Courtney Yasmineh Returning to the Northland for Dylan Fest

It's been five years since her first Duluth Dylan Fest when she shared a stage with Scarlet Rivera and Gene LaFond at Weber Hall. The following year she returned with enthusiasm and after her performance we talked about where her career has taken her, whereupon I learned she was also writing and working on a novel. This time around A Girl Called Sidney, her first in a quartet of books, has been completed and the second well on its way.

Courtney's returning here to rock, though, and you find her Wednesday night with Rob Genadek at The Rex @ Fitgers right after the Highway 61 Band Five dollars gets you fifty dollars worth of music that night.

EN: You begin your bio by talking about how rare honesty is in rock and roll. Why is this? And is it something that has gotten worse, this lack of honesty?

Courtney Yasmineh: Well, the bio was written by a publicist, so that isn’t necessarily my own viewpoint. I guess I would say that certain artists in popular music are more genuine or authentic or honest than others and that I always endeavor to be sincere in my work.

EN: Your energy and drive are noteworthy. Where does this energy come from? That is, what's behind it that propels you to perform?

CY: I feel that this is my time to fully explore being a full time artist, now that my children are grown. I’m excited to be able to do all that I can.

EN: When did you start your blog and what have you learned from this daily discipline?

CY: I started the blog after my recent tour in Europe. I felt that I wanted to sidestep the constraints of social media and write more freely for people who want to stay in touch with me as an artist. Most of my adult life I have written in a journal every morning. Now I have the idea that it would be inspiring to others and to myself to share these morning musings in a semi-public way on my own website.

EN: Your blog projects an explosion of color that is catchy. At the top of the page is the title of your new album, The High Priestess and the Renegade. Which one is you, high priestess or renegade? Can you elaborate on this?

CY: I am the high priestess and the renegade. And also Rob Genadek, the Minneapolis music producer I work with, he is the renegade as well. I saw a High Priestess card in a Tarot deck and she has her hand on a lion’s head. She tames the lion with her inner strength and graciousness. The picture of me on the front of the album artwork is the High Priestess. The picture of the lion on the back cover is the renegade….and my fans and I like to say that the lion is Rob, too.

EN: You've been performing internationally since when? And do you have a favorite memory from performing abroad?

CY: March 2018, 26 shows in 32 days, was my 11th Europe tour! Some years we went twice, and this year we are invited back to play outdoor festivals in August, so it’s been twelve tours in ten years. My favorite memory was the filming of my music video “Heartbreak Woman” in Paris. I loved that! You can watch it on youtube or on my website.

EN: You've given credit to Bob Dylan's music for getting you through a very hard winter when you were young. I know other's who have said Dylan's music helped get them through hard times. What is it that enables him to connect with so many kinds of people?

CY: I think Mr. Dylan has written songs to express pain in a very sincere way. The beauty of his melodies and the brilliance of his words has never overshadowed the deep feelings running through his recordings. As a performer, especially on his recordings, he has so many times been able to create an atmosphere of remoteness, a sense of only you listening to only him.

EN: You've released four albums of original music and songs. What is your process for writing songs?

CY: The new album is my seventh, believe it or not. I write songs as I walk outside usually. I just start singing a soundtrack to whatever is happening in my life and in my heart. I sing it, right from the first words. Then if it seems promising, I sing the first line over and over until I get home so I won’t forget it and then I sit down and actually work out the rest with a guitar and a note pad and a recording device.

EN: Last time you were in Duluth we discussed writing. You mentioned you were working on a book. Have you published it now? What's it about and where can people find it?

CY: Yes, I had been thinking for many years about how to tell the story of the year I ran away from Chicago and stayed alone for the winter in my grandfather’s deserted old cabin on Lake Vermilion.

I was approached by a publisher out of Chicago a few years ago. She had heard that I was a songwriter and touring artist who also was writing fiction. So with her encouragement I wrote and edited a very concise version of the story.

That first novel, in the literary fiction category, came out a year ago in June. It is the first in a four book series with the second book due out in early 2019. The novels are about a girl who wants to be a songwriter, and yes, the stories are based on my own experiences. I find prose writing to be very hard work. I find songwriting to be delightful hard work. I’m very grateful that I get to go around singing my songs.

I got the idea to make it a four book series in an effort to show a woman’s life of pursuing her artistry and also having children and trying to survive by conventional and less conventional means.

