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In July of 2024, I received an inquiry if I’d be interested in releasing some music created by Cortney Tidwell and Tristen called phiz. I was shocked! Both Cortney Tidwell and Tristen are artists that I have highly enjoyed for years and I had no idea that they had created music of any kind together, much less recorded anything.
I immediately jumped at the opportunity. We did a photo shoot with Miles Price, we put together some artwork and we put the two songs on a 7” Flexi. It’s a novel format for a novel partnership. Now we can all enjoy “i lost my fkn mind” and “If I Had Known” – two notably simple but incredibly compelling songs.
But after all that, I still was not done with phiz. I still had so many questions!
Tristen and Cortney were kind enough to sit down with me and talk about the record, the songwriting process, their history with the city, with each other and so many other topics.
Cortney opens up about her prior substance abuse problems and how she was able to overcome it all with the assistance of the programs at Thistle Farms; a fantastic non-profit here in Nashville. I was astonished at the comfort of her honesty and am absolutely overjoyed that she is in recovery, healthier than ever and making music.
I am extremely grateful for the time and insight these two provided – not to mention the opportunity to work with them on a release. As noted at the end of the interview, they will be playing songs together (and separately) on July 12th, 2025. If you can, you should attend.
July 12th – Cortney + Phiz + Tristen
at Soft Junk
GET TICKETS
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Find more from Tristen
https://www.tristen.com/
http://tristen.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/tristentristen
Find more from Cortney Tidwell
https://cortneytidwell.com/
https://cortneylara.bandcamp.com/
instagram.com/cortneytidwell_
Pearl Jam – March 26, 1994 – Murfreesboro, TN (Full Concert)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTD61Z671Lo
Nate Bargatze Theme Park
https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/comments/1i4kiaf/nate_bargatze_isnt_joking_about_building_nateland/
Breaking Bread with Tom Papa Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-bread-with-tom-papa/id606662761
BLOCKS with Neal Brennan Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blocks-w-neal-brennan/id1658660161
Senses Working Overtime with David Cross
https://officialdavidcross.com/pages/senses-working-overtime-with-david-cross
“I Feel For You”, Chaka Chan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW0sxgYAmLM
Connie Eaton (Cortney’s Mother)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Eaton
Chart Records (Cortney’s Father and Grandfather’s Label)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart_Records
KORT (Cortney + Kurt Wagner)
https://kort.bandcamp.com/album/invariable-heartache
Sonder: mental practice of understanding how much we vary
https://www.thedictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/concept/sonder
Thistle Farms
https://thistlefarms.org/pages/residential-program
Clandestine album preview
https://cortneylara.bandcamp.com/album/clanedstine
Mount Olivet Cemetery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Olivet_Cemetery_(Nashville)
Theme song and episode music by Mac Burrus.
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