Christin Alynn

I’m Christin Alynn, a contemporary Soulfolk singer-songwriter based on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Music is how I make sense of life. It’s where I bring the questions I’m still living through, the stories I haven’t completely figured out, and the emotions that are sometimes easier to sing than explain. My songs tend to live somewhere between vulnerability and strength, blending the honesty of folk storytelling with the warmth, grit, and emotional depth of soul.

Some of my earliest musical memories are of singing along to artists like Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion. Their voices and songs made me want to keep singing, but their careers did not necessarily make the music industry feel like a safe or possible place for me.

I was encouraged more than once to audition for national talent shows. But as a child, the stories I heard about fame, exploitation, pressure, and the private lives of artists often scared me more than they inspired me. I loved the music. I was not sure I wanted the life I thought came with it.

What changed was the industry itself—and my understanding of what an artist’s career could look like. Independent platforms, direct connection with listeners, greater creative control, and new ways to release music made me begin to believe I could build something on my own terms. Not without risk, but with more agency. Not by disappearing into an industry machine, but by creating a career that still allowed me to feel grounded, protected, and fully myself.

The voices I grew up listening to inspired me to sing. The changing music landscape helped me believe I might finally be able to build a life around it.

As my own sound developed, I found myself drawn to artists like Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Norah Jones, and Carole King—women who can be vulnerable without losing their strength, and powerful without losing their humanity. Their music crosses genre lines while remaining rooted in honest storytelling, emotional depth, and a clear sense of identity.

From the business side, I’m inspired by Taylor Swift’s ability to adapt, her business acumen, and her authenticity—to both her music and herself.

Whether I’m performing alone with an acoustic guitar or stepping onto a larger stage with a full band, I want the audience to feel like they are part of something—not simply watching it from across the room. The best shows feel like a shared conversation. A story passes between us, and for a little while, none of us feels quite so alone in it.

As an independent artist, I’ve released original music, performed at festivals and listening rooms throughout the Southeast, appeared on Great Day Tampa Bay, opened for nationally recognized artists, and completed my first regional Soulfolk Tour. Each experience has helped me understand the kind of career I want to build: one centered on meaningful songs, genuine human connection, collaborative stages, and spaces where original artists are truly heard.

That idea of Soulfolk has grown into more than a description of my sound. It also represents the people we meet along the way—the ones who touch something in us and somehow remain part of the story.

I’m currently preparing a new collection of music, including my upcoming project, Resonate. These songs explore love, identity, redemption, self-reflection, and the long process of becoming more honest with ourselves. They are not songs written from the other side of every lesson. Most of them were written somewhere in the middle.

Alongside my own music, I’m committed to supporting other independent artists and helping create more intentional opportunities for original music to be shared. I believe artists grow stronger when we stop treating one another only as competition and begin building stages, audiences, and communities together.

I’m still learning what this career can become. I’m still building the band, the body of work, and the rooms I want to play. But I’m no longer waiting for someone else to decide whether the music belongs.

To everyone listening, attending a show, sharing a song, or following the journey: I hope something I create meets you where you are—and stays with you for a while.

Conversations with Christin Alynn - VOYAGE TAMPA (read the full interview here)

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My path has never been linear, but looking back, every season has shaped the work I do today. I started as a singer-songwriter with a deep love for music, storytelling, and live performance, but for a long time I was also balancing family, education, business, and the practical realities of life. I have a background in biology and an MBA in Healthcare Administration, and I spent years in professional roles where I learned operations, strategy, leadership, and how people move through systems.

Interview w/JOnathan Widran

Though not raised in a military family, Christin Alynn has lived a unique life, moving around 24 times, residing in 10 different counties in four states, including her birth state of Indiana where she returned and started a family, followed by her hometown in Nebraska, where she graduated high school with just 22 people and began a major in pre-med at Chadron State University, a short stent in Alvin, Texas in 1995, and two separate moves to Florida, where she currently calls homes with her husband and three children in the Tampa Bay Area. Through all the changes in her life, the artist says music has always felt like her true home, offering a beautiful way to connect to everything and everyone around her. Drawing on the power of songs to process her feelings, she has long believed that “when I can’t find the right words to say it directly, I can always find the right song to express how I feel.”

