Biography
Formerly Della Mae’s guitarist, Courtney Hartman now crafts her own delicately textured singer/songwriter material. After establishing her guitar prowess through session work with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Mike Campbell plus three albums alongside the band, she issued her first solo recording, the 2016 EP Nothing We Say. That folk-oriented set preceded the more adult-alternative-oriented full-length Ready Reckoner, which appeared in 2019.
Raised in Colorado amid bluegrass traditions, Hartman began violin studies at age three, added guitar a few years afterward, and composed her initial song at twelve. Proficient on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and banjo, she later enrolled in American roots music at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where Della Mae coalesced in 2009. The founding roster featured Hartman on guitar and banjo alongside vocalist Grace Van’t Hof, fiddler Kimber Ludiker, mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner, and bassist Amanda Kowalski. Their 2010 EP Acoustic preceded the self-released I Built This Heart in 2011. Later that year Celia Woodsmith assumed lead vocal duties once Van’t Hof departed; Kowalski exited in 2012, leaving Woodsmith, Ludiker, Gardner, Hartman, and new bassist Shelby Means to cut the group’s Rounder debut, This World Oft Can Be, in 2013. The album earned a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. After extensive touring, Means stepped away before the 2015 self-titled release, which Jacquire King produced; Zoe Guigueno then joined on bass. In May 2016 the ensemble paused touring so members could focus on individual endeavors.
Having moved to Brooklyn, Hartman unveiled Nothing We Say that September. She next collaborated with singer-songwriter Robert Ellis on the 2017 full-length Dear John, a tribute to John Hartford, then issued the 2018 LP Been on Your Side with fellow singer, songwriter, guitarist, and banjo player Taylor Ashton. Della Mae resumed activity in 2018, though without Hartman. Now resettled in Loveland, Colorado, she independently released her debut solo album, Ready Reckoner, in 2019. Shahzad Ismaily—known for work with Colin Stetson and Sam Amidon—co-produced the record, which included contributions from Bill Frisell and Anaïs Mitchell.
Raised in Colorado amid bluegrass traditions, Hartman began violin studies at age three, added guitar a few years afterward, and composed her initial song at twelve. Proficient on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and banjo, she later enrolled in American roots music at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where Della Mae coalesced in 2009. The founding roster featured Hartman on guitar and banjo alongside vocalist Grace Van’t Hof, fiddler Kimber Ludiker, mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner, and bassist Amanda Kowalski. Their 2010 EP Acoustic preceded the self-released I Built This Heart in 2011. Later that year Celia Woodsmith assumed lead vocal duties once Van’t Hof departed; Kowalski exited in 2012, leaving Woodsmith, Ludiker, Gardner, Hartman, and new bassist Shelby Means to cut the group’s Rounder debut, This World Oft Can Be, in 2013. The album earned a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. After extensive touring, Means stepped away before the 2015 self-titled release, which Jacquire King produced; Zoe Guigueno then joined on bass. In May 2016 the ensemble paused touring so members could focus on individual endeavors.
Having moved to Brooklyn, Hartman unveiled Nothing We Say that September. She next collaborated with singer-songwriter Robert Ellis on the 2017 full-length Dear John, a tribute to John Hartford, then issued the 2018 LP Been on Your Side with fellow singer, songwriter, guitarist, and banjo player Taylor Ashton. Della Mae resumed activity in 2018, though without Hartman. Now resettled in Loveland, Colorado, she independently released her debut solo album, Ready Reckoner, in 2019. Shahzad Ismaily—known for work with Colin Stetson and Sam Amidon—co-produced the record, which included contributions from Bill Frisell and Anaïs Mitchell.
Albums
Singles
