While still in school, Betsy became fascinated with Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Morbia had a cool name, and Betsy thought that she looked the part. The girls decided to play a dark, brooding type of heavy metal, with names to match. Betsy took the name Erzebet, after the countess. Maggy became Druvillia, and chose to use make-up in a way that matched her image. Melinda became Mallacaria. The band got their first big break by touring with Rickie Steele, who heard them playing while drinking with his band at The Drop-out. Tammy’s previous band also played warm-up for Rickie Steele, and he and Courtney were known to go partying together into the early hours of the morning. After he died of a heroin overdose just as his career was kicking off, the band wrote songs about Rickie for some of their albums, with the song…LA Steele…being a fan favorite of audiences on the west coast. Erzebet’s band dedicated several 45 single releases to Rickie, including…Razor Lust; Fire Lord; and Sonic Hex. Following the death of Rickie Steele, Tammy’s previous band hit the big time with the release of the song…Bitter Roses, the follow-up single to…Speed Freak. Tammy convinced her band to let Erzebet’s band play warm-up for them on the Bitter Roses World Tour, and the two became close friends. Erzebet also became good friends with Kerry Cooper, the other guitar player in Tammy’s previous band, despite the fact that Erzebet clashed repeatedly with singer Courtney Blaine, Kerry’s long-time best friend. Nikki and Mallacaria rehearsed together whenever possible. Only bassist Lindsey Larson didn’t know the band, since she did not like hanging out with other rock musicians, and was not a fan of the type of rock that Erzebet played.

As Tammy’s previous band spiraled out of control and a break-up was imminent, Erzebet was finally able to convince Tammy to join her band as foremost guitarist. Tammy’s motto was…You Can’t Play Fast Enough, and Erzebet promised that she could play any style she wanted, giving her the name…Bathoria. Erzebet would appear as a guest musician on several albums released by the Kerry Cooper Band, and Kerry appeared several times as a guest musician on songs released by Erzebet’s band. Tammy and Erzebet remained good friends through-out their lives, and Erzebet even came to know Tammy’s aunt Elizabeth (Lizzy) Gillan, who always called her by her real name…Betsy. David was a die-hard fan of the band, meeting the members whenever they toured the west coast. Erzebet won best metal vocalist 3 years straight in Metal Distortion magazine, and the band released several platinum albums including Curse of Darvulia; Phantasm; Necromancer; Santa Muerte; and Sin Eater. Erzebet also helped found the lucrative Gilded Lady Sound Direction Company and Kiss of Death Productions, which bought the rights to Rickie Steele’s songs. She married ex-Rickie Steele drummer Zolf Zizzter, and had two children. When the band chose to stop recording and touring, Erzebet continued writing songs, many of which were recorded by other all-female bands.

Erzebet

Erzebet, born Betsy Billows, founded the band two years before Tammy Hedrick’s band broke up. Betsy grew up in Filbert, Nebraska, and was ardent fan of hard rock music. She was the third daughter of Ralph and Belinda Billows, her sisters being Mary Catherine and Elizabeth Ann. The Billows family was Catholic, with Belinda being very devout, something she passed onto Mary and Elizabeth. Betsy saw life very differently, and after confirmation, she refused to attend Mass anymore, and her mother constantly voiced disapproval of the music she listened to. This caused a considerable rift between Betsy and her mother, and they would eventually become estranged. She was an average student during high school, and rarely got in trouble. Her father bought her an electric guitar when she was 14, something that produced friction between Ralph and his wife. Betsy spent all of her spare time playing in different garage bands, showing a natural musical ability.

Ralph owned a construction company specializing in commercial real estate, so he was able to afford enrolling Betsy at Nebraska University. She majored in accounting at the urging of her father, but she quickly came to loathe her classes. Her dorm roommate was Melinda Danes, who played drums. Betsy and Melinda would skip classes and play together at a small, shabby studio owned by Missy Mannis, mother of Magdalena (Maggy) Mannis. Maggy Mannis played bass, and attended a small, local college called The Young Ladies Development Academy. She would ultimately be expelled for behavior issues, including throwing a punch at the Appropriate Deportment instructor. Betsy and Melinda met Maggy at a club for alternative music fans called The Drop-out. After a long conversation, Maggy decided to play bass with Betsy and Melinda, frequently jamming at the Drop-out. Another local guitarist, who went by the name…Morbia, also played at the The Drop-out, and soon she joined Betsy, Melinda, and Maggy.

As Betsy became more and more disdainful of college, she spent much of her time jamming at The Drop-out. She also reached the conclusion that the so-called heavy metal bands popular at the time were really a bunch of pussies. She began creating different types of distortion for her guitar amps, and was threatened with expulsion from the dorm because of the volume of her music. Melinda and Betsy decided to leave school, and rented an apartment down the street from The Drop-out. She adopted the archipelago, broken-chord rhythm riff method, emphasizing a lightning-speed lead style.