Songwriter Spotlight – Courtney Robb

Our next songwriter to be under the Songwriting Zen spotlight is Courtney Robb, a singer/songwriter that I personally have a lot of respect for.

Courtney Robb

She is one of those rare performers that turns a rowdy crowd into a quietly attentive audience just by the way she delivers her songs.

I’m very privileged to be playing with her at the Daniel O’Connell Hotel this Sunday for the third installment of my Sunday Singer/Songwriter Session series of gigs.

Here is how the interview panned out…

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Name
Courtney Robb

URL
www.courtneyrobb.com

Main genre
Acoustic Pop

Years writing
About 6 years

Words or music first
They usually happen simultaneously…

Why do you write
It isn’t really a conscious decision, I write because if I didn’t write I would go a little crazy.

How do you write
I generally have to be alone to write. I get distracted very easily. Once I put down the pen, it’s hard for me to get the flow back. I tend to write at night too.

This isn’t something I do on purpose, just I feel more at ease at the end of the day. I can reflect on things that have happened and how I feel. There’s something about the night that is very calming to me too, everyone is tucked away and the streets are quiet.

What inspires you
I get inspired to write when I let myself be open to all that’s happening around me and to me. Other musicians… relationships… the world around us is a smorgasbord of inspiration but you just have to let it in.

Most important aspect of songwriting
Honesty in lyrics is really important to me. As soon as I stop beain true to myself, the song starts to become a bit contrived. I feel like if I write freely, from the heart, my audience with be able to connect to the song and to me as another human being.

Advice for beginners
Write as much as possible, whether its a journal or actual songs or letters. It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect, the more you write the easier it will flow. Never throw anything out, you never know what gems you may find when you go back through old scribbles.

Songwriting goals
I feel like I am growing as a songwriter with each song. I just hope to be able to continue to do this.

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Notice how Courtney answers the “why do you write?” questions. She says that writing songs “…isn’t really a conscious decision, I write because if I didn’t write I would go a little crazy.” I know how she feels.

When you really think about it, songwriting is not what we do but it’s who we are. I reckon it’s the ability to make that distinction that seperates great songwriters from good ones.

If you’re in Adelaide catch Courtney and myself at the Daniel O’Connell Hotel this Sunday.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, writing songs, songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting zen, songwriting blog, corey stewart

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