2010
North Carolina. Eighty five year old Betty Swain, a recent widow, rummaged through her cedar chest only to rediscover 10 song lyrics she had written nearly a half century ago. As an adult, Betty was a dedicated weekend singer/performer and opening country music act for various country artists. Throughout her part time country music career, she had always been unsuccessful in her struggle to find someone to orchestrate and perform her original songs. Women, especially during this time, had obstacles such as blatant gender bias working against them in the industry. As a last ditch effort, Betty sent the newly rediscovered lyrics to her niece, Diane, a music attorney in NY. Diane sent them to a guitarist she knew from Raleigh and he took them to Jim Paul, a cowboy singer and songwriter in Raleigh. Jim formed an open-mic circuit, group called the Betty Swain Project. They recorded a low budget demo CD for her and performed a concert in 2011 at a horse ranch in Robersonville, NC. They presented her with the CD in front of her family and friends and threw an awesome picnic for her at a horse ranch pavilion. Betty sat there in awe and was overwhelmed by the experience of finally being able to hear her precious song lyrics performed to music. This was her quintessential moment, after a tumultuous lifetime of yearning to hear her songs. She died just a few weeks later, with the last dream of her lifetime finally fulfilled.

“You kids put the period at the end of my life” - Betty Swain

2012
Betty’s daughter developed late stage ovarian cancer. So the founder, Jim Paul, and member/producer Timothy Daher teamed with a Raleigh based Music Company, Center Sound Records’ Craig Brandwynne and Double Star Music (Gene Podsiadlo,) who led the way to Nashville’s Music Row. At The Parlor Studios, 9 established vocalists performed the traditional yet modern tracks, recorded by some of Nashville’s most talented musicians. The five producers, which include Robin Ruddy, a Grammy winning musician/writer/producer, hope to fulfill yet another dream for the daughter of Betty Swain, as they release this precious ten song album and keep the awesome Betty Swain music alive. The Betty Swain Project features the following vocalists: Country music legend, Lynn Anderson, Kim Parent, Siobhan Magnus, Loni Rose, Nikki-Welcher Nelson, Devin Belle, Marissa Begin, Taylor Watson and Brittani Black.

The Betty Swain Project would like to thank everyone involved for their dedication toward our common goal of keeping Betty Swain’s dream alive.