Courtney Yasmineh

Honesty is a quality getting rarer and rarer in rock and roll, but you can see, hear and believe it in Courtney Yasmineh. The Chicago/NYC/Minneapolis singer, guitarist, songwriter draws from a poisoned well that runs deep; harsh reflection, brutal frankness, bittersweet inspiration, brief flights of sexual fantasy and blistering romance, but most of all, transcendent saving graces. Imagine a songsmithing family of not-so-evil stylistic sisters comprised of Lucinda Williams, Liz Phair, Alanis Morrisette. Now imagine Courtney as Cinderella in that fairtytale musical equation ... and leaving the ball on her own terms. Although she's been writing songs and performing for virtually her entire adult life, it's only in the past decade that she's been recording albums and EPs including two in 2015- Red Letter Day and Red Letter Day Unplugged (released in April and September, respectively)- and the highly acclaimed "High Priestess And The Renegade" released in 2018. Garnering more acclaim and building a bigger following with each consecutive release and tour, these recent albums have brought a whole new level of international exposure. What makes her body of work so enthralling is the way she subtly weaves her personal narrative into immediately memorable songs whose appeal spans a wide range of ages and musical tastes. Sans booking agents, managers and a stretchable budget Yasmineh has successfully booked a dozen European tours, logged countless jaunts across the US, shot many music videos, and garnered local and national media attention here and abroad. Her live performances showcase her prowess as a bandleader, front woman and solo performer; she's sexy, smart, and somehow simultaneously shy and brazen, beckoning the audience to join her for the ride. She turns any audience into a room full of believers, believing in her, and believing in her hopeful message. As she sings in her new song Remedy "Fear is my enemy and money is my rival,gratitude is the remedy and love is my survival" Courtney Yasmineh isn't necessarily a rule breaker, she just plays by her own rules. From skipping town out of Chicago as a teenager and holing up in a cabin in northern Minnesota, where she focused an obsession with Bob Dylan into the beginnings of her craft as a songwriter, guitarist and singer, to self-releasing seven albums and several EPs, and doing twelve small club tours of Europe and at least as many in the US (all self-booked, no less), she is simply unstoppable. With each album she's continues to expand her musical universe, stretching across the spectrum from indie pop to alt-country to full-tilt rock and roll, all the while writing better and better genuinely smart songs that are deeply personal yet touch on subjects and feelings everyone can relate to. Her Red Letter Day Unplugged EP, came about in the most organic and unexpected fashion. When Courtney was preparing for a set of East Coast radio station appearances and gigs at relatively intimate venues to promote Red Letter Day - the early 2015 CD that is her most electric, straight-up rock and roll album to date - it became apparent that bringing her backing band would be expensive and impractical. Ever enterprising and unafraid to wade into uncharted waters, Courtney and her drummer/longtime collaborator/musical director Rob Genadek began rehearsing all-new, stripped down acoustic arrangements of the songs on Red Letter Day as a duo. Reaction to these new versions of the songs was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Seizing the moment, Courtney and Rob recorded these simpler acoustic duo versions and packaged up new Red Letter Day Unplugged cds and vinyl. This five song EP has received international radio airplay and excellent reviews and spawned the new touring duo format that has endeared Courtney, and Rob, to new audiences in the US and Europe. Her newest studio album "High Priestess And The Renegade" released February 1, 2018 has gathered industry buzz in no small part because the release of "Tangled Web" the first single off the album charted for twelve weeks in Europe in 2017 and got this latest and arguably greatest of the Courtney Yasmineh catalog off to a running start. Courtney's longtime collaborator and co-conspirator Rob Genadek acts as producer, drummer, backing vocalist, and overdubbing guru. The new tracks are uncompromising in their folk, roots, and Gospel flavor, but they're infused with a raw spirit that is part alternative rock, part punk rock. Courtney's new writing channels the spirit of sixty years of great songwriting. The sound is familiar, visceral, muscular, fresh, highly energized. High Priestess And The Renegade has already been hailed "one of the best albums so far of 2018" and has received high praise and five out of five star ratings from critic in the US and Europe. Courtney has been quoted recently saying she's now been a songwriter for forty five years. Her time has arrived.