My name is Kourtni Young and I belong to an elite group of women known as FEMALE DRUMMERS!! I started making love to drums when I was 11. I was always so bored in church but I always found myself looking forward to the music part of the service, specifically the drumming. Partly because he was so cute and partly because the drums mesmerized me. Somehow I managed to weasel my way into the likes of the youth director and the choir director and eventually we became a trio as they took me under their wings.
It just so happened that the director was also a female and a badass drummer. Better than any male drummer I had seen! She became a mentor, a big sister, a friend, a mother figure, and she nurtured what seemed to be a gift from the Big Man upstairs because I caught on so quickly…the rest is history!! I eventually replaced the “cute drummer” that I just wanted to sit next to and gained the attention of the members of my home church and other surrounding churches.
When I first started playing I was strictly church and gospel music and nothing else. It wasn’t until I got to college that I really started to explore other venues and genres of music that I was actually interested in playing, though I listened to and enjoyed just about everything under the sun. My freshman year I met this musician/dancer/poet, whom I am still good friends with today, at an open mic event. After the show we exchange some poetry and what not and then music came up and the fact that he was looking for a drummer. I told him I played drums and though he nodded his headed in acknowledgement you could tell he thought I was either bs’n him or that I wasn’t that good because as we all know GIRLS DONT PLAY DRUMS!
Needless to say…I became his drummer and we were fortunate enough to do perform around Arizona and California. After the stint with him I was afforded a few more opportunities to play with some local artists. I am currently the drummer at my church in Tucson, Arizona as well as for an up and coming singer for an artist out of Tucson named Lexa Raquel. Growing up I always kind of dreaded going other places to play because I was either given a lot of crap, I was looked at funny, or I had to play THAT MUCH HARDER to prove myself to my male counterparts because I was a “ littler girl trying to play drums.” I used to hate it! Now, I love ever moment. From the funny looks, to people asking why they “ have little ole me setting up the drums, aren’t you the singer?”
A little about me out side of music? I’m the second oldest of children (4 boys and 2 girls). I’m the first college graduate in my family, completing my degree May 10, 2013 from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor in Interdisciplinary Studies. I plan to continue my education with a Masters in Nursing Science after I get some traveling out of the way this summer and fall. I’ve recently done some modeling in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. My artistic abilities stretch a little further than music as I am also a writer, specifically a Poet. I often attended open my sessions and sometimes speak at local events and schools. Lastly, I recently started a business based out of Tucson, Arizona called 4th Dim3nsion LLC that aims at providing schools with customized apparel and mentorship, as well as small scholarship funds for graduating seniors. I think that about sums it up ☺
Kourtni Young for Tom Tom Magazine