Courtney Barnett just turned 30, and she’ll be the first person to tell you she doesn’t have it all figured out yet.
The singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia describes herself as shy. But her music is brave. Barnett tackles issues that are tough to talk about — let alone sing about — candidly like mental illness, misogyny and existential ennui.
Listeners might recognize her voice from season 2 of Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman,” which used her song “Avant Gardener” as its end credits theme:
And Grammy buffs might recognize her name. She was nominated for Best New Artist in 2015.
Barnett is, at her core, ultra-humble, and very private given the deeply personal nature of her work. She’s in a long-term relationship with Jen Cloher, a fellow musician and frequent artistic collaborator.
Barnett is donating a dollar of each ticket she sells on her U.S. tour to the ACLU. She’s also very proud of her record label, Milk Records, which she started to launch her music and still runs on the side of her performing career.
She joins us to talk about her growing success as an artist and entrepreneur — and play a couple of tunes.
[Check back soon to see a video of Barnett performing live in our studio.]
Produced by Maura Currie. Writeup by Maura Currie. Engineered by Jayk Cherry.
GUESTS
Courtney Barnett, Singer-songwriter. @courtneymelba
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