Courtney Leigh Heins

Artist Information

Biography

Courtney Leigh Heins, a Hoosier native and Boston College graduate, combines elements of folk, country, jazz, and bluegrass with compelling stories about life in the Heartland & Hollywood. Courtney's recent performances include the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, Austin's SXSW in 2010 and 2011, the 2011 Anchorage Folk Festival, and The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN as a part of their Sunday Writers' Night series. Locally, she's played in Los Angeles at The Viper Room, The Rainbow, Genghis Cohen, Pig'n Whistle & Molly Malone's, where she has opened for I See Hawks in LA. She is a member of ASCAP, SAG, AMA, NSAI and The Recording Academy (NARAS).

Courtney's album "Hot Coffee" features Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, Ray Lamontagne) on guitar and was produced by Bryan Dobbs (Frank Stallone Band). Her music has been featured on Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic, as well as on Stardust Radio, Whole Wheat Radio, Crooked Sisters Radio Hour and has received airplay on stations as far away as Belgium and Macedonia. She has current publishing deals with Monica Benson (BOK Music) and Janet Fisher (Goodnight Kiss Music) and her song "My Kind of Man" can be found on the "Rhythm of Honor" CD, a song compilation that benefits the Wounded Warriors Fund. She also collaborates with a variety of artists, writers and producers in the genres of Country, Rock, Pop and Hip-Hop for specific TV/Film and Artist uses.

Music Placements include: "Heartland" - CBC; "The Hills," "The City," & "Tough Love" - MTV/VH1; "Secret Lives of Women" - WE Network; "Unforgettable Wedding Venues" - WE Network; "Pit Boss" - Animal Planet; "Millionaire Matchmaker" - Bravo; "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" - Discovery Health; "Auction Kings" - Discovery; "Miss Turkey Trot & Miss Drumsticks" - TLC; "In Their Boots" - Webisodes; "Evergone" - dir. Brian J. Kaufman-Prod."The Simpsons"; Honeybaked Ham Commercial; "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" DVD bonus material; "Peter Perfect" - The Style Network; "America's Funniest Pets & People" - WGN; "Broken" - indie film

"Emerging as an observant working class songstress on the Ourstage radar..." -- Aidan Rush, Ourstage (US)

"Home cooked groove...aching, country bluesy feel to vocal attitude, great lyric references. Immensely promising."--TAXI (US)

"She shows herself in the emotionally-moving "Lightly" with an effortless Stevie Nicks vibe ala Fleetwood Mac. Uptempo, lively country music dotted with mandolins and pedal-steel guitars are well-appreciated, but Courtney wins us most in her sensitive, tender ballads, such as the love tale "Saginaw." --Rootstime (Belgium)

Influences include Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Eddie Vedder, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Wilco & Lucinda Williams.

Instrumentation

Courtney Leigh Heins - vox, guitar, mandolin
Bryan Dobbs - guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin

Discography

CD-"Hot Coffee"
The Great Divide
Here I Go
Lightly
Joey (cover)
Hot Coffee, Mississippi
Prove Me Wrong
Saginaw
Broken
This Ol' Town
Times Like These

CD-"Refolk"
10 Miles from Normal
Goodbye to Monument Valley
Weather Man
I'll Fade Away
A Girl Named George
The Black Dahlia
The Hollywood Song
Beggin' for Change
Dear John
Sin City
The Dustbowl

EP-"Thrift Store Ballads"
I Need A Cowboy Tonight
Gratitude
Angel
All I Can Take
I'll Take You Down
Widow's Walk

Accolades include 2011 Durango Songwriters Contest - Grand Prize Winner for Film/TV (co-writer Athena Marie Byrne); Ourstage.com Download of the Week; We Are Listening 1st place Lyric Writer Awards (co-writer Lee Ashley); Garageband.com Track of the Day Award, Top 25 Lyrics of all-time & #1 Track in Folk/Country; JLSC Honorable Mention; 7 ASCAPLUS Awards;1st place SongoftheMonth.com

Audio

• 10 Miles from Normal
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• The Great Divide
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• Here I Go
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• Lightly
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• This Ol' Town
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• Hot Coffee, Mississippi
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• Saginaw
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• The Black Dahlia
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• A Girl Named George
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• Gratitude
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• Cowboy Tonight
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• Weather Man
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• I'm Over Getting Over You
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• Memory Lane
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• We Were Young
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• Times Like These
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• Dream-A-Bubble
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• This Is My Protest Song
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Lyrics

