We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cristina Vane. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cristina below.

Hi Cristina, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Music is such a large umbrella term that sometimes, it’s important to first understand exactly what crafts are going to serve your business / vocation. I can only speak for myself- I played music my whole life growing up, and while that certainly prepared me for creating music, my flute lessons in middle school did not prepare me for the specific skills needed to perform on stage for a crowd, for example. Learning how to play scales on the piano or sing in school choir enhanced my tools for musicality, but they didn’t necessarily translate into the other demands of being a professional musician. Now, the first time someone told me I needed to “hone my craft” I had just moved to LA to try and realize my dream of being a professional musician. I thought that all my years of musicality meant that I was ready to be thrown in the big leagues! I was ambitious and convinced that I was ready for anything. 10 years later, I am really glad that I wasn’t thrown into big leagues- I would have been too inexperienced to handle some of the things that come with touring and recording, and I also hadn’t grown into my creative voice yet. I knew how to read and write music, how to sing and how to strum rhythm guitar, and I really didn’t understand what else there was to do except be recognized and propelled into greatness.

So I went home, deflated, but I subconsciously proceeded to do what I had been told. I got a job at a guitar shop where a guitar teacher took me under his wing and mentored me for the next couple of years, greatly improving my guitar playing and songwriting. I busked out on the Venice beach boardwalk multiple times a week, hauling my little amp and guitar on my longboard and getting in hours of standing performance practice, as well as trying to win a crowd over. I went to my local open mic every Wednesday to fine tune original and cover material, and get used to more performing for people. I learned about gear and tone, about sound equipment and sound setups from peers and shop clients. I delved into booking myself gigs wherever I could and learning the curve with all that- getting paid, being on time, setting up, working with or without sound engineers, and adapting to crowds ranging from upscale pizzerias to private parties to rowdy bars in Hollywood.

The thing is, with honing skills or your craft, that as you progress and your circumstances change, there are always new skills to learn! I am nowhere near “mastering” any of my instruments (a hard concept in music anyway), but I have spent many many hours with them, and with performance. But in order to become a touring musician, I had to learn a whole new array of skills- how to transport myself efficiently and safely around the country, how to book and route tours without a booking agent, how to find housing along the way or in my case, learn to camp everywhere- how to be efficient with negotiating pay so that you aren’t touring at a loss, too. I had to figure out how to acquire merchandise I could sell, and how to sell it. I also had to learn how to record my music, how to work in studios, how to explain a vision but allow for input, direct a band, and then promote and release that music independently.
If it seems overwhelming, that’s because from this perspective of hindsight, it is! We are capable of learning so much, and when the learning comes from a genuine love for what you do, it sort of naturally follows that you learn the skills to be able to make a living doing it. But if you had listed all of these things to me back at that meeting in Los Angeles, I would have been too demoralized to know where to start. It’s natural to have obstacles, and not every skill you need to learn is going to be fun- I don’t necessarily enjoy wearing all of the hats that I wear to make my music business work for me. But the way I see it, having done it myself first allows me to understand the process and then be even more grateful whenever I am able to expand and get help (i.e. hire a merch seller to sell for you, get a booking agent to book tours for you).

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a professional touring and recording musician. I have always loved music, and started writing music in high school, but it wasn’t until I graduated college that I decided to really pursue making a career of it. I sing, play guitar and banjo, and write blues and rock inspired americana music now in Nashville, Tennessee. I moved to L.A. after graduating, where I honed my craft for about four years, and then organized my first tour around the country which lasted 6 months. After that long tour, I felt called to move to Nashville to continue getting closer to the source for some of the music and history that informs my original music, as well as be in a better position to tour and hire musicians. Music venues are not my only clients however- I have been featured in a national superbowl ad because they needed banjo players who could sing- I have played private parties, recorded instrumental or singing parts on other people’s music, and done voiceover work for infographic videos and cartoons alike. Primarily, however, I record, tour and promote my original music. This process starts by writing songs (hopefully good ones), then recording them in a studio. When that is done, it’s time to release that into the world as efficiently as possible to try and get it out there and make back some money, and then lots of touring to continue bringing the live show to folks in different areas.
I am extremely proud of the growth from the girl who moved to L.A. with a vague hope of being a musician and the woman now with a recent small business license, two albums out, radio play, and full year touring schedule that takes me all over the country. I’m proud of the sheer elbow grease I have put in between learning how to be more proficient on my instruments, leading a band and putting on a full show, and recording and promoting my music. I have found an authentic voice in my writing that feels so good to share with people and things are reflecting that back at me!

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

I think it’s important to always have several revenue streams- I learned this somewhat by chance by being scouted for a commercial advertisement that ended up on national TV. The royalties from this work sustained me for my first year in Nashville and I realized that branching out to record instruments for other folks, voiceover work for TV, commercial act in ads were all going to help me support myself in touring, which sees a lot more loss financially at times.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think that fundamentally, we all want to be heard on some level, like, as people. So being able to be heard by a room of people who are sometimes paying money to come specifically and hear your deepest, rawest creations is indescribable. It feels like an extra cherry on top that I get to have fun and connect with people, hear their stories and feel supported as I do it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cristinavane.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristinavanemusic/?hl=en
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cristinavanemusic
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@cristinavanemusic

Image Credits
Credits: Elisabeth Donelson – for studio shots with red and grey background Jeremy Harris for banjo shot Josh Loney for red guitar shot Scott Levine for live music white guitar shot