Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Elayna
Hi Courtney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
To start, nobody in the last three generations of my family that I know of has ever picked up an instrument beyond the piano. Growing up, I was involved in the church choir where I learned basics about how to sing. My first memories of hearing beautiful harmonies and big band sounds with music was the oldies radio station, played only 50s to the 70’s in my grandpa’s ‘71 Ford pickup. He taught me how to sing just by walking around the house belting out Jim Reeves, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley. I remember vividly one night when I was about 12, he heard I was listening to rap music and begged me to start trying to listen to Country Western. He told me if I was ever going to make any money, it would be singing country western songs. In high school, I never had enough self-esteem or confidence to enter into any talent shows but I would go to them and I remember wanting to be up on a stage performing my gift. My voice was bland and I had no knowledge of vibrato or how to command it. It wasn’t until I met my first son’s birth father who heard me sing one day and encouraged me to book a few shows together. We would perform at open mics at the Crown and Harp and the Opening Bell in Dallas, Texas. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I lost him to an overdose and gave up the idea of ever trying to do music with our one year old son that I now had to raise alone. This was when I was 22 years old. Eventually, I needed a way to immerse myself in music again for the release it gave my soul. I went to Deep Ellum to meet people and wound up getting heavily involved in the music scene promoting bands and running merch for The Roomsounds and many others. I met Robbie Saunders (The Venetian Sailors,Dallas) a string extraordinaire and highly requested musician in Dallas Texas, who picked me up and allowed me to start singing back up harmonies. I picked up the guitar and 2017 learning only basic chords. In November 2019, I got a call from Heather Kitzman of (The Blondettes, Dallas) and asked me to join her all female country western band The High-Tones to play guitar and sing with them until 2022. We played the Granada and got into venues all around DFW and the San Antonio areas. In early 2022, I moved up to Chicago to start and manage a punk band, Soul Fudge Dream Band that featured many amazing talented musicians from the area. Some nights, the arrangements would be up 15 players in the band onstage. Upon realizing how hard it would be to keep a big band paid out of my own pocket for most shows, while cleaning Chicago mansions making $18 an hour and not being able to pick up a guitar until after my shift right before a show, I moved back to Dallas in August 2023. I became pregnant with my son Rory, but decided that I might want to try solo acoustic live performances to keep playing and making cash. I booked myself and brought out all of my heavy equipment every pregnant month of my son’s time in the womb to every gig up until the Saturday before I gave birth. Six weeks after I gave birth, I was back playing shows (while pumping milk onstage to bring home to Rory). In December 2023, I decided that I would take things to the next step and start booking every weekend of 2024, playing my original music mixed in with whatever venues requested I play. From January 2024, all I had to book shows with was good faith and an MP3 recording of my only song that I released in November 2024, “Pretty Lies”. I was even able to book Colorado and California tour just by emailing several venues who had no idea who I was, never saw me play live, and trusted that I would be able to pull through anywhere from an hour to four hours worth of sets! My sets include classic Country rock, some pop, Spanish,and R&B thrown in. And depending on who I’m playing for and I like to sneak in originals throughout the night. After playing for 10 years in Dallas and catering to crowds ranging from small children to seniors, I decided that I would dip my toes in the small towns in East Texas and North Austin. I don’t have any friends in the Dallas area to support my music and come out to my shows, but I’ve gained followings now that when the folks who do see where I’m playing will come out and show me so much love and kindness. I found that getting outside of the Dallas and Austin areas which are both already saturated with many musicians on the side of the streets busking, in different sports bars and beer gardens, that the vast majority of audiences prefer DJs overhearing live performances. Cover and tribute bands rule most of the big venues that are willing to pay decently. The people I play to understand that I am a solo, female, independent artist, both working as a mother, wife and a full-time management entity to try and get my own music out into the world out there. Anytime I finish my night, at any given point of the night I get audience members that will come up and share with me how I made them feel, with whatever song touched their souls, and I realized that no matter the amount of pay I received that, their words were payment to my soul. Even though this is my only means of making any monetary gain, knowing that my voice touches people in the way that it does matter so much more. In this profession, I see people who are on the side of the streets busking with a guitar case open covered with change and dollar bills, I see women and men who are funded by parents or by investors who can give them a jumpstart to their career, and I won’t say that it alters the way I feel about what I’m doing. The amount of emails attempting to book gigs, general expenses to get to and from the gigs, and money that I spend on promoting myself, such as going to CVS to print off promo photos of myself to give away that shows, and the amount of work that I put in just to get people to hear me is extremely exhausting. Sometimes I feel it giving up and just focusing on being a mother and a wife, but then when I have a Friday night and a Saturday night booked and I meet those people that are so kind to me either by sharing with me their stories or tipping me generously shows me that I have no option but to keep fighting to get my music out in the world. So for this year, I plan on booking any day of the week I can get, recording my music with people that are willing to help me along and see my vision. I’ve cleaned houses, sat behind a 9-5 desk in stiff office chairs, but to stand on my feet singing until my voice is dry and playing until my fingers go numb is one of my true desires in life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The hardest part about being a full time gigging musician is no reply from venues. It doesn’t always mean they don’t want you, but just imagine the floods of emails talent buyers get daily. It’s also extremely hard when they have a tight roster of friends who they let play regularly at their venues, which doesn’t give fresh talent a chance. That being said, social media following a big thing these days. You must be on every platform possible so that all walks of life can check you out. Sometimes venues won’t book you if you don’t have a massive following which doesn’t always coincide with how talented you might be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am known for my tight, on the spot harmonies. I have played shows with people I’ve met hours before and nailed the harmonies. I’m also known for walking up and singing cheek to cheek on one mic to surprise people with harmonies, when they’ve clearly made it known it would be alright of course! I can write beautifully written, melodic songs and perform them in under 30 minutes.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
As far as being influenced, I love to watch old videos of Peter Steele or Linda Ronstadt’s performances. Both had wonderful commander presence onstage. I study lyrics written in the late 1800’s to present day to form my own songs because a lot of what we have now in music is easily predictable lyrics that are almost elementary, that don’t offer much inspiration to me.
Pricing:
- $250 solo weekend shows
- $500+ for duo/trio-full band
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.courtneyelaynamusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneyelaynamusic?
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1APHCUtRZG/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/U35hl55NbXE
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/album/pretty-lies-single/1777703922
Image Credits
Zac Castillo
Molly Vanderbilt
