Her own kind of blues

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

Born a globetrotter to parents of both Sicilian-American and Guatemalan backgrounds, Cristina Vane could speak four languages and had lived in three countries before moving to the U.S. at age 18 to attend college. Her far-flung experiences and lack of roots point to a sort of irony when learning that Vane, a recording artist now based in Nashville with two albums under her belt, is a prolific blues musician.

So how, after all her travel and upbringing as a kid mostly interested in indie rock music, did she land on traditional American roots music?

“That is such a hard question to answer — not because I can’t tell you the step-by-step of what  happened to get me to where I am today, but I always say that it’s kind of like asking me why I like the color blue or why I like chocolate,” she said. “It always resonated with me.”

She described that resonance as a “soul connection,” despite the lives of 1920s Delta blues artists being “an experience potentially the furthest away you can get from mine.”

“When I first heard slide guitar, I was captivated by it,” she said. “I never went back.”

Cristina Vane.

That path led her to her current tour, which comes to Sandpoint on Tuesday, July 18 for an outdoor lawn show at The Heartwood Center. Gates will open at 6 p.m. and Spokane singer-songwriter Matt Mitchell will kick off the music at 6:30 p.m.

Neither rhyme nor reason seem to play a part in Vane’s musical style, which exists on its own plane — thriving on heartfelt lyrics, sure-footed vocals and down-home instrumentation. 

Vane is keenly aware that she isn’t reinventing the blues-rock wheel, and she isn’t trying to perfect it, either.

“I don’t think my calling is to learn to play exactly like Blind Willie Johnson played —  that is a noble quest and it’s impressive, but I have a lot to say,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to pull off the traditional approach anyway, and honestly, I love rock music — I love drums and performing and all these other things, so it never felt like it would be the most authentic choice for me to only play blues, or only play guitar and not have a band.”

That marrying of the old and new is evident on Vane’s sophomore album Make Myself Me Again.

“I wanted to really have in mind what I grew up playing,” she said. “I also wanted an album that reflected, a little more, the live show.”

That live show will be in full force on The Heartwood’s lawn, as she and the band stop off in the panhandle during a fast-and-furious tour of the American West. Vane wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s a happy accident that touring is important for my business and writing music, and I happen to love it,” she said. “It’s fulfilling for me to see how different people live, and I get to share my deepest and most sacred feelings and creations.”

Cristina Vane live at the Heartwood • Tuesday, July 18; gates and vendors open at 6 p.m., show starts with Matt Mitchell at 6:30 p.m.; $14 advance, $18 at the gate. The Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St., get advance tickets at mattoxfarm.com. Listen at cristinavane.com.