From YouTube to a Stage Near You — What the FOLK is Up?
Del Cid places her hand thoughtfully under her chin while looking off into the distance. Her white blazer, boots and cube she sits atop contrasts the warm aura surrounding her
As a self professed space-nerd and sci-fi lover, it is no surprise that Reina del Cid’s musical presence has always been written in the stars. This LA-based musician has charmed listeners with her smooth, rich vocals and effervescent compositions since day one.
Del Cid received her start at age 15, after being gifted a guitar by her father. She always wrote songs in her free time growing up, so he decided to provide an instrument to accompany herself with — and as they always say: the rest is history.
Not too long after starting guitar lessons, del Cid began posting videos to the then brand-new platform, YouTube; “I got started really early on YouTube [...],” she recounts, “There was no way to make money, it was all something people were doing from their bedrooms for fun.”
“That was a really magical time,” she remembers, “I wanted to share my music through video, because [...] it's not just about the audio, it's about the moment in time. Video really captures that,” she asserts.
With over 14 years of YouTube videos uploaded to her account, del Cid’s channel currently touts a whopping 309K subscribers. Every Sunday morning del Cid uploads a new video for her audience to enjoy, posting masterful covers of everything from Queen’s “Killer Queen” and the hit karaoke song, “Tequila” to original songs like “Bernadette.” Her channel amasses views from all over the world, with her fan base ranging from everything between college age music-lovers to seasoned musical aficionados. One can follow each step of del Cid’s musical evolution memorialized on her YouTube — from the very beginnings playing her signature blue guitar, del Cid has been dedicated to sharing her music with the world, one video at a time.
Putting oneself on YouTube certainly comes with its challenges; “Just being on the internet has desensitized me in a big way,” del Cid confesses, “You're opening yourself up to the best of humanity and also the worst. People can say really beautiful things that are very encouraging, and also extremely ugly things that make you want to quit forever and never pick up a guitar again.”
Evidently, the latter thought never came to fruition, as del Cid has learned to regulate what she lets into her head. Ultimately, “your form of art will always reach the audience it's intended to reach if you keep putting it out there,” she affirms, “you just can't worry as much about the people for whom it isn't for.”
Words of encouragement and admiration regularly adorn del Cid’s YouTube comment section. Though she not only receives support from her fanbase, but from fellow musicians as well.
Del Cid has had the opportunity to collaborate with many artists, most regularly collaborating with Toni Lindgren, a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist of many talents. Lindgren has been a steadfast musical partner to del Cid: “I'm so lucky to have Toni,” del Cid exclaims, “She's an incredible guitar player.” After del Cid’s former bassist proposed that Toni join the band, “She showed up, blew all of our minds with her guitar playing and then the rest is history,” del Cid recalls.
Del Cid and Lindgren often collaborate with the duo Josh Turner and Carson McKee of The Other Favorites. When the four are together, the music they produce is electric, filled with their authentic enjoyment and passion for creating together. The four have a unique bond that is something listeners treasure and continually return to their YouTube pages for.
“As somebody who really started out kind of alone in her bedroom in the early years, writing songs within my own small world, [collaboration] has really expanded my understanding of music and the kind of music I'm able to create when I have such incredible artists to bounce ideas off of and to collaborate with,” del Cid expresses.
From left to right: Carson McKee, Reina del Cid, Josh Turner and Lindgreen perform harmoniously in 2019
Their collaboration was cut short by the pandemic. After mainly performing via livestream during 2020 and 2021, del Cid is eager to get back on the road — and this time she’ll be touring on a brand new album, Candy Apple Red, released on April 29.
Creating the album was a laborious and long process, full of remote meetings due to the pandemic. Months of sending in demos, working on lyrics and chord progressions and recording at home culminated in an 11-track album of pure folk goodness.
Candy Apple Red is full of lush guitar arrangements and supple melodies, featuring collaboration between del Cid and Lindgren on several tracks. From folkier songs like “Cassiopeia” that reference del Cid’s fascination with space, to upbeat rock grooves like “Brandy and Wine,” del Cid masterfully covers it all. And while she has experimented in everything from rock to pop to americana, she always finds herself returning to acoustic folk music. “Acoustic music has just been the most natural, rawest form of expression,” she states.
Del Cid expressed her own struggles within the folk world. “[The folk world is] incredibly male dominated,” she confesses, “it can be sexist, it can be homophobic, racist, but these changes are being made gradually by the younger generations.”
“Just being out there and doing it and creating music in that space is helpful in making change,” del Cid confirms, “We've always tried to not let it bother us. We've learned to stand our ground, we've learned to take up space.” she says.
For the next year or so, del Cid will be hitting the road again, touring all over the UK and the United States, and is eager to release many songs that she has been sitting on. One can expect many great things from del Cid in the near future.
Keep up with Reina by following her on Instagram, streaming her music on Spotify, supporting her via Patreon, and by becoming a “Cid-izen” by subscribing to her YouTube channel.