We were lucky to catch up with Christiana Alaire recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christiana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I am very blessed to be able to use my passion as a career path. Throughout my childhood, my parents always encouraged me to be able to make a living out of something that makes me happy 365 days a year. As I grew up, I had many jobs that served to “pay the bills” while I still pursued my music, however those jobs were never as rewarding as achieving any of my music milestones- no matter how small. In this day and age, the possibilities are endless for what can be accomplished on your own, so why not make the most of life while contributing your energy to something that is going to fulfill your happiness? In my opinion, having a “regular job” is only non-appealing to me, because that means I would not be singing for a living. Anything can be considered a “regular job” depending on each persons perspective of the job, but my advice is to find a career that makes you want to get up, get to work, and get quality results! If you love what you’re doing, you can’t call it work!

Christiana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I became interested in pursuing a career in entertainment from a very young age. My family often compared my energy to “Shirley Temple” and it helped that I had the curls to match. I was raised on old soul, Motown, and 90’s country! The community theatre in my hometown of Savannah, GA is where I began practicing entertaining with musical theatre. At the age of 7 I began singing the National Anthem at various sporting events such as the Savannah Sand Gnats, Ocean Speedway Races, and many hockey games. I began writing original music to help channel my thoughts and cope with my parents divorce at the age of 12 years old. Following graduation from high school at 16 years old, I seized my opportunity to move to Music City, launch my independent music career, and obtain a degree from Belmont University at the same time. In Fall of 2021, I was given the opportunity to be a contestant on ABC’s American Idol Season 20, while also completing my final semester of my Music Business degree. My journey with American Idol taught me a lot about myself as a person and an artist. After my time on Idol came to a close (Hollywood Week- Duet Rounds), I was able to return to Nashville, complete my degree, and channel all of my new knowledge and practice into my live shows.

The most important thing to me as a songwriter is that my message shines through all of my projects. I believe I was called to be “a voice” for those that do not feel strong enough to vocalize their emotions. Strong themes between all of my original music are empowerment, confidence, and vulnerability. Being true and real with my audience is very important to me, especially due to my love for songwriting stemming from powerful truths that had no other clear way of being processed. Regardless of if the songs are story-teller type songs or true stories, I always make sure that each song is still true to myself as an artist and as a person in general. I hope that my songs help others process hard life experiences the same way they do for me!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

The thing I would hope for non-creatives to consider is how many pieces culminate into the big picture that the public gets to consume and how interacting with that content can make an extreme difference in their success. Independent artists are fulfilling all of their tasks on their own with little to no team backing them. In my personal experience, the hats are endless that an artist must wear during their launch. For example, an up-and-coming artist must have a hand in writing, recording, distributing, promoting, publicizing, booking, touring, and more. Independent artists are doing the job of an entire team of label executives, which leaves less time for them to create their art. In order to support creatives it is very important for consumers to interact with the content they come across in some way – whether that be a comment, like, share, or stream to boost their work into the algorithms and be recognized as something they should continue to promote.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There are hundreds of resources out there now and being developed every single day to be able to assist creatives in their content creation processes. If I could go back to my developmental years and give myself advice, I would stress that anything is possible independently as long as you use the resources that are available to you.. which also means researching what kind of resources will be the most useful for each specific person. For example, there are many musical organizations focused on building community and strengthening skills all together, such as Briidge. Briidge is an application that allows musicians and music business individuals to connect for the purpose of songwriting, learning about the industry, building relationships, and much more. This organization was started by the infamous Kara DioGuardi, who knows quite a thing or two about songwriting and connecting with her songwriting community. Briidge is just one example of a resource for networking and growing as a writer, but the perfect resource may just be a phone with a camera or audio recording device. If I could go back in time, I would start documenting EVERYTHING much sooner.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/christiana.alaire
• Facebook: Christiana Alaire
• Youtube: Christiana Alaire
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@tallandteal

Image Credits
Kenzie Maroney