Meet Courtney Fortune

Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Fortune.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Courtney. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been a performer, touring musician and songwriter all my life. I’m a Seattle native, born into a family of visual artists, and was drawn to music at a very young age. My fascination with songs has always been a part of me. I grew up playing in clubs and hanging out in recording studios, going to shows every chance I got – it was Heaven growing up in a vibrant arts scene like Seattle’s.

I fell in love with jazz and soul, which has always heavily influenced my original music. I toured a lot in Asia, lived there for a time, I was even the subject of a Japanese reality TV show (which, whatever picture you have in your head of what being on a Japanese reality show was like, yeah it was that exactly). In those years, I also moved to LA and got my first degree at USC, a B.S. in Music Industry, because I’ve always had a very entrepreneurial spirit and I wanted to learn more about the business of music. While I was in school, I was named Glamour Magazine’s Top 10 College Women of the Year and received the Brian Wilson Musical Achievement Award, which was really humbling and such a great honor. I also met my producer, 7-time Grammy-nominated composer/arranger Chris Walden. We released an album in 2009 called “Speak Love” and another EP recorded at Capitol Records last year – “You Make It Easy”.

From there, I continued performing exploring who I was as an artist, at this point a pop, jazz singer-songwriter who loved Nat King Cole and Erykah Badu and The Rolling Stones. Before COVID, I was singing for dancing crowds at Disneyland and recently enjoyed a residency in Las Vegas. I was also working as a professional songwriter, writing for major labels, TV/film, video games, pop stars and Japanese boy bands. It was a very busy time in my life, but it was also then that I discovered another passion: mentorship.

Falling in love with mentorship was well, unexpected. I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher, I was always the doer: the artist, the writer, the producer. But I was asked to teach my first summer songwriting class at Cornish College and I realized that building up other aspiring artists and helping them write their best songs fed my soul in a whole new way.

I founded an organization called Songmaker Sessions which is a songwriting and mentorship program for teens and adults. We host workshops, lessons and offer guidance to all levels and genres. I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing young songwriters, who now include some famous female pop stars, country, rock and indie-gothic artists, and a wonderful singer-songwriter living in a refugee camp in Uganda who writes songs to uplift his local community.

I recently co-founded a second organization called Sister Code, which offers empowerment camps for teen girls. We have our first workshop in the Bay Area next month and I’m so excited. Additionally, I’m very interested in the intersection of music and mental health and have teamed up with Innovative Group Psychotherapy to offer therapeutic songwriting for at-risk youth.

Today I am also starting my master’s program at USC in Arts Leadership.

This may sound like a lot… and it probably is, but I think when you’re a creative person you can’t help but do everything that excites you about art. I’ve just now added advocacy to the mix.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been anything but smooth! There have been so many setbacks and disappointments and a whole lot of questioning myself along the way. It just comes with the territory of being an artist (or a human) I think.

Trying to figure out who you are as an artist is always difficult, I still feel like I’m still developing my style and finding my place in the world. Fighting for equal pay and respect in bands. I’ve really had to work on my confidence and building up strength from within.

I’ve also always had anxiety issues, which has been a journey in itself. I am now learning to channel my issues into inspiration and am championing others to do the same. Normalizing mental health conversations in art is something at the forefront of my advocacy work.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So for Songmaker Sessions, I am the founder and run the workshops. The goal of Songmakers is to provide an inclusive space for creative inspiration, tools for songwriting practice, an opportunity to partner with others, industry insight, and a supportive environment for honest, authentic self-expression.

You don’t need to be an experienced songwriter to participate either, I try to make the workshops as accessible as possible. I’ve taught a class of 100 creative writers, most of which had never written a song before, and it was one of the best experiences ever.

I also co-founded Sister Code with my friends Beate Walden and Leslie Darwin O’Brien – these are one-day workshop for teen girls to encourage deep discussion, self-discovery, confidence-building and community among young women.

The moments I’m most proud are the moments when my students really believe in themselves and their music. The greatest gift I ever received was a young girl telling me, “I’ve never felt more confident. Thank you for giving me permission to be myself.” I will never forget that.

I’ve always wanted to be the mentor, artist, friend. I wish I would’ve had when I was getting started as a singer-songwriter. That drives me in everything I do.

What were you like growing up?
I would say I was a very ambitious kid, I was always working on some kind of art project. I’m actually kind of reserved, I’ve never wanted to be ‘the loudest voice in the room’. When I was younger being on stage was the place I was most comfortable being big and bold. I think that’s probably true today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.courtneyfortune.com, www.songmakersessions.com, www.joinsistercode.org
• Instagram: @courtneyfortunemusic

Image Credit:
Beate Walden, Joon Song

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