Courtney Guns audition before the American Idol judges for Season 14. (FOX Photo)
In fact, the bartender from Bemidji, Minn., belted out Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” from right in front of the judges’ table.
It prompted Keith Urban to jokingly ask if she’d like to sing her next song sitting on Harry Connick Jr.’s lap.
But the vocal was also impressive enough to earn Courtney a golden ticket to Hollywood.
We met Courtney just briefly, during a three-singer montage, but she seemed among the most self-assured singers featured in that episode.
What the show didn’t show: In her Facebook bio, Courtney says her love for singing was confirmed when she was 11 years old and got to sing at her grandparents’ wedding. Her early influences included Shania Twain, Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson, and today she classifies her music as country-rock.
Those same grandparents presented her with her own guitar in 2012, and she started writing songs. She’s turned three of her songs into music videos that you can check out on her YouTube channel, including a tribute to our troops called “All We Have” that was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Courtney also auditioned for The Voice at one point and earned the opportunity to open for Eric Church at WeFest, a summer country music festival held in Minnesota, according to that Facebook page. According to a TV interview the night her audition aired, she has also performed with the Marshall Starr Band.
“The lights blinding me and the music surrounding me is the greatest feeling in the world when I am on stage,” she writes.
Here are some Courtney links, followed by samples of her music.
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @CourtneyGuns23
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