++things i listened to then, by way of radio, records, adolescence: the beach boys, the mamas and the papas, rolling stones, janis joplin, the coasters, willie nelson, more twang, led zeppelin, aerosmith, stevie ray vaughan, the nields, etcetera.
++things i am listening to now, give or take: aimee mann, erin mckeown, dar williams, winterpills, new pornographers, bruce springsteen, dolly parton, ani difranco, patty griffin, edie carey, anne heaton, girlyman, death cab for cutie, james bond themes, ellis paul, simon and garfunkel, adrianne, scout niblett, kris delmhorst, jeffrey foucault, amy rude, andrew bird, sun kil moon, meghan toohey, chris thile, rilo kiley, etcetera.
++things i may or may not listen to soon: neko case, songs with no words, songs with words i like, inevitably songs with words i don't like, ted leo and the pharmacists, damien jurado, cat power, brandi carlile, more dolly parton, etcetera.
Courtney has been in Tucson for a little over three years, hailing from the northeast. She got a black Ibanez electric guitar for her 13th birthday, and that was that. High school brought jazz band, self effacing garage bands and eventually the acoustic guitar. She honed her songwriting and performing skills in college at open mics, smoky bars and a few opening gigs for artists like Melissa Ferrick, Lucy Kaplansky, Catie Curtis, Meghan Toohey, Edie Carey and Dar Williams. After graduating and living in small town western Massachusetts for six months, she packed up and got the hell out, eventually landing in the dusty southwest. Her blistering guitar style often leaves her fingers bleeding; her straightforward songwriting skills are a figurative match. The combination has earned comments like:
"You can play the SHIT out of that guitar!"
"You sure do beat the hell out of that thing."
"Whoa...I've never seen a girl play guitar like that."
"You are really, really good at music."
