Christine Welch
American Singer/songwriter Christine Welch's experience as an expat in Taipei, Taiwan has led her music in many directions, with rock, pop, folk, and Chinese melodic influences. The strawberry blond New Mexican native studied Chinese at Northwestern University in Chicago, and after spending a short time in Beijing, settled permanently in Taipei, Taiwan. She began her musical career accidentally, posting covers of Chinese songs to document her efforts at learning Chinese. After several of these covers went viral on Youtube, she began recording a pocketful of hits with producer Skot Suyama in 2012, who is also an American expat living in Taiwan. The two decided to record a music video themselves, which resulted in the explosion of popularity of "What Are You Looking For" (a folk song co-written by Christine and Skot with Chinese melodic influences) and "That's How It Is" (an indie rock song) in both China and Taiwan. Christine is currently enrolled at National Taiwan Normal University, getting her Masters in Chinese Literature, and writes all of her lyrics--in Chinese. After signing with a management company, Fengyun Media, in 2014 Christine released an EP which includes two singles, a new song entitled "Into the Bamboo Forest," a folk throwback to Chinese melodic style and with influences from ancient Chinese poetry, and the first official release of "That's How It Is." At the same time, she published a book complete with her Chinese lyrics, poetry, and a short autobiography.