It’s another fine day as we look to an artist that I saw live just three months ago. This time we go back over ten years to early in her career.
Disc 1944 is…On My Page
Artist: Courtney Marie Andrews
Year of Release: 2013
What’s up with the Cover? A wistful looking lass (Andrews) decides if it is time to untie those heavy curtains. Probably depends on whether the light is hitting the TV funny.
At least that’s what determines curtain use at our place.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan of Andrews for about ten years now. “On My Page” is a re-release of an album even earlier than that, which I snapped up when I saw it in the record store.
How It Stacks Up: I have seven Courtney Marie Andrews records. “On My Page” is solidly in the middle. I’ll rank it #4
Ratings: 3 stars
Soft, understated, and emotionally powerful, “On My Page” is a record of a young Courtney Marie Andrews finding her voice. This is the flower of Andrews’ talent in the dawning light: a little fragile but full of beauty and promise.
With later records like “Loose Future” (2022) and “Valentine” (2026) (Disc 1915) you’ll hear me throw some occasional shade on all the production elements going on. Given how good those records are, you’d be justified to ask just what my problem is.
The answer is no problem at all, except that early records like “On My Page” have spoiled me with the pure Andrews experience - the undiluted stuff.
I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of singers that could break your heart with just their quaver, and Courtney Marie Andrews is one of them. Her vocals rise up through the arrangement with effortless power but yet always present as soft and vulnerable.
The opening track, “Woman of Many Colors” shows how aware Andrews is at using her instrument. The song starts at the highest point in the melody. It is sneaky hard to do what she does here and not come off pitchy, but it allows the song to immediately generate a restlessness. The lyrics double down on the effect with a clever turn on a coat of many colours, Andrews instead makes herself the patchwork of experience – living art.
In this early stage we have very limited arrangements, and while “Woman of Many Colors” has guitar, piano, some sort of shaker and (I think) a bass, it is all very subdued – more of a delivery system for the bird song of her voice as she shows you the artful joy of flitting from place to place and thought to thought.
This song is followed up by “This Time” which has more of a traditional anthem quality. Because of the nature of Andrews’ singing style she doesn’t need to belt it out to make you feel the feels. If anything, that slight hurt in the back of her throat is what makes you know how well she’s earned it as she delivers a refrain of “I ain’t goin’ back…this time.”
The songwriting on the album shows early and intense talent, and Andrews’ propensity for making private moments reflect as universal is already well developed, despite her still being in her early twenties when this record was recorded.
If there was a quibble, it would be that one of the records great assets – its quietness – can sometimes make it a bit harder to access. You get less hooks in the melodies and the instruments are often there more as a delivery vehicle for the poetry. This isn’t a bad thing, but it means to love the record that way it deserves to be loved requires you to bend your full attention to it and let the quiet moments slip into you.
There is also a similarity between the songs that later in the record can lead your mind to wander. A few years later, Andrews will have added just that extra amount of range and songwriting chops that take the concepts she’s trying out here and convert them into the masterpiece that is 2016’s “An Honest Life” (reviewed at Disc 1081). “On My Page” isn’t quite at that level, but all the ingredients are there, vibrant and on the verge of full bloom. It’s a prequel that is well worth the listen.
Best tracks: Woman of Many Colors, This Time, It Keeps Going, 500 Nights
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