Interview with Singer-Songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews

-Courtney Marie Andrews


            Courtney Marie Andrews' latest album 'Honest Life' is everything you'd hope most albums were, though seldom are, honest, bold, original, and utterly heartfelt, with songs that feel and sound as if they were crafted from out of the earth itself. Music from the root, where the stuff of life, of losing and getting back in equal measure, walks the line in these songs. It's not hard to see why she picks Lucinda and Townes as co-pilots of inspiration, she has some of that same honest fire burning in her music just as it has burned through theirs, like any good songwriter Courtney is a translator of the human condition, the highs and the lows and everything in between, all richly mapped out for fellow travelers on this latest, bold musical testament that is an 'Honest Life'.



AHC: What has this journey, this life in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Courtney: I feel like life in music is a life of extremes. It is a life comprised of the highest of highs, and lowest of lows. The trick is balance, and not letting anything get to your head too much. It's a life of inconsistencies, and you have to be okay with change. The hardest lesson I've had to learn, and am constantly striving to learn, is balance, in a very exciting, but chaotic life. 


AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Courtney: None of my family members played music. My mother always sang in the car though, and I always enjoyed singing along. When I was first introduced to musicals as a child, that's all I wanted to hear. I haven't stopped singing since. As a child, the song "Tomorrow" from Annie the Orphan touched me. Even as a kid I could understand the emotional significance of those lines. "Just thinkin' about tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow 'til there's none." I mean, wow! It's so hopeful and earnest. Songs like that struck a chord in me very deeply during my childhood. 


AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote?

Courtney: Growing up I wrote melodies with words all the time. But the first song I ever wrote with a guitar in hand remains very firm in my mind. I took a turn from musicals as a kid, and straight into punk. I could never relate with the theater kids once we were in highschool. Punks had an edge, and a passion that I truly admired. Alas, my first song was a feminist punk song titled, "Loser."


AHC: Who are some of your musical inspirations? Are there certain songs or albums that you couldn't live without?

Courtney: They're always changing, but here are some life-changing albums that are written in my soul:

Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks 
Townes Van Zandt- Flyin' Shoes 
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road 
Aretha Franklin - Greatest Hits 
Joni Mitchell - Blue 
Tom Waits - Mule Variations 


AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak?

Courtney: When I was younger, I feel that I let a lot of bad lines slide, and at a certain point, I'd sort of settle with songs. Now that I'm older and have studied the song craft of the greats, I won't let those little things slide anymore. If something doesn't feel right, or make sense lyrically, I'll fix it, or throw it away. I revise songs more, and switch words around to make them flow better. A good song to me, is one of heart and mind. 


AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture, hope lost and regained? As a listener of music I have this impression, I wonder, as the artist, the creator, do you have this feeling about the transformative power of song? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener?

Courtney: Absolutely. I've always called music my "cheap therapist." It doesn't cost much to find a song that you can relate to. These days, it's free!  Music is a constant in all our hearts, and in a world that is changing very quickly. It'll always be there for those in need. 


AHC: In a world that is moving faster and faster, for better or worse, I think that really good, tried and true music helps orient us to our times, slows us down and brings us back to ourselves, folk music is such a great example of this. When you set out to write and compose an album of songs, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Courtney: Those elements absolutely affect me. Traditionally, folk music was a voice for the people. I still hold those values, and hope to speak out to people in and about a world that they are familiar with. However, I feel that the biggest obstacle as a writer, is to write a song that politically and culturally transcends time. 


AHC: What are your favorite on-tour, on-the-road memories?

Courtney: Too many to count. Honestly, most tour stories are giant inside jokes that don't translate well. I'm always telling them at my shows though, if the mood strikes. 


AHC: What would be your dream gig, if you were asked to go on tour and open up for one of your musical heroes or heroines. 

Courtney: Dead or alive? 

Dead: Townes 
Alive: Lucinda 


AHC: Do you have any words of advice for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find their voice and their way in this world?

Courtney: All I can say, is do it. Turn off your TV, computer, and phone, and write. Never settle. Always strive for more. If you love your work enough, it'll eventually start to love you back. 


AHC: Do you have any new projects in motion you'd like to tell people about?

Courtney: I'll be touring throughout 2017, and writing songs. Lucky lady.



For more information visit www.courtneymarieandrews.com/


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