written by Krys Midgett
Courtney Dashe’s songwriting talent is showcased in the release of her first 6 song EP, ‘Paper Airplane.’ The title cut was written from the perspective of a daughter conversing with her mother who has Alzheimer’s. Each one of her songs has a unique story to which people can relate. The EP was mixed by Paul Worley (producer Lady Antebellum, Dixie Chicks) and Chip Matthews.
Although a far cry from the Human and Organizational Development degree she attained at Vanderbilt University, Courtney knew music was what she wanted to do. Before getting her publishing deal, she held internships during college, and various industry positions thereafter, making her no stranger to the way Nashville works.
“Right out of college, I got hired as the receptionist for Mercury and MCA Records. Quickly after that, I became an A&R assistant there. When one of my bosses left to go work for Dann Huff’s publishing company, Diver Dann Music, he took me with him. Craig Wiseman’s publishing company Big Loud Shirt was in the same building so I worked for that company in addition to Diver Dann. I worked for them as office manager for about a year and then got hired as a songplugger for a different publishing company called Stage Three Music. I loved working for Big Loud Shirt & Diver Dann but the position at Stage Three offered me a better opportunity to get out there, dive in, and understand how the industry works,” says Courtney.
“I didn’t even know you could be a songwriter for a living back then. It was so eye opening to see how Craig could make a killing of a living, get to be creative and have a real life, too. It was awesome! That’s when I realized, Wait, I don’t really want to be a big artist. I want to be a songwriter! I just want to write songs that other people can record. I can play my own little underground shows whenever I feel like it, but how cool would it be to have other people record my songs? …so I just kept writing, writing, writing.”
In October 2006, Courtney was signed as the first songwriter to John and Martina McBride’s publishing company in a joint venture with Skyline Music. She was brought to their attention through Mark Mason at BMI, a performing rights organization.
“Out of the blue, this guy at BMI heard some guitar vocals that I’d done. Basically, nobody in town knew I wrote. I kept it very secret because I didn’t want it to look like I had a conflict of interest between representing writers as a songplugger and actually writing myself. But, somehow Mark Mason got a hold of my guitar vocals and asked why I hadn’t signed with BMI yet. ‘I don’t have a reason to sign with you guys…I don’t have any cuts and I don’t have any songs on the radio yet.’ I said. When he asked what would be a reason that would make me sign I said, ‘Well, if I had a publishing deal!’ And, he said, ‘We’ll work on it!’ He picked up the phone and set me up with a bunch of publishers in town and within four months I had an offer from John and Martina McBride and Skyline Music. They did a joint venture, and that’s where I’ve been for the last two years – writing full time. I quit my other job, obviously, and have been writing professionally since!”
“No Tomorrow Here Tonight” was the first of her songs to be recorded and released to radio by another artist, Fisher Stevenson. The song was featured in People magazine, in the March 2008 issue. It was produced by Nathan Chapman (producer Taylor Swift.
Despite her amazing voice, Courtney wants her focus to remain on the songwriting. She grew up singing all the time, although her family is not musical; as a matter of fact her father is very business-oriented. Growing up, she was under the impression that all singers wrote their own songs, so she started writing and ultimately found her niche. She wanted to attend college but also wanted to get to Nashville and start figuring out how to break into the music business, so she when she was accepted to Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN her path was set.
Though Courtney has been writing professionally for only two years, she has been writing songs since she was 13. Like so many, her first song was written about a break-up and was written at 2:00 in the morning. While in college, at the age of 21, Courtney won the Fifth Annual National John Lennon Songwriting Contest sponsored by the BMI Foundation in New York. She won a five hundred dollar scholarship for her country/pop song ‘You Must Have Found A Reason.’ The contest was established in 1997 by Yoko Ono, in conjunction with the BMI Foundation. It recognizes talents of aspiring songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.
