Richardson singer Courtney Fairchild remembers her Dallas roots

by Daniel A. Kusner of Dallas Voice

By the time she was 17, Richardson native Courtney Fairchild was already playing gigs in Deep Ellum. Throughout the ’90s, she cut her young chops performing open-mike sets at Club DaDa where she discovered a supportive network of Dallas’ female musicians. The older women were also getting booked at Sue Ellen’s — but not Fairchild.

“Being underage was something the club owners wouldn’t budge on,” Fairchild remembers.

So in 2002, Mom offered to help.

“On my 20th birthday, we tried our luck. I held onto her arm and we acted like we were a couple. Somehow, they didn’t check my ID and I got in. Oh, man. I’m so going to get in trouble for this article,” Fairchild laughs. “I didn’t order any drinks. Plus, I was with my mom, so I was in pretty good hands.”

Deborah Vial performed that night. Fairchild already knew Vial from the Deep Ellum circuit, but she’d have to wait another year until she got to perform on Sue Ellen’s patio. By that time, Fairchild was already shuttling between Dallas and Los Angeles, where she recorded the introspective guitar-driven disc “Long Way” on the indie label Stanley Recordings.

In 2006, Stanley Recordings moved its operations to Philadelphia, and Fairchild followed. She’s one of only a handful of artists on Stanley’s roster. And they all live and work together, building their careers.

“I don’t know of any other record label that operates like ours. But my 9-to-5 job is on the business side of the music industry,” Fairchild says.

Two career highlights include getting her music on TV shows: MTV’s Road Rules X-Treme and The WB’s High School Reunion, a reality show about a group of alumni from Richardson’s JJ Pearce High School. Fairchild says the North Texas connection between her music and High School Reunion was a freak coincidence. The music supervisors just liked her albums.

While visiting 28 cities on her current tour, Fairchild knows that Deep Ellum’s reputation as a live music district has seriously waned. But not Sue Ellen’s.

“Sue Ellen’s is the only gay club on my tour. And when I perform, I don’t play big lesbian anthems. Instead of being a gay singer-songwriter, I’m a singer-songwriter who happens to be gay,” she explains. “Last year, I went back and played Club DaDa again, but it’s not the same anymore. But when I play Sue Ellen’s, it just feels like home.”