Meet Zee Crain | Frontwoman, Songwriter, and Multi-Instrumentalist in Wicked Vixen

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zee Crain and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zee, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started playing music at a very young age. I was about 4 years old when I picked up a violin for the first time. I always had a love for music, but it wasn’t until I became a teenager, and lived through some really tough years, that I decided that music was it for me. I was listening to music nonstop and would lock myself in my room and practice for hours. The thing about music is that it was an escape – a way to block out the world and a way to find others who I resonated with. When I discovered classic rock and Led Zeppelin, that music to me had so much substance and was full of emotion (not just lyrically). I would put on my rock albums if I was sad, or nostalgic, or happy, or frustrated, and if I felt alone I would suddenly think “Huh… I’m not the only one.” Music connected me to others even if I never got a chance to meet those musicians. And I somehow felt what they felt through their songs – I felt as if I knew them. Music became intimate and personal to me, both listening and creating. As I got older, I realized that I wanted to do that for other people, especially young people who are feeling lost. Music saved me in a lot of ways, and I want to extend that to others through my art. After I was about 15 I knew that I would be a musician one day. There’s simply no other path for me. And so I embarked on a journey to make that happen, which has led us here today to the forming of the band “Wicked Vixen”.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Wicked Vixen is a rock band that is driven by electric violin solos and leads, and powerful female vocals. We are pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in the music industry, and challenging how people perceive the electric violin. What we do is like nothing else you’ve heard before. Although we have been compared to bands such as Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and Evanescence, we have a uniqueness to our sound that I believe mainstream rock n roll is missing. For that reason, I’m proud of how far we’ve come and our evolution as a band over the years. Our new single “For the Damned” (available everywhere on November 4th) is our best work yet. We found a really solid team of producers and engineers and refined our sound to give our fans the best possible product. I wanted to ensure that the quality of our sound was sharp enough that people would respect the addition of the electric violin to rock music, instead of seeing it as a kitschy addition for the purposes of exposure or that temporary “wow factor”.

We are so proud of how far we’ve come, and the fans that have carried us along the way, but it hasn’t been an easy road to get here. Before I moved to Colorado, I recorded a four track EP as a solo artist with a backing band. I did it on a super tight budget, only having a few hundred dollars to make the whole thing work (from hiring studio musicians, to mixing and mastering, to album art and distribution). This EP was released in 2014 and never gained any traction. In 2018, I moved to Colorado for a fresh start and eventually found the band I have now. Since beginning my solo music career in 2014, I have rebranded this project twice to find that right fit. We even put out a full length album last year under our old name before we rebranded to Wicked Vixen. But that’s sort of how it goes in this industry sometimes. As you grow, your art grows with you. Your sound changes, your influences change, your songwriting style changes, and the music changes. As the music changes, your brand can also change. That’s what happened to this project over the years, but I can confidently say that Wicked Vixen has arrived and we’re not going anywhere! I don’t feel like it was a waste of time or energy at all, though. We wouldn’t be here today making the kind of music we are making if we didn’t go through those growing pains in the beginning.

Ultimately, through all of these rebrands and band changes, I’ve learned that it’s about the people. The people who support you will always support you if they resonate with your music, your cause, and who you are as a person. We are so lucky to have our fans who were with us through this rebrand to Wicked Vixen. We have people who show up to as many local shows as they can, bring friends, share our music, rep our merch… and we are nothing without those people. As an artist, if you are authentic and true, the right fans will find you. And we feel fortunate to have found such amazing fans that believe in us.

Our brand and our story is one of empowerment. Wicked Vixen is a group of misfits. We represent the people that weren’t always the most popular, or the most outgoing, the most successful, or the most accepted by society. We make music to empower those who have felt tossed aside or outcast by the societal structures that we’re forced to live in. We’re the strange ones, the weird ones, the loud ones, the creatives, the different ones, and the brave ones. We won’t let others silence us. We won’t conform.

That’s what our new song “For the Damned” is about. We may take a hit, we may lose the battle, but we will win the war. And we will not back down.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d definitely take people to see the amazing live music in Fort Collins and Denver. The Aggie in FoCo and the Fillmore in Denver are the must see spots! Every show I’ve been to at those venues has always been top tier. We also have a killer French restaurant called La Creperie with authentic French breakfast and pastries, and you can’t forget about all of the breweries and cool bars we have around town. Depending on who was visiting (depending on if they are musicians and gear heads), I might bring them to The Blasting Room where we record our tracks and where one of my best buds Spud works.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my first violin teacher, Mrs. Long, for not giving up on me. She was the most patient of teachers and sometimes I’d just break down and decide that playing violin that day was too much. She let me rest, she let me take my time, but she supported me wholeheartedly through every step of the way. I did a lot of growing under her instruction.

I also want to thank my band for giving life to this project. Back in Nashville, when I first started trying to make something of myself through music, I had a hard time keeping players. That city is very cutthroat and I didn’t have the means to keep people around. But Wicked Vixen is a solid band with solid players who show up and are committed to our future success. I’m so grateful that we found each other.

Website: yourwickedvixen.com

Instagram: instagram.com/yourwickedvixen

Facebook: facebook.com/yourwkdvxn

Youtube: youtube.com/wickedvixen

Image Credits
Cassie Nuckols, Alex Clary, JRZ Photography, Kim Weston