We recently connected with Courtney Hart and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Courtney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I sang in church choir and always loved singing, I was writing jingles for commercials (in my head, not professionally) and songs about boys on the playground for as long as I could remember. Weirdly, creativity started for me young, and I’ve really never viewed another path for myself. In high school, I was in mock trial and my teacher said my closing statement was so theatrical, she suggested I try the drama club. I had no desire to try drama club, until it was given to me as an art class in high school. My very first play, I was awful, I mean AWFUL, but even being awful, I felt like it was where I was supposed to be and I started studying acting in theatre and eventually method acting and acting for film. I would say my earliest memory of singing or pretending began at 5 and I have never looked back!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi ya’ll! I’m Courtney and it’s nice to be here and virtually meet you. I am a singer, songwriter and actress. My dad used to work in music and plays music and naturally, I followed suit and I found acting by mistake. My dad is a CRO, my mother a food scientist and my sister a doctor and I am an artist! What I do is provide escapism for people to relate to, whether it’s through lyrics and a melody or through film. In terms of problem solving, not sure how many problems I solve daily, but I do believe art is healing and brings even the most unlikely people together. I am an extroverted, introvert, I am loud and fun and social, but I also enjoy evenings in with myself and my cat Astro. My music is described as country crass meets rock n’ roll sass. I like to sing about relationships and situations I’ve been in with lots of attitude and innuendos. Country music is very linear and conservative; red cups, pick up trucks, the horses, the farm. I like to think what sets me apart is I’m not afraid to be loud and bold within the genre. I’m also not fully conformed to country, I have influences of pop and rock and I’m not scared to play with sounds. The main thing I want you to know is, love or hate my work I’m always going to be kind, thank everyone who works with me, and I’m always going to give 100%. I live in a city that sucks you in and won’t spit you out. Attitude is everyone’s personality, attitude for me is just in my music and I believe kindness goes a long way.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

GO SEE LIVE MUSIC! GO DO IT! It’s such good exposure for the artist, it keeps music alive and helps artists meet people. GO TO FILM FESTIVALS! Go support actors who aren’t A-listers- there are SO many talented people in the world, that you might miss just because they aren’t on your AMC Theatre’s screens. Go to art shows, go see photography exhibits, go to museums. I think society needs more art exposure, more things to keep their head and hearts light and thinking.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Never let anyone talk you out of the vision you have for your art. Get everything in writing. Ask a ton of questions, don’t play it cool. For legalities, I can’t say much, BUT women in this industry- DO YOU RESEARCH. Do not trust the likings of people you believe are friends. I’m sorry I hate to say it, but everyone is looking out for themselves. Now I have learned, everyone I work with gets a contract, in black and white with the terms of agreement and the financial breakdown. I also learned I do not allow people to persuade me into re-writing a part of my song that they feel ‘isn’t good enough.’ If YOU like it, it’s enough. The minute someone else enters the room, your royalties and percentages go out the window and that person owns a part of that song. If I could tell old Courtney one thing it’d be- fight for your sound, fight for your chorus, don’t let people make you question your artistry,

Contact Info:

• Website: www.courtneyhart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cj_hart

Image Credits
Josh Adams, Meshinto, Little Blue World Photography