Fresh from the recent release of her album Valentine, Courtney Marie Andrews made a welcome return to Scotland to spread the spirit of love on a cold February evening.
Supporting her on tour were Brown Horse, a Norwich based band signed to Loose music, who played a thoughtful set of soft country-tinged indie rock tunes, made sweeter by Emma Tovell’s contributions on pedal steel. They’re readying a new album called ‘Total Dive’ and the new song ‘Wreck’ was a highlight of their set, so this is one to look out for when it’s released in April.
Arriving on stage Courtney told us she had decided on this tour to play the new album in full, in order. Some may think that’s a brave choice but to me it just shows the confidence she has in these new songs, which sounded even better in the live setting.
The whimsical birds dotted all round the stage and the red balloon on the piano helped to set the tone for her heartfelt set. An early highlight of the evening was ‘Cons and Clowns’, where Courtney showed off her skills on the flute, which she’s recently picked up again after playing as a child.
At the end of the poignant breakup song ‘Little Picture of a Butterfly’ she also treated us to the first of two poetry readings from her second collection ‘Love is a Dog that Bites When It’s Scared’.
The rockier sounding ‘Everyone Wants to Feel Like You Do’ brought a little more bite to her set, while also allowing Courtney to show her impressive shredding skills on electric guitar.
After the Valentine gift, we were lucky enough to also get a sampling from across her back catalogue including atmospheric versions of ‘Break the Spell’ and ‘If I Told’ from her Old Flowers album, as well as a stunning version of ‘Near You’. Unreleased song ‘Standing in the Rain’ also suggests that’s there’s much more to come from this artist in the future.
For the encore she returned to the stage solo, picking up her acoustic guitar and bravely asking the crowd for requests. The first shout was for the title track to her ‘Honest Life’ album, which Courtney happily played as the mirrorball danced above our heads. To end the night she invited her excellent band back on stage to close with ‘Table for One’ from the same release. As her breakthrough album in the UK this was a perfect moment to celebrate the record, especially with all the 2016 nostalgia we’ve been seeing recently.
What’s clear from this superb evening is that Courtney Marie Andrews will be drawing appreciative crowds like this one for many years to come. Her live vocals remain singularly impressive and her poetic, romantic songs will only continue to grow with time.
Tour: https://www.courtneymarieandrews.com
All photos by Kendall Wilson Photography, with kind permission.
Highway Queens 
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