Courtney Barnett launches new live performance archive

Courtney Barnett has launched a new website and archival project that documents the songwriter’s live performances over the last decade and a half.

The new site allows fans to extensively explore Barnett’s prolific touring history, featuring live videos, full concert desk mixes, backstage photos, show posters and more.

Originally conceived as a simple way for fans to experience her live performances while touring was on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the project expanded with the help of designer Raphael Ong and developers Undertide.

Barnett added that the project was largely inspired by the “meticulous and inquisitive archival skills” of her mother, who has been keeping a list of all her daughter’s shows since 2007. The musician has also encouraged fans to contribute to the project’s development by sending in photos, videos and memories via the “contribute” button on the site.

To coincide with the project’s launch, Barnett has shared the full concert footage from her only show of 2020 available – an Australian bushfire fundraiser in January, held at the Corner Hotel in her home city of Melbourne alongside Camp Cope and Alice Skye. Watch it here.

Last year, Barnett performed a global livestream concert from the Royal Exhibition Hall in Melbourne. It marked her first full-band performance since the aforementioned January show.

Barnett recently teamed up with Vagabon for a collaborative cover of Tim Hardin’s 1965 song ‘Reason to Believe’.

Last week, it was announced that Barnett would be among the contributors on the forthcoming anniversary edition of Sharon Van Etten‘s 2010 album ‘Epic’, which will see a slew of artists covering songs from the record.