For the record: Courtney Robbins is still a new face in the Old Pueblo, but she has earned her stripes as a successful singer/songwriter back East. In her time playing the clubs and coffeehouses of New England, she has opened for, among others, Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky and Melissa Ferrick.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a musician? "I can't really pinpoint it. I remember the first show my band and I played in high school. It was at a friend's birthday party in her basement, and I remember thinking, 'This is really, really cool.' I think it's been more of a gradual realization, especially in that the more I think about it the more I do it."
Who were some of your early influences and who influences you now? "When my sister and I were little, we listened a lot to our parents' records. I remember particularly loving the Coasters. My dad listened to older country and bluegrass music like Willie Nelson, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Doc Watson, which I didn't really like at the time. But I've definitely grown to appreciate and like them a lot now.
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"It wasn't until I was probably a freshman or sophomore in high school that I was introduced to stuff like the Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell. I would count all of these people as influences now, and I'd add artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Aimee Mann, Dar Williams and a host of other bands and solo musicians."
You've only lived here two years. What brought you to Tucson? "I'm originally from Connecticut and have lived on the East Coast my whole life. Long story short, it was time for a change. I had some friends and family out here, and I had just finished an internship with an artist management agency. I had no paying job or real obligations so I figured what the hell. I did like the town I was living in, but I figured there would be few times in my life that I'd have almost no strings attached to just pick up and leave, so I picked up and left."
How does the music scene here compare to the East? "It's hard to say. The first word that comes to mind is 'different.' I was living in western Massachusetts in a town called Northampton that has a reputation of being a really good small music town.
"It's definitely a small town, maybe 30,000 people, but at times it felt like everyone and their mother was some kind of singer/songwriter.
"I will say that I feel like I've had opportunities here that I didn't have in Northampton."
You've opened for several big names, Williams, Kaplansky. Any favorites? "Opening for Dar Williams was pretty amazing. Ana Egge also played at that show, and I had been a big fan of Dar's since I was in high school."
Your online biography mentions that your blistering guitar style often leaves your fingers bleeding. Do you stay stocked up on Band-Aids? "Band-Aids are for wimps. My index and middle fingers on my right hand tend to blister up then bleed because of the way I hit the guitar. It leaves blood spatters near the sound hole. It makes me feel like a badass. I had to take my guitar into the shop a while ago and when I got it back the bloodstains had all been cleaned off. That sucked. I'm working on making some new ones."
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