Violinist Lindsey Stirling - Not Your Average Icon

Text by Anna T.D.

Nowadays, violinists can also rock out! Who knew what musicians could end up doing with their classical instruments these days. About three months ago, I randomly discovered this young female violinist on YouTube and was hooked right away by her music video Crystallize. Since then, I couldn’t stop myself from listening to all of her songs available on YouTube and SoundCloud until the release date of her first full-length album.

But who is Lindsey Stirling? Born in 1986 in Orange County, Lindsey Stirling is a violinist, dancer, performance artist and composer. Releasing up-tempo music videos with her violin and the help of Devin Graham, YouTube filmmaker, since 2010, her list of talents doesn’t stop there! If you have watched her videos and live performances, she dances energetically while playing her violin.

“I wanted to make it fun. I wanted to make it entertaining and energetic, playing like a statue on stage as I used to play just wasn’t quite cutting it.” – Lindsey Stirling

Even if her music has no lyrics, it covers everything from rock to trance, hip hop to dubstep. Combining classical sounds and feel of the violin and the contemporary upbeat melodies and rhythms, Lindsey certainly knows how to go beyond music boundaries. Diverting to watch and delightful to listen to, her innovative masterpieces surely bring out a fresh side to the music industry.

After making to the quarterfinals on the fifth season of America’s Got Talent and being know as the hip hop violinist, her popularity only began to reach the summit when she started posting videos edited by herself on YouTube. Her YouTube channel, lindseystomp, has over 132 million views and more than 805,000 subscribers as of September 2012.

Her self-titled debut album under BridgeTone Records was released on September 18th, 2012, so don’t waist your time and go get it!