Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel Offer ‘For What It’s Worth’ In D.C.

Duane Betts, photo by Kaelan Barowsky

Last night, in the nation’s capital, Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel offered an implicit commentary on the current state of affairs in the United States of America, with the surprise inclusion of Buffalo Springfield’s iconic “For What It’s Worth” during the band’s debut performance at the historic Kennedy Center. As the quintet approached the 45-minute mark of its set, Betts introduced his “good friend” and bassist, Pedro Arevalo, to preface the song by noting, in particular, the home bases of Palmetto Motel’s members.  

“How y’all feeling out there? This is a special thing to be here at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” said Arevalo. “We come from all over this great country to be here tonight. Our good friends from the good city of Los Angeles, where the revolution is not being televised. From my home on the Gulf of Mexico, to Duane, coming down the mountain for us, from Wyoming, these days. It’s an interesting privilege in these troubling and uncertain times. We all got to stick together and do the best we can. So, why don’t we just play a song?”

The group then performed the Stephen Stills-penned classic – a commentary on the clashes between youth and the police in the late 1960s. Part of an hour-long, livestreamed appearance by the group, Arevalo’s remarks begin, approximately, at the 43:25 mark of the show. Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel’s summer tour continues this evening with a stop in Johnstown, Pa., followed by a set at Bowling Green, Ohio’s Black Swamp Arts Festival on Sept. 6 before Betts’ flagship Horseshoe Music Festival, back in Wyoming, on September 12. Find tickets and more information at duanebetts.com/tour.