Cortney Tidwell | |
|---|---|
 Cortney Tidwell performs live at The Stone Fox, Nashville, TN | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 2, 1972 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Genres | Experimental, Alternative, Electronic |
| Occupation(s) | singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist |
| Instrument(s) | drums, guitar, omnichord, keyboards |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | City Slang, Ever Records (U.K.), Sissybragg Records |
| Website | www |
Cortney Tidwell is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She made her name in Nashville as a one-woman band and has released several albums.
Cortney Lara Tidwell was born on December 2, 1972, in Nashville, Tennessee to country singer Connie Eaton and Cliff Williamson, music producer at A&R. Her paternal grandfather Slim Williamson founded and operated a country music label Chart Records. Her maternal grandfather, Robert "Bob" Eaton, was a member of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950s and was signed to Decca Records. In later years he was a frequent guest on The Ralph Emery Show and was known as "Roadmap Bob". Cortney made her television debut at the age of five on this show. She said her favorite country performer was Conway Twitty and sang "I'm Not Lisa" by Jessi Colter.
Most of Tidwell's family played at or was associated with The Grand Ole Opry. Her mother Connie, a celebrity in Nashville, was friends with Jack Clement. She wrote songs with him, and collaborated with other musicians such as Townes Van Zandt and Kris Kristofferson. She was also a friend of Shel Silverstein. Connie was diagnosed with manic depression in the early 1970s, and by the mid-1980s had withdrawn from the music scene. Attempts were made to discourage Cortney from pursuing music, but she married and started a family while continuing to sing and play guitar.
In 2004, following the death of her mother, Tidwell began recording with her husband, Todd Tidwell, a producer, recording engineer, and musician, who contributed his playing and songwriting to her songs. A childhood friend, artist Matthew Zarth, funded the first run of CDs on his label ‘Sissybragg Records’.
The Nashville scene sang her praises, and late editor Jim Ridley called Tidwell "Nashville’s real songbird". She performed at Springwater with other musicians but then began playing all the instruments herself while she was raising her children and working as a preschool teacher. Nashville embraced the new setup with Cortney as a one-woman band, and she caught the attention of Lou Barlow of Sebadoh and opened a show for them.
Cortney has released two full-length LPs and two EPs under her name with City Slang Records. She participated in a collaborative album of reimagined songs that were originally recorded for and released by her grandfather's Chart Records in the 1960s, featuring Kurt Wagner, William Tyler, and other members of Lambchop, under the name KORT. She toured Europe with the band.
Cortney and Todd have two sons.
Discography.
