what inspires you to play music and basically, whatever we all might want to know! We're looking to break the mystique here! Let's start with:

Bobby: The main thing that drives me to create music is the fact that I can. I've been playing bass and guitar for about 15 years and I see it like "If you got it, use it!" It's incredible to be on stage, especially when you are playing music you had a hand in creating. Being in an original band is far more gratifying on the musical end than playing covers. They are notes that you picked out yourself. It's a good feeling.

Pat: I was born and raised right here in New England, and for lack of a better reason, it’s home. I started playing guitar when I was eight years old but have recently found out I was asking for one at three. Music has always had a major effect on me. It speaks to a place inside of me and the only way I can communicate with that place is to write and create music. It’s a very organic process for me. I never put pen to paper when writing a song. It’s got to happen naturally or it wasn't worth writing.

Byron: I was born a poor white child in Mississippi..... Oh wait sorry, wrong story. I was born in California and have moved around a ton. My dad was in the military so I've seen a lot of places. I've always had this love thing with music from as far back as I can remember. I used to listen to my parents record collection and reel to reel tapes (though I was far too short to actually reach the player and had to have my Mom put the tapes on for me) and just go into my own world. I didn't always visualize myself making music but I could almost always put myself in the place where I thought that the music was coming from. When I was 11 years old and an avid MTV watcher, I saw the video for Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue and I knew what it was I wanted to do with my life. For the next year and a half I begged for a guitar and then finally got it. I agree with Bobby that being onstage, playing music that you've written and having people dig it is the best feeling that there is. The only thing that could be cooler is watching someone else on stage playing your music. Unless they fuck it up of course..... Is that War and Peace enough for ya?

Dan: My full bio can be found on our website, there’s a lot more personal information there than I can really put here! But I will say that I’ve been drumming for many years and some of my biggest influences are Rush, Dishwalla, and thanks to Bobby and Byron, Butch Walker. I try to put those guys, especially the pop side, into everything I play.

LRA: Betterman's Rule has played many venues. What was your favorite

show and why? Where would you like to play?

Dan: Our first gig at CBGB’s was my favorite. The whole experience of going to NYC for the first time was amazing. So many famous musicians played there and just to be as close to them as we could by even standing in a building, let alone playing, where they played was very rewarding.

Bobby: That was fun. We've played a lot of good shows, but our CD release party was my favorite. The place was full of our fans and we just had a lot of fun on stage and hanging out before and after. It was an amazing feeling to see that many people there to hear your tunes. I want more gigs like that, I don't care what the venue is!

Pat: Any show with our fans there is my favorite show. There’s nothing like the feeling of other people knowing the words to your songs and have them all singing along. However the CD release party ranks right up there.

Byron: I have three. Our first show, not because it was necessarily our best show but because it was the first. The CD release show is the second, that was just one of those nights that come along every once in a while and you never forget. To see all of those people dancing, singing and right in there with us was the best. My third is a show that we did at Milly's July 23rd of last year. Again it was one of those nights, we played the best we'd ever played up to that point and the people were diggin’ us hardcore. We were kings that night and OWNED Milly’s from the time we started until the last notes we played.

Bobby: Oh yeah! That was my birthday show. That was pretty frickin' rockin'!

LRA: Where does Betterman's Rule go from here? Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

Pat: Whatever will be, will be. We are going to take this band as far as it can go. Be that a Major label deal, world tour, national tour, heck I'd settle for a one month tour opening up for someone huge! Anything is possible; it’s all in how much you want it. The only thing I truly want is to look back at this band without regret.

Byron: I'm almost not sure how to answer that question. From day 1 I've always said that I wanted the band to go as far as it could. If that means that we only get to be 4 guys that play a bunch of clubs and nothing more, then so be it. If we go on, sign a record deal and tour the world then sign me up. Either way, I want to look back at this time and this band fondly knowing that we tried and that we took it as far as we could go. In 5 years? Hopefully doing something that makes me happy. Having a family and having a career (hopefully in music).

Dan: I hope that in 5 years, we are all still together and have found some way to gain some infamy in the local area, be it New England or just locally. I hope we are signed to record deal that will fit our personal lives, where we want to be as individuals, as well as a band.

Bobby: Sweet! We’ll be MORE than famous. We’ll be infamous! Definitely need a plethora of fans for that, eh Hefe? LOL.

LRA: I know there’s a website and a record out there, where can I get it and how do I find out more about Betterman's Rule?

Bobby: You can pick up the CD at our shows, www.cdbaby.com/bettermansrule or most any MP3 sales site like iTunes, MusicNet and others. You can learn a lot about us on www.bettermansrule.com and on www.myspace.com/bettermansrule Check them out, drop us a message and say hello!

Byron: Can't say it any better than that. Come check out the site and more importantly come to the shows and say hi. We don't bite. Well not usually...

Pat: Well, not unless you ask nicely.

This dialogue was reported by Rich Kubicz for letsrockamerica.com.

If you know of an independent band that deserves a place on our spotlight page, contact Rich at rkubicz@letsrockamerica.com . The dude is here to help!