Local singer-songwriters may be a dime a dozen, but Courtney Jones is one in a million. She is the artist every singer-songwriter wants to be: charming, modest, and unquestionably talented.
Her observational songwriting style results in genre-bending music that is rich, catchy and intelligent.
Jones’ talent and hard work bring her to the Cuthbert Amphitheatre tonight, where she will open for soft rock king Kenny Loggins.
Jones said the opportunity was a product of her relationship with the concert’s promoter.
She received a random phone call asking if she wanted to open for Loggins and immediately agreed.
“I thought about it for point-two seconds. Who wouldn’t?”
Jones said it was perfect timing.
“Sometimes you’re working so hard in a certain direction and trying to have all these things fall into place and then something unexpected like this happens. I love that,” she said.
Jones has been up and down the West Coast, supporting other artists and embarking on her own solo tour.
She has shared the stage with a slew of artists including Joshua Radin, Anna Nalick and Bitter:Sweet.
“This Kenny Loggins show is going to be my biggest opening slot, as far as the audience goes,” she said.
Jones said the Loggins show means more than just a large audience. She said it is one of those instances where she was truly amazed.
“This isn’t someone I have just kind of heard about, this is someone I grew up listening to,” she said.
“You have those times of validation for what you’re doing and this has made it really real for me.”
Jones describes her music as a cross between singer-songwriter and alternative pop. It has drawn comparisons to the music of Sarah McLachlan, KT Tunstall and one of her favorite contemporary artists, Keane.
Jones has opened for Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins a few times and regards her as an inspiration.
“She’s really, really good. I watched her and thought, ‘That’s what I’m trying to do,’” she said.
“She’s a really excellent songwriter, piano player and all-around performer.”
Jones said she also enjoys Train, Butterfly Boucher and is huge fan of classic artists like Pink Floyd, the Beatles and Boston.
“I’m very attached to my playlist because I usually don’t have the attention span to listen to an entire album,” she said.
Jones is gearing up for the release of her first full-length album, “Awake & Dreaming.”
The official release date is July 15, but she will be celebrating at the Aladdin Theater in Portland with special guests Keegan Smith and Acoustic Minds on July 25.
A preview of the new album is available on Jones’ MySpace page, and if the few songs are an indication of what’s to come, the album is definitely going to make some waves.
If the first 20 seconds of title track “Awake & Dreaming” don’t move you, you should check your pulse.
Tonight’s show will be acoustic and feature songs from the record as well as some newer material.
“I write for the record but that’s not the only time I write. I didn’t stop writing once the record was finished,” she said.
“Music to me is meant to be heard. I don’t want to come in with the snotty mentality of ‘you can only hear this once it’s polished and done.’”
Jones said she likes to change things up depending on her mood or the show because there’s really no right way to perform a song.
“To me songs are like living things and it can be fluid. It doesn’t have to be a certain version every time,” she said.
“I’ll read the crowd but I’m not going to do anything crazy because I don’t like to come in unprepared.”
Jones said she thinks she writes good, solid music, but doesn’t want to sound full of herself.
“This is something I really enjoy doing and it’s what I do well,” she said.
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