While she pushed her musical passions aside to earn an undergrad degree in biology and a master's degree in healthcare administration and build a career, she thought would fulfill her while raising her family, she woke up one day to find she was still longing to pursue a dream she couldn’t ignore. Christin finally decided to take the reins and is making her dreams reality. In addition to performing backup vocals for a Tampa-area George Strait Tribute Band called Damn Strait, she is gigging regularly in Pinellas County, performing covers in a multitude of genres and mixing in some original songs at local clubs, breweries and tiki bars. She has also been featured in and hosted artist showcases, as well as performed at the Commodore Grill in Nashville. Her fans describe her as a dynamic musical storyteller who captivates with a soulful and powerful voice.

Now reaching beyond her status as a renowned local performer, Christin is fast emerging as a singer-songwriter whose musical style crosses genres. She is often compared to artists like Jewel, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson and Bonnie Raitt, her individual sound as an artist leans country and she’s enjoying embracing her authentic voice within the genre. As she continues to develop her craft as a songwriter, people appreciate her memorable melodies and hooks, as well as her thoughtful and relatable lyrics.

Amazingly, less than a year after performing a few of her original songs at an open mic at the end of 2021, Christin released her first single “Addicted” with the production help of St. Pete based freelance producer Jesse Daw. Since making the move to Florida in June 2023, she’s been working with, #1 Billboard charting engineer, Dylan Ronan at Clear Track studios in Clearwater and is dedicating 2024 to releasing new music – with plans to release a new track each month.

“Dylan has helped me bring my music to life, I am so excited every time I go to the studio because I know that the vision, I have for the song I have created will be complete and I just can’t wait to see what comes out of every session.”

She started the year with two very personally raw and heartfelt, yet universal songs, the ballad “You Say” (chronicling struggles in her marriage many can connect with) and “What If,” an up-tempo country rocker about the challenges of resisting temptation in an emotionally vulnerable time.

Christin’s journey from working in a hospital setting to becoming a bona fide independent recording artist is fascinating, perhaps reminding us all; that sometimes achieving everything we thought we wanted still won’t be enough – especially when we know we are destined for so much more.

“After getting my degree, I got a great job in healthcare that I thrived in for three years,” says the singer, who had previously found success in real estate and marketing while finishing school. “I had three beautiful children, the big house, cars, a loving husband, and money, but was I felt like a failure and deep down I was miserable. I loved the work and the people I worked with but was discouraged being in an environment where patients were seen as dollar signs. So, I quit, and did a lot of soul searching. I worked as a business consultant, did some life coaching, ran women’s retreats, ended up writing a self-help book titled ‘Independent Protocol’: How to Pursue Your Passion for a Profit.’(unpublished)”

While Christin could read music, had played the clarinet in high school and been a vocalist her whole life, she never learned guitar or piano until the pandemic, when she found an old guitar while cleaning house one day. Vowing to learn how to play it and getting more serious about music, she downloaded the Yousician app and taught herself to play guitar and piano in just a couple months.

Then Krista Francis, a friend from her college days in Nebraska contacted Christin, telling her about a faith-based musical ministry she started called Girls with Guitars. Participating in a Facebook based 30-day Challenge with a group of women from all over the world, Christin fulfilled her assignment learning strumming patterns and writing songs based on Bible verses and sharing them online, which she admitted was the scariest part – this led to a flood of divinely inspired creativity, resulting in six new songs within a month of completing the program. By the time she performed her first open mic set in December 2020, she was addicted – a feeling that may have just inspired the title of her first single.

“My sincerest hope is that people enjoy the music I make as much as I enjoy making it, and that cycle becomes sustainable so that I can continue to do what I love the most, which is create and share music. I have three children and I want them to know they can be and do anything their hearts desire. But I also want to encourage everyone out there to chase their dreams. Those dreams you had before life got in the way, never go away, they are with you your whole life just waiting for you to come get them. For me, music was something I always said I would do someday and deep down I think I always thought if I never try, I won’t ever fail and then I can always say ‘maybe I could have done it’, it made me feel safe to know it was always an option. Part of me thought if I went for it and failed it the dream would be gone forever, now I know that isn’t possible. You can only fail if you quit and while I may never make it big in this industry, I won’t ever quit doing what I love to do, because I am making music for me. So, if you have a dream, don’t wait…go get it!”

Interview w/JOnathan Widran

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