"Definitely the academics; I had a lot of favorite teachers. I also liked The Bent Spoon with the cupcakes and the ice cream; I'm kind of a sweet tooth person so The Bent Spoon was good for that, I like to look back at those memories," laughed multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Cristina Vane as she recalled her time spent as a student at Princeton University; just a part of this young talented music maker's journey which has been continued with the release of her first full-length album, "Nowhere Sounds Lovely."
Vane is heavily influenced by traditional blues music and is definitely an up and coming force to reckon with; she is a new artist with an old soul which lends to her generational appeal. However, as is the case with all of us; there is a story behind our paths and Cristina's spans two continents and includes the conquering of multiple languages before she turned the age of eighteen.
"I started playing the piano in First Grade and then the flute in Middle School and then I picked up the guitar in High School and started writing songs at about the age of seventeen," she explained and obviously she has a thirst for learning but what about the four languages and was it difficult to master them?
"Actually it's easier than it sounds because you learn a lot faster when you're young," she stated confidently. "I moved around and my mom is Guatemalan and we lived in Italy so we grew up speaking Italian and then we moved to France so I learned to speak French; I like learning that's for sure."
Vane's roots are spread out as far as her diverse ability and heritage; her father is Sicilian-American who claims the U.S as his native land. So, how does a woman who grew up in Europe and the UK become fond of the blues? According to Vane, pardon the pun; it just struck a chord.
"Well, I just like it; ya' know? I happened upon it because I discovered Rory Block and some old covers that Led Zeppelin did by Blind Lemon Johnson which led me to the source music and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd heard in a long time. I think that it is really special music and it just touched my heart as soon as I heard it and I wanted to learn more about it; so I did."
Wanderlust can affect even the staunchest of homebodies as can a quest for knowledge. So, with a passion for music and "No sense of belonging to any one country or culture," she headed west to Los Angeles and began working in a guitar shop where she experimented with various styles of guitar playing which would eventually create her sound but years can go by in a blink of an eye and after four years in L.A. Vane decided to go on a heritage reclamation tour of the U.S; driven in part by her persistent thirst for knowledge and the yearning to discover more about the place she was calling home. Over the course of her short career she had amassed a large social media following and she used it to her advantage by booking a tour of the U.S. off of suggestions from her followers and then a funny thing happened on her five month sojourn; she wrote an album and learned a bit more about herself as the tour unfolded.
"The album is 12 tracks and my first full length record and I wrote it when I was on the road; mostly when I was on the road with a few exceptions before and after. It was 2018; I was on my first long trip around the country and my first time touring a lot of the United States. So, I think it forms this record a lot; it's a lot about traveling and obviously certain places determined the title and the words; it's about kind of just growing up and growing into yourself a little bit. I was solo and honestly couldn't tell you how many cities; I hit at least 36 states and was in my car for five months so, there was a lot of traveling and a lot of cities. The album is going over pretty well, people seem to be enjoying what I do; I don't really play super traditional 1930's blues but yeah it's working for me."
"Nowhere Sounds Lovely" is rooted in traditional blues with a newer vibe but even here Cristina, who says, "I'm pretty sociable and I enjoy hanging out with other people but I think like anybody I can definitely have fun if I just really want to be alone," discovered the solitude of the road as she toured alone; at times getting a nights rest with friends or through the kindness of strangers, at rest stops and even occasionally pitching a tent on the side of the road. So; did this influence the album's title?
"I named it that because basically, when I was traveling I just kept finding that no matter where I went I was vey happy. I don't know how to explain it really but there's a line in my song "Traveling Blues," the line is "Onwards and upwards this path leads to nowhere, nowhere sounds lovely, I'd sure like to go there;" basically no matter where I was traveling to, I'm still learning about myself, I was enjoying myself, I was feeling the thrill of being on the road; so, anywhere and nowhere sounded lovely to me."
Once her five months traversing the country were up, Vane had made yet another decision and that was to relocate; this time she returned east but what of life post-COVID? Will she tour again or stay cautious?
"Music brought me here to Nashville," she stated with that now prevalent confidence. "I've been here for two and one half years; I play and write my own music, I write and then record and I tour so, Nashville is a good place to do all three of them. I'm going to play some shows this summer in safe settings and I have been promoting the record for the last three months with PR. So, I've been working on getting press and gig content and gig videos and all of the other things that people are doing right now since the shutdown but a lot of states are opening up even though the pandemic isn't over. I think it's up to everyone's discretion as people get vaccinated as to what they are going to do. I'm vaccinated, I've waited a whole year to play music, I'm going to do gigs this summer for sure but I'm not going to be stringing together tours."
When asked what she would like her fan base and anyone new to her music to know, she responded without hesitation, "I'm a multi-instrumentalist; just because the blues stuff is my main interest, I also really love old time banjo and it's not only on the record but I also play shows with it too. So, yeah, it's not just blues that I'm interested in; I kind of dabble in mandolin but not confidently enough to play at shows (laughs)."
To discover more about Cristina Vane or purchase "Nowhere Sounds Lovely," please visit www.cristinavane.com .
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
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