Growing up, Courtney had a variety of musical influences from the Beach Boys and Buffet that her mom listened to the Oak Ridge Boys and George Jones her dad preferred. “My dad would tell you that the first song I ever learned was either ‘Elvira’ or ‘I’m Going to Hire a Wino’. I’m sure my mom was horrified”
Once in high school, Courtney started listening to modern day country music and was drawn to artists like the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill and Martina McBride. “One of the coolest things about my publishing deal now is that one of my childhood idols was Martina McBride. So when I heard, ‘Martina McBride wants to sign you as the first songwriter to her publishing company’ I just thought, Wow, are you serious? I’ve been writing there now for two years and she hasn’t recorded one of my songs yet, but it will be so cool if she ever does. It would also be so cool to have Faith Hill record a song of mine since she was another childhood idol. Someone outside of country music like Jimmy Buffet would be insane! I don’t even know if he’ll do more albums – he probably will – though he probably writes everything himself. But, I grew up with Buffet and the Beach Boys, so why not dream right?”
“This may come as a surprise, but I think I get a lot of my melodic ear from Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. I was such a fan of theirs in the 90s. If I ever had one of them cut my songs, I think that would just be unreal!” says Courtney.
Courtney’s current influences include Craig Wiseman and Bobby Pinson, some of the writers she worked for before attaining her publishing deal, as well as Hilary Lindsey and Patty Griffin. “I just love writers and their songs! I could tell you [what songs they are], but you probably wouldn’t know any of them, because they haven’t been recorded yet. But, I’m just such a fan of writers! Patty Griffin, to me, is really amazing! I just learned one of her songs called ‘Time Will Do the Talking,’ and I thought the guitar sounded so cool on it. I’ve only been playing guitar for about three years, so I’m constantly getting better at that. So, any song that I think sounds cool, I’ll take to my guitar teacher and she’ll help me figure it out. I’m so inspired by writers!” says Courtney.
Her current guitar teacher, Ellen Britton, has made a huge impact on Courtney’s life. “A lot of people can teach themselves guitar, but they might not know what they’re doing. For me, I have to understand exactly what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, and Ellen just makes it all make sense. It’s like learning theory, but you don’t feel like you’re learning theory. For years, I tried teaching myself and just felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. So, I went to her. Now, I can chart my own music, I can understand the Nashville Number System. I can totally communicate in this whole other language, and there’s no way I’d be able to do that without her having taught it to me.”
Another side to Courtney is her love of giving back. Her family has been affected by Alzheimer’s disease, so she is donating all funds from the digital bonus track ‘The Story Behind Paper Airplane’ to The Fisher Center For Alzheimer’s Research. “One of my songs is called ‘Paper Airplane,’ which is about Alzheimer’s disease. I would love to be more involved with the Alzheimer’s Association. I have fundraising ideas that tie into my song. But, if nothing else, at least my song is will hopefully raise awareness about Alzheimer’s.”
She also volunteers at The Ronald McDonald House on a regular basis. “I volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in Nashville. It’s affiliated with the Children’s Hospital. They house families who have children [staying long term] in the hospital. My sister was two months premature, and I remember how scary it was, so I feel like I can relate to what the families are going through there. I do stuff around the house to help them out. I feel like it gets my mind off my writing, puts me into somebody else’s life for a little while and helps me regain perspective on what really matters.” To find out more about The Fisher Center For Alzheimer’s Research go to http://www.alzinfo.org/. The Ronald McDonald House go to http://www.rmhc.com/
What does Courtney hope to accomplish most with her music? “I just hope people feel something when they listen to my music. That’s what got me into it; that’s what keeps me doing it. Hopefully, I’m providing music that other people can relate to.”
Courtney hopes to be in this for the long run and become a successful, sought-out songwriter. “Ten years from now, I hope to be able to listen to the radio and see that a bunch of people having recorded my songs and I hope to be further along in my writing career. Hopefully, I’ll be a well-respected songwriter who people will seek out because they identify with something real in my writing. At this point, I’m this up-and-coming indie singer/songwriter who is chipping away at it; hopefully, the doors will blow wide open soon!”
The album is available on itunes, amazon, and just about anywhere digital music is sold including her myspace page and website. Physical copies of the album are available through a link on her myspace page or website and FREE downloads are available there as well. Visit http://www.CourtneyDashe.com and http://www.myspace.com/CourtneyDashe
