She has performed both as a solo artist and with bands since 2007. Christina is also an owner of Blustery Day Design, co-founder of the Live Sincerely Project, and an active contributor to Wikimedia projects.

Music

Christina Blust is a vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She brings her accordion, guitar and piano along with her strong, sweet vocals to a number of projects.

As one of the members and songwriters of indie-folk band Yearbook Committee (3-time SXSW official showcasing artist), she toured and released several albums. CityBeat (Cincinnati) called Yearbook Committee “an instrument-switching, vocalist-rotating, everybody-writing sextet with a love of grassroots music and the people who love it back. Dig: The Innocence Mission and Steve Earle trade licks and whittling techniques on the universe’s front porch.”

As a solo artist, her music has been described as “library rock” and “wiki-folk.” Her intelligent and elegant full-length 2009 release Sudden Amaryllis pulls from her life experiences, ranging from post-Katrina relief work (“Spilled”) to the first day of preschool (“Bluebird”) to the cancer that claimed her sister at age 32 (“Tumor”).

“Her philosophies and visions get deft, gentle musical support, built on her intricate tunes and arrangements. Blust’s voice is sweetly inviting, especially when the accompaniment — by a solid team of backing musicians — is most bare.” 

Mark Bennett, Tribune Star

In 2011, two of Christina’s songs were used in the Emmy-award-winning documentary “Baring It All,” which aired in the United States on the Style Network as well as internationally.

As a songwriter, Christina pairs thoughtful, evocative lyrics with understated arrangements, such as the aching, expansive “Cradle” and the sweeping, sweet “Drive Me Home.” As a performer, she brings strong vocal versatility to each song, from the haunting “Dangerous Bird” to the raw “The Ballad of Eleanor Cecilia Bailly” to the rollicking crowd favorites “Tall Trees” and “Arlene.”

Additionally Christina is one half of the accordion-electronic duo Mauveine.

Recognition

• Official Showcasing Artist, South by SouthWest Music Festival (2011, 2012, 2013) with Yearbook Committee
• Soulful Contemplation: Words transcend lyrics on Terre Haute singer-songwriter’s first full-length album (Tribune Star, Nov. 5, 2009)
• A Blustery Sound (Terre Haute Living, Jan/Feb 2010)
• Referenced in Rock and Roll Baby Names by Margaret Eby, 2012

“Blust … assumes an elegant, poised posture as she strums and begins to sing. Her voice sneaks out of the back of her throat and sounds like a precocious smile as the group attentively tap their feet.”

Jimmy Jenkins, Terre Haute Living, Fall 2009

Other work

With her sister Jessica Yaeger, Christina currently runs Blustery Day Design. Together, they provide web development and graphic design to help creators and causes find their people, support themselves and their communities, and uplift important work for a better, more empathetic, world.

In this role, Christina has contributed to the open-source WordPress community as Organizer and Design Lead for WordCamp U.S. 2017 & 2018 and WordCamp Nashville 2016.

Additionally, Christina volunteers as a Wikimedia editor. She primarily works to increase coverage of under-represented groups on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and elsewhere.

In 2012, Christina and Jessica co-founded the Live Sincerely Project, a blog and community that explores what it means to live a sincere life in the midst of good things and hard things. The project originally began in reaction to their sister (and original business partner) Vanessa’s journey with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Vanessa died in February 2014 at age 32 after seven years of cancer.

Background

Christina was born in Northern Kentucky. She attended Newport Central Catholic High School in Newport, Kentucky, graduating as a National Merit Scholar and a United States Presidential Scholar Candidate. She then went on to attend Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a St. Francis Xavier Fellow and winner of the McCauley Art Scholarship. In 2006, Christina graduated summa cum laude within the Honors Program with a B.A. in Art (Graphic Design) and minors in Spanish and Peace Studies.

After time living in western Indiana, and Nashville, Tennessee, Christina currently lives in her hometown of Northern Kentucky with her husband, musician Jimmy Rinehart, and their daughter Dottie.