Courtney Rau's Fabulous Performance at The Bitter End was a smashing success.
Much like Leann Rimes, Hunter Hayes and Taylor Swift, some of the biggest country artists of her generation, Courtney Rau got her start in music at a very early age. She began singing and performing for family and friends and taking the prequisite piano and guitar lessons which helped her mold her voice that we hear today. Courtney was always in charge, preferring to play by ear to the dismay of her Russian piano teacher, who was hired by her parents while the family lived abroad in India and England. When her father’s job as an engineering exec finally settled the family in Washington DC, Courtney began performing in the school choir and theatre produc tions and at the same time found a love for writing poetry and channeling her poems into songs. As an eighth grader, Courtney showed such a propensity for writing and singing that her parents brought her to Nashville to pursue her dream, and she began writing songs with renowned writers like Jamie O’Neal, Keith and Adrian Follese, Jim Cooper, and Tommy Collier. With her family balancing their time living in DC and Florida, Courtney found plenty of material and inspiration for her songs. Courtney’s songwriting has been influenced from top country vocalists like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift to Garth Brooks and Lonestar — a band her father loved, whose music always brought up fond, warm memories of home for Courtney.One of her first singles , “After the Storm,” was directly inspired by the Carrie Underwood’s smash “Blown Away, ”It’s hard to believe lyrically and vocally “After the Storm” was created and performed by someone as young as Courtney. The vocals are reminiscent of Avril Lavigne, with a sultry sweet tone that matches the lyrics perfectly. While Courtney has been recording and releasing prolifically, it wasn’t until she began working with producer/songwriter Joe Vulpis on her latest EP that her style and her uniqueness of sound came full circle in a collection of tunes honoring her country influences blended with a spunky pop vibe mixed with a street edge to create the Courtney sound. Her new EP showcases Courtney’s enchanting mix of sparkling youth tempered with the depth and maturity of a singer well beyond her years which results in pure magic. Tunes on this EP produced by Vulpis, range from Click, a foot tapping, sing along, feel good song about knowing you just clicked with that special someone, to the hope and excitement of new love of “In That Moment”, to the soulful ballad of keeping love alive with “After the Storm”, to the upbeat live in the moment anthem of “One More Time” and finally the you go girl sass of Shake, spiced up with a little street rap that will have audiences singing and dancing! And even more surprising is all this big sound is from a girl just doing her thing, balancing the demands of high school with her passion for singing, writing and performing. Courtney’s star is definitely on the rise!