Book one has had excellent reviews and is available internationally at independent booksellers as well as all Barnes&Noble stores, and is available on Amazon.com in ebook and paperback.

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Related Links
Courtney's Website
Another place to find her book.
Complete Duluth Dylan Fest Schedule 
Follow Courtney on her blog. 

Courtney Yasmineh Returns for A Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan (Interview)

When Courtney Yasmineh joined Scarlet Rivera and Gene Lafond last year at Weber Hall, there was a certain amount of risk as she was accustomed to performing with her own band and not Gene's backup band The Wild Unknown. On top of that, an hour before showtime Courtney and Scarlet were shaken up in a car accident on the way to getting ready for the concert. Despite the distractions, both performers never let on -- they were cool like ice, like fire -- and a stellar concert ensued.

Once on the stage Yamineh holds nothing back. You can feel the energy she projects, even from the farthest corners of the hall. It's exciting to have her here again for the upcoming kickoff event of our North Country Dylan Days Celebration which is now just a month away.

EN: You recently had to perform at SXSW. How’d it go?

Courtney Yasmineh: SXSW was such a growth experience for me and for my band. We were so pleased to be invited, first of all, for the first time in my career. We played two prime time evening shows on the main street of Austin where most of the action is for up and coming artists. We were part of the Red Gorilla Fest which is a subdivision of the scene down there that really caters to new artists. We played on rooftop stages at two different venues to enthusiastic crowds.

I felt like I really got to see how the American SXSW audience, who are mostly young people from around the country who love new music, responded to my songs and my band's presentation. I knew going in that this could be discouraging for me if it didn't go well, but honestly, I was not prepared for how well we were received! I feel so inspired and full of conviction as a result of our efforts there, and that is a great gift!

EN: Last year you told me of a book you wanted to write. How’s that going?

CY: I have written about 200 pages of the story of my adolescent experience. I ran away from Chicago to Northern Minnesota when I was seventeen mostly because my parents were getting divorced and I was extremely disillusioned with everything about my young life there. I went to live on Lake Vermilion in a cabin my Grandfather had left to our family when he died. And that winter I learned as many Bob Dylan songs as I could, and began performing with my guitar. I had already started writing songs, but that winter provided much new inspiration and I wrote many songs about my experience.

EN: What is it that so attracts you to Dylan’s music?

CY: The joy for me in singing songs that Bob Dylan has written is that he is my greatest hero and his body of work and his career are such an inspiration to me.

EN: What are your favorite Dylan songs that you like to sing?

CY: I like to sing Dylan's song "Sara"... I like when he says lines like "staying up for days in the Chelsea Hotel writing 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' for you." Staying up for days!!!! Love that!!!

I also like "Times They Are A-Changin'" because it's so brilliant and I think it takes a lot to deliver it with the right tone… not too strident… not too sentimental… and especially coming from a female, those words have a lot of power and can be off-putting.

My favorite might be "Tom Thumb's Blues." A better folk rock opening line has never been written than..."When you're lost in the rain in Juarez and it's Easter time too..." When delivered right, that line can make you feel like a real bad ass on the microphone!

EN: What have you learned about yourself through your experiences performing?

CY: I've learned a lot about myself over the last few years of performing for people in other cities, other countries, and at home in Minnesota. I've learned that I am a people pleaser and I want to see people's eyes light up. I've learned that I do not have to be loud to be heard. I've learned that my most helpful attribute in performance is how much I care about the meaning of the words. I've learned that I have to really feel good about the level of quality of what I'm offering in order for me to relax and put on a fun show.

EN: What kind of thoughts are you thinking when you look at an audience at the beginning of a concert?

CY: At the beginning of a concert, I am usually already playing the first song, watching people, feeling their level of acceptance of my band, feeling how the band likes the situation… the sound quality, the circumstances of how we've been treated so far....and if all's well, about half way into the first song, I start thinking...'okay, we've got this' and then I relax and start having the time of my life.

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EdNote: This blog entry and others like it have the aim of raising awareness for the upcoming Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan concert which will kick off the 2014 North Country Dylan Celebration in Duluth and Hibbing. For tickets to this great event visit dulutharmory.org/events.

If you wish to help, visit the Salute Facebook page and share with your friends by clicking the Invite button. 

This weekend it's Easter time, and whether you're lost in the rain in Juarez, or wherever you are, remember... Meantime, life goes on all around you. Embrace it.