Christy Vanden was born to traveling musician parents in the interior of British Columbia and grew up home schooled, moving from place to place.

Her family made yearly winter road trips from Canada to Baja California Sur, Mexico in their Volkswagen van, where she learned to play on her tiny orange classical guitar given to her by her mother.

From age seven onward, she was mentored by her talented father who inspired her to play the guitar in the first place. Between Christy’s mother and her sister Amanda, she learned how to sing, and picked up harmonies by listening in on her parent’s band rehearsals.

Over the years, Christy has become a beloved local instructor at Long & McQuade and performer/composer.

During 2015 Christy joined Brodie Dawson on a recording of Brodie’s song “All This Time”, which was nominated in the 2015 Vancouver Island Music Awards for Roots/Blues Recording of the Year.

Later, the two formed a powerful touring trio with the talented veteran singer/songwriter/guitarist Tracy Riley of Yellowknife. The trio released a live CD titled Nineteen Hours. The title of the CD was the number of hours it took for the trio to record 10 tracks between two days.

Christy spent 2018 in Vancouver teaching and touring as lead guitarist and backup singer with Canadian Idol contestant Karen Lee Batten, who headlined Williams Lake Stampede and the BCCMA Artist Showcase tent at the Cloverdale Rodeo.

Now a solo artist at 29, Christy feels she is finding her place in music and is continually improving her art and deepening her songwriting.

She was nominated in the Comox Valley Record’s Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Musician, Best Performer, and Best Music Teacher.