• 10 Miles from Normal
• The Great Divide
• Here I Go
• Lightly
• This Ol' Town
• Hot Coffee, Mississippi
• Saginaw
• The Black Dahlia
• Where's My Revolution?
• A Girl Named George

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Hot Coffee CD review (UK) [+ Show ]
  

  "Hot Coffee" - stimulation for your ears from Courtney Leigh Heins (1/26/09) The second album from ..."Hot Coffee" - stimulation for your ears from Courtney Leigh Heins (1/26/09)
  The second album from Courtney Leigh Heins is as stimulating as the beverage and chock-full of personal expression, love, joy, sadness, winning, losing and spiritual overtones. This Americana folk meets country, merging with rock and jazz influences plus a touch of bluegrass - and it's a breathtaking blend. Certain voices sound familiar from the first second you hear them. There's a primal echo in their rich vocal timbre. There's a delivery that reaches deep inside your memory. That's exactly what you hear with Courtney. Her voice has a strangth and clarity that delivers lyrics with a purpose. It's power and suppleness catches your ear and you're hooked. (visit folkwords.com/albumreviews_25784.html to read in its entirety)

• Hot Coffee CD review [+ Show ]
  

  Courtney Leigh Heins and coffee. We too gladly answer her inviting gesture on the photograph of the ...Courtney Leigh Heins and coffee. We too gladly answer her inviting gesture on the photograph of the cover, which portrays Courtney in beautiful, orange sepia dye with a coffee pot (which is apparently even served in California on the beach) as the back of the cover proves. Coffee means sociability and this is also the feeling that this record leaves with us: heart and an ideal gift for autumn. Hot Coffee is the crown of her work and nothing was left to chance. Even master guitarist Doug Pettibone, well-known for his penetrating guitar work with Lucinda Williams, contributes to her album. He colors without delay her politically-injected opener The Great Divide, which evolves slowly from a Dylan-esque folk song to a powerful country rocker, assisted by strong tele-twang. The best part of Courtney lies in her versatility. In "Here I Go" you hear a Carpenters-related, splendidly harmoniously sung country music ballad. She shows herself in the emotionally-moving "Lightly" with an effortless Stevie Nicks vibe ala Fleetwood Mac. Uptempo, lively country music dotted with mandolins and pedal-steel guitars are well-appreciated, but Courtney wins us most in her sensitive, tender ballads, such as the love tale "Saginaw," where the warm tremolo in her voice provokes tenderness. The beautiful harmoniously sung "Broken" calls to mind the environment of tender Rory Block in Lovin' Whiskey. The album concludes with Times Like These, which reflects the emotions with beautiful metaphors of a character who survived Hurricane Katrina. Our choice was quick after listening to this promising debut of Courtney Leigh Heins. The Californische stands to inspire people, perhaps many, with lively music, but we were touched deepest by her sociable and tender hearth fire moments. With or without the solid jet-ear tones of Doug Pettibone, this maid is strong enough to stand on her own.

• Music News [+ Show ]
  

  "10 Miles from Normal" has been featured on Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW 89.9FM. ..."10 Miles from Normal" has been featured on Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW 89.9FM. It also held the #1 Folk/Country slot on the Garageband charts for 3 weeks straight.
  
  "The Black Dahlia" is a favorite underground hit on dozens of internet radio stations, including MusicNerve, Whole Wheat Radio, Sirens of Song, TNW Hotmix and Radio Duck to name a few.
  
  "My Kind of Man" was signed to Goodnight Kiss Records and chosen for the Rhythm of Honor CD in honor of America's troops. A portion of the proceeds are donated to the Wounded Warriors Fund. Courtney was interviewed on Stardust Radio's United We Roll show to promote the song and CD.
  
  Most recently, "Times Like These" can be heard as the opener of the indie flick "Evergone" produced by Brian J. Kaufman of Fox's "The Simpsons."

Setlist

Typical set is 30-60 minutes. Originals may include: 10 Miles from Normal, The Black Dahlia, Sin City, The Great Divide, Prove Me Wrong, Goodbye to Monument Valley, Lightly, various others. We usually throw in a cover or two, depending on the crowd and the length of the set. Covers may include songs by Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan and The Jayhawks.

Basic Requirements

Calendar