Singer-songwriter Courtney Keil grew up in the Adelaide Hills and now lives in Melbourne. In late August 2020 she released her debut single, ‘I Just Wanna Hold You’, which reached #1 on the iTunes Country chart and announced Keil as a country-pop artist to watch. Her second single, ‘Hummingbird’, has just been released. It was created during the second Victorian lockdown, and once again Keil paired with producer Rod McCormack to make the song at a distance far greater than safe-social – the musicians were in Nashville, guided by McCormack on the NSW Central Coast, and two of the songwriters, Templeton Thompson (Reba McEntire, Jo Dee Messina, Little Texas) and Sam Gay (Deric Ruttan, Little Texas, Bryan White), were also in the USA.
Says Keil of the track, ‘”Hummingbird” was written as a reminder to choose positive things in life over negative. As there will always be reasons and circumstances that try to pull us down, [however] there is power in rising above these situations. If we make a conscious effort to spread love and positivity around instead, we can make the world a better place. 2020 brought out some of the very best and the worst in people and the world, so the inspiration for this song occurred in the heat of trying to shift the focus on all things good.’
Because Keil is a seriously good singer the song’s uplifting melody and lyrics sound like a promise rather than a vain wish, anchored as they are by her ability. The accompanying video makes good on the promise; it was directed by Duncan Toombs and, says Keil, ‘The idea behind the clip was to create a carefree, fun, dreamworld giving viewers a positive feel-good experience. It was an absolute pleasure working with Duncan again as he had the innate ability to create and execute the “set in the clouds” theme to such a high standard.’