Courtney Swain Finds “Sublime Experience” with Solo Music Project

The Bent Knee lead singer shares the power of her voice

2 min read
Share
Courtney Swain Finds “Sublime Experience” with Solo Music Project
Copy

This feature is a part of Ocean State Sessions.

Courtney Swain was in Los Angeles when we first spoke to her about performing on Ocean State Sessions. Her band, Bent Knee, was in the midst of a cross-country tour for their new album “Twenty Pills Without Water”.

If you listen to any of Bent Knee’s music over its 15 years and seven albums, Swain’s powerful voice is a commanding presence. If you want to get the full scope of what she’s capable of, I’d recommend checking out their song “Not This Time”.

“When I’m touring live, there’s nothing like singing at the top of your lungs.”

Swain, performing with Bent Knee.
Swain, performing with Bent Knee.
Voll Vincent

The energy needed for an extensive tour is balanced by the calmness of Swain’s home in Cranston, where she shows us her studio space. It’s adorned with various hanging audio cables and a table lined with brightly colored voice pedals. For the last few years, this has been the space Swain is exploring.

“Singing through pedals (and) improvising through pedals is just sort of a sublime experience where I just really feel like I’m present and I am just reacting and a part of just this flow state.”

Swain, experimenting with her voice pedals and loopers.
Swain, experimenting with her voice pedals and loopers.

When in this flow state, Swain’s voice often skews softer, with a lighter touch compared to many of the powerful songs she performs in Bent Knee. She says it’s allowed her to better explore her own musical identity. The production skills needed to perform with pedals and loopers have also opened her up to different possibilities in music.

“I think my primary identity within music was to be a performer and to be sort of a songwriter,” Swain says, But that’s been shifting a little bit, especially as I grow older and think about maybe I don’t want to be traveling all the time. I’ve been getting more into composition and production work.”

Swain was given the opportunity to explore new musical avenues in 2021 when she was awarded a grant through the Rhode Island Foundation’s Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund. The grant supports emerging artists, and each year is awarded to different disciplines within the arts.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Paul Uhl

“I was really stunned. It’s one of the nation’s largest, no-strings-attached grants for musicians. And to me, it felt like this really big thumbs up from the universe and the authorities who be to just say, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is important and it’s valid and this can be you.’”

Check out Swain’s performance from Season 5 of Ocean State Sessions, with her pedals and loopers in full force:

Cost, timeline and potential asks of state and city are still unknown
May 7, 2025
Federal evaluation praises expert staff but notes weaknesses in financial reporting requirements and delays to online permitting database
If costs spiral, Rhode Island will see ripple effects, representatives from building trades, hospitality, and medical equipment sectors say
Mayor calls historic investment in schools a win, but budget relies on state approval to exceed tax cap and avoid deep cuts
The Providence mayor is proposing to increase property taxes and other city revenue in order to fill the budget gap left by a settlement with the state over the city’s school department
A power struggle in the city’s troubled police department has blocked an interim chief from serving permanently, and cost her predecessor a job