Last Updated on April 18, 2022 by Chris
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Courtney Barnett is an Australian lefty indie/alternative singer-songwriter from Sydney, New South Wales, who’s been making music since 2009.
Known for her witty, humorous lyrics, and deadpan delivery, Courtney Barnett has become one of the most distinctive and original artists in indie/alternative rock.
Twelve years on, in 2021, she released the video of her song If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight, taken from her album Things Take Time, Take Time.
Read on to find out more about Courtney Barnett!
Who Is Courtney Barnett?
Courtney Melba Barnett was born November 3, 1987, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Her parents gave her her middle name Melba after the Victorian-era soprano opera singer Nellie Melba, also from Australia.
As with many guitar players, the first song she learned on guitar was Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water, which her dad taught her.
She grew up listening to artists and bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, and Jeff Buckley but it was Aussie singer-songwriters Darren Hanlon and Dan Kelly who inspired Barnett to write her own songs. She’d write poetry in her notebooks, and later put them to music.
In 2012, Barnett and fellow Aussie musician Jen Cloher founded their own record label Milk! Records.
After playing in various bands and playing guitar for other artists, including Cloher, Barnett released her first EP in 2013.
Later that year, Barnett recorded her second EP, How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose, and released it combined with her first EP as The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. This release gained critical acclaim, with the record and songs gaining plaudits from the likes of Q Magazine and Pitchfork.
By March 2015, Barnett released her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. In her home country, it was released on Milk! Records.
The album proved popular with the music press, gaining many positive reviews, and after this release, Barnett embarked on tours in the UK, Europe, America, and Australasia to promote it.
The same year, she was nominated for eight awards at the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Music Awards, and picked up four; Breakthrough Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Independent Release, and Best Cover Art.
At the end of the year, she was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys.
Over the next few years, Barnett released more albums; she collaborated with Kurt Vile (The War on Drugs) releasing the album Lotta Sea Lice in 2017, followed by her next solo album Tell Me How You Really Feel in 2018, and in November 2021, her third studio album, Things Take Time, Take Time.
In March 2022, a documentary about Barnett, titled Anonymous Club, which was shot over three years, following Barnett’s “ups and downs both artistically and personally”, had several screenings, including one at the SxSW 2022 Film Festival, Austin, TX.
What Guitars Does Courtney Barnett Play?
Barnett is generally known for playing left handed Fender guitars. Over the years, she’s been seen playing several Fender guitars, including Telecasters, Stratocasters, Jaguars, and in her video for If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight, a Jagstang.
She’s also been known to play a Taylor Baby Mahogany and a Maton EMD-12 string for acoustic performances.
Other non-Fender guitars Barnett has played include a Harmony H59 Rocket Semi-Hollow and an Eastwood Airline Map DLX.
Barnett uses Ernie Ball strings.
Amps-wise, Barnett generally favors the Fender Hot Rod DeVille, Fender Twin, or Fender Deluxe.
Does Courtney Barnett use a pick?
Courtney Barnett developed her playing style (she doesn’t use a pick) by playing acoustically live. As she didn’t like the sound of a guitar pick on acoustic guitar, she opted to use her fingers and developed her unique fingerstyle technique from there.
When asked if she used picks by Premier Guitar in 2015, she replied:
“No. When I started doing gigs I was doing acoustic songwriter shows. I hated the sound of picks on acoustic guitar, so I never used them—I just developed whatever I do now.”
premierguitar.com
Is Courtney Barnett Left Handed?
Yes! Barnett plays left handed, usually playing a left handed guitar in standard tuning. She has, on occasion, played upside-down, right handed guitars but mainly plays lefties.
At times, Barnett would play upside-down right handed guitars, but now pretty much always plays left handed ones.
On Tour 2022
At the time of writing, Courtney Barnett will be on tour in 2022. Check out when and where below:
Australia
Apr 23 – STORYLAND, Screenwave International Film Festival, Park Beach Reserve,
Coffs Harbour, NSW – Buy Tickets
Apr 24 – A Day on the Green (with Crowded House), Bimbadgen, Pokolbin, NSW – CANCELLED
Nov 25 – Hanging Rock (with Nick Cave & Warren Ellis), Macedon Ranges, VIC – Buy Tickets
Nov 26 – Hanging Rock (with Nick Cave & Warren Ellis), Macedon Ranges, VIC – SOLD OUT
Event Tickets Center – Get 10% off when spending $150 or more with code: save10forspring.
USA
Jul 20 – Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com, SeatGeek
Jul 21 – Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Jul 26 – College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Jul 28 – Skyline Stage at The Mann Center For The Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com
Jul 29 – Brown’s Island (with Lucy Dacus), Richmond, VA – Buy Tickets
Aug 08 – Here and There Festival, Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland, Kansas City, MO – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 09 – Here and There Festival, The Factory – Chesterfield, Chesterfield, MO – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 10 – Here and There Festival, Agora Theatre, Cleveland, OH – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 12 – Here and There Festival, XL Live, Harrisburg, PA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 13 – Here and There Festival, Mass MoCa, North Adams, MA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 14 – Here and There Festival, Beak & Skiff Apple Hill Campus, La Fayette, NY – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 16 – Here and There Festival, The Salt Shed – Chicago, Chicago, IL – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 20 – Here and There Festival, McMenamins Historic Edgefield Amphitheater, Troutdale, OR – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 21 – Here and There Festival, Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 26 – Frost Amphitheater, Stanford, CA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com
Aug 27 – This Ain’t No Picnic Music Festival, Brookside at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA – Buy Tickets
Aug 28 – Humphreys Concerts By The Bay, San Diego, CA – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center, SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Aug 31 – The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Sep 01 – ACL Live At The Moody Theater, Austin, TX – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center, SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Sep 03 – The Mission Ballroom, Denver, CO – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com
Sep 17-18 – Sea.Hear.Now Festival, Asbury Park Oceanfront, Asbury Park, NJ – Buy Tickets: SeatGeek – (2 Day Pass / Sunday)
Event Tickets Center – Get 10% off when spending $150 or more with code: save10forspring.
Canada
Aug 23 – Here and There Festival, Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, Vancouver, BC – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com / SeatGeek
Sep 14 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON – Buy Tickets: Event Tickets Center / SelectATicket.com
Europe
Jun 10 – Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain – Buy Tickets
Jun 12 – Tempelhof Sounds, Berlin, Germany – Buy Tickets
Jun 13 – Stadtpark Open Air (with The National), Hamburg, Germany – Buy Tickets
Jun 16 – Amphiteater Gelsenkirchen (with The National), Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Buy Tickets
Jun 18 – Pinkpop 2022, Megalang, Landgraaf, NL – Buy Tickets
Jun 19 – La Laiterie – Grande Salle, Strasbourg, France – Buy Tickets
Jun 21 – La Prima Estate, Parco Bussola Domani, Lido di Camaiore, Italy – Buy Tickets
Jun 22 – Les Docks, Lausanne, Switzerland – Buy Tickets
Jun 24 – La Magnifique Society, Reims, France – Buy Tickets
Jun 26 – Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, England – SOLD OUT
Jun 29 – The Tramshed, Cardiff, Wales – Buy Tickets
Jun 30 – The Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool, England – Buy Tickets
Jul 01 – Rock City, Nottingham, England – Buy Tickets
For more info on Courtney Barnett, visit the Official Website.
Image credits: courtneybarnett.com.au, courtneybarnett.live