The Story

"[One] of Tucson's best singer-songwriters." - Tucsonscene.com
"Stripped-down and fierce acoustic guitar ballads...vibrant...infectious." - Annie Holub, Tucson Weekly

Courtney has been in Tucson for four 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 warming up the stage for artists like Melissa Ferrick, Lucy Kaplansky, Catie Curtis, Edie Carey, Meghan Toohey 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 SH*T 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."

Venues played:

AZ: Plush (Tucson), Club Congress (Tucson), Epic Cafe (Tucson), Surly Wench Pub (Tucson), Rainbow Planet Coffeehouse (Tucson), The Hut (Tucson), Red Room at the Grill (Tucson), Green Fire (Tucson), Fiddler's Dream Coffeehouse (Phoenix), Mama Java's Coffeehouse (Phoenix), Peace Tree House Concerts (Tempe), University of Arizona (Tucson), Wingspan (Tucson), Tucson Folk Festival (Tucson), The Keys (Tucson), BAMfest (Tucson), No Anchovies (Tucson), Tucson Pride (Tucson), Heart 5 (Tucson), Dry River (Tucson), Borders Books and Music (Tucson), Javalina's (Tucson), Firefly (Tucson), The Screening Room (Tucson), KXCI-FM Locals Only, Starr Tracks, Live at 5 (Tucson), The Lost Leaf (Phoenix), The Raven Cafe (Prescott), Flagstaff Brewing Company (Flagstaff)

CA: The Mint (Los Angeles), Viento y Agua Coffeehouse (Long Beach), Brainwash Cafe (San Francisco), Cafe Coda (Chico), Luna's Cafe (Sacramento), Black Cat Bar and Cafe (Penngrove), Ace in the Hole Cider Pub (Sebastopol), Aroma's (Idyllwild), Bocci's Cellar (Santa Cruz), The Plough and Stars (San Francisco), Genghis Cohen (Los Angeles)

CO: Folsom Street Coffeehouse (Boulder), Meadowlark Bar (Denver), Coffee Muggers (Grand Junction), KAFM (Grand Junction), Avogadro's Number (Fort Collins)

CT: Church House Concerts (Haddam)

DC: Phase One

IA: Mars Cafe (Des Moines)

IL: Red Line Tap (Chicago)

IN: Out Word Bound (Indianapolis)

MA: Club Passim (Cambridge), The Thirsty Mind (South Hadley), P.A.C.E. (Easthampton), Harry's (Northampton), Atwood's Tavern (Cambridge), All Asia (Cambridge), The Holy Ground (Quincy), Insight Meditation Society (Barre)

MD: Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), Austin Grill (Baltimore)

MI: Elbow Room (Ypsilanti), Concerts in the Yard (Ann Arbor)

MN: Beaner's Central (Duluth), Acadia Cafe (Minneapolis), Wilde Roast Cafe (Minneapolis)

MT: Norris Hot Springs (Norris)

NC: Blend (Chapel Hill), Root Bar (Asheville)

NE: Mick's Music and Bar (Omaha)

NM: Backroad Pizza (Santa Fe)

NY: The Living Room (New York City), Hamilton College (Clinton), The Village Tavern (Clinton), Club 950 (Syracuse), Cripple Creek (Clinton), Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville), WAMC-FM (Albany), Progressions Concert Series (Albany)

OR: Mississippi Pizza Pub (Portland), Alberta Street Pub (Portland), Sahalie Wine Bar (Corvallis), Cozmic Pizza (Eugene), Ash Street Saloon (Portland)

RI: Tazza Caffe (Providence)

TN: Acoustic Coffeehouse (Johnson City), Charles and Myrtle's Coffeehouse (Chattanooga)

TX: The 806 (Amarillo)

UT: Utah Pride Center (Salt Lake City), Mestizo Coffeehouse (Salt Lake City)

WA: Conor Byrne Pub (Seattle), 911 Media Arts Center (Seattle), Richard Hugo House (Seattle), Victrola Cafe (Seattle), Empyrean Coffeehouse (Spokane), Sirens Pub (Port Townsend), Green Frog Acoustic Tavern (Bellingham), Pegasus Coffeehouse (Bainbridge Island), KBCS-FM Lunch with Folks (Bellevue), Empty Sea Studios (Seattle)

WI: Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (Milwaukee)