New. Real. Fresh. These are the words that pop up frequently in lead singer Chris Rael’s vocabulary as he describes the sound of his four-man band, Church of Betty. Already known in New York City for their unique coupling of Western and Indian instruments, Betty’s members pride themselves on producing an intriguingly familiar yet foreign sound. Vocalist, sitarist and guitarist Chris Rael, tabla player Deep Singh, drummer Jonathan Feinberg and bassist Joe Quigley are scheduled to introduce their unique songs to Central Pennsylvania at The Wire in New Cumberland June 26 at 8pm.

According to Rael, the music of Church of Betty (named after an unforgettably grumpy secretary who he says deserved to be “deified”) attracts people with open minds, from any age group, gender, or belief system. “It appeals to a thoughtful audience, people who want to hear something fresh. I think people get tired of hearing records that sound like records that have already been made,” he says.

But prepare yourself, Rael warns. Betty’s smorgasbord of musical elements often catches first-time listeners off-guard. Their songs don’t slide neatly into specific genres, such as pop, rock and roll, Indian, experimental, and mainstream because they contain components of each category. “We fall between the cracks of all these definitions,” he says.

Rael, 38, says his music historically appeals to his generation — people in their late 20s to mid 40s — who grew up listening to bands that broke the musical mold during the late ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s, like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. They appreciate Betty’s one-and-only sound because it, too, strays from the norm.

Recently, Betty has made a move toward a more “pop” sound, a sound dominated by rock and roll but still enhanced by Indian elements. The newer sound offers faster, danceable rhythms that appeal to younger audiences. With this progression toward a more mainstream sound, Rael says Betty, currently signed to his very own Fang label, may have the opportunity to sign to a bigger label down the road. The band will consider it, but they won’t sacrifice their unique sound for the sake of mass audience appeal. He says Madonna, for instance, connects herself to Indian culture for show, by flaunting religious Indian symbols because she likes the way they look. “For her it’s more of a pose or fashion thing. She’s attracted to the style.”

Rael admits that he, too, is attracted to the style, but he says Church of Betty incorporates the Indian sound into its songs to create art, not fashion trends. To be sure, Rael is serious about this aspect of his art. He averages trips to India once every two years to refresh his sitar skills and to update his familiarity with the Indian musical scene. In fact, he hopes to return this winter to work some more with his sitar teacher. “I need to keep those elements real,” he says.

“Real” is what Rael has always been about, in Church of Betty and his whole life, even back when he was a kid growing up in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. “I found it a real stifling environment — real rigid and narrow-minded. I always felt like an outsider. I wanted to do something different.” So throughout high school, Rael fed his creative appetite by teaching himself to play the guitar. Then, while attending the University of Maryland on a full academic scholarship, he majored in journalism but really focused on his true calling the guitar, his true calling.

After college, Rael fled to New York City, an artist’s Mecca, where he thoroughly experimented with his musical style until the travel bug bit him in 1988, “I really had ants in my pants to travel.” So he headed for Nepal, a land that intrigued him, and unexpectedly fell in love with India on the way. “People in that part of the world have such a different perspective of reality.” The mysterious music of India lured him in like a siren song and, soon enough, he began studying Indian music.

In the years following this initial visit to India, Rael based himself in New York City and traveled occasionally to India to study its classical music. He also formed his own record label, Fang, as an outlet for New York City artists overlooked by the mainstream music industry. On this label, Church of Betty, Rael’s solo project at the time, released its first album, West of the East in 1989 and its second, Kashi in 1993. Then, shortly after after picking up Feinberg and Quigley, the drummer and bassist, Rael led the new Church of Betty at the Contemporary Indian Music Festival in Vienna, where famous Indian musicians performed. These performers included Najma, a musician whose most successful album to date was that which Rael conceived, produced, and arranged.

After this extensive exposure to Indian music, Betty created its third album, In Search of Spiritual Junkfood (Ponk, 1994). Then, after picking up Deep Singh, who contributed his Indian classical music skills to the band, Church of Betty recorded its latest album, Comedy of Animals (1998), a classic showcase of the band’s spectrum of styles, from Indian to Western and experimental to mainstream. Their fifth and most recent work, Fruit on the Vine (1999), due for an autumn release, illustrates the band’s transition to a more rock-based and mainstream, yet original, sound. Blossom and Decay, an album due out after Fruit, echoes a sound from a time in the band’s past when they focused on their rock and roll sound, taking the group back to its rock roots.