Connor Vance is a young man who speaks an old language.
Through his fingers and a fiddle, the fourth-year musicology student has become fluent in bluegrass and now tours the country with his band, The Dustbowl Revival, while attending the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music .
From an early age, Vance fostered a love for music and a career in music was seen as a given.
“My dad played guitar growing up, so they were always around the house, then in fourth grade I picked up the violin because my brother played. And then, throughout elementary and middle school, I learned to play classical (music) at school. Music just became my forte,” Vance said.
Vance also said that the Santa Monica neighborhood he grew up in was crucial to his musical upbringing. He has tried to help continue that legacy by organizing a yearly neighborhood concert.
“In the community I live in, we’d jam and play with our neighbors, and that’s really how I learned how to fiddle, play jazz and really to improvise in general,” Vance said. “The concert is just a chance to bring together old friends and neighbors for a night of music, socializing and food.”
When it came time to begin looking at colleges, Vance said he saw no reason to stray from home. He had been playing in bands since the fifth grade and had made a host of contacts in the music industry, which he hoped to develop into a job working professionally in Los Angeles. His dream would come true sooner than expected.
While playing as part of a gypsy quartet during the summer before his freshman year at UCLA, Vance was approached by Daniel Mark, the mandolin player of The Dustbowl Revival, who offered to put him in contact with Zach Lupetin, the band’s leader.
“He suggested we jam, just to see if it could work out. So I jammed with Zach, and he dug my playing, so I played their gig that night and every other gig after that for the last three years,” Vance said.
“(Vance) had a swagger about him that was intriguing, even at a young age,” Lupetin said. “As a leader you look for people who can take charge of their part of the orchestra, and (Vance) really seemed to naturally take charge of the string parts.”
Vance plays several shows a week, typically on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, as well as at churches in Malibu and Westwood on Sundays. Put together with some occasional studio work, this requires him to do most of his studying to weekdays in order to accommodate travel time.
Even with a clear idea of where he’s going, Vance has had to work with professors to get the most out his classes.
“As far as classical music goes, there are a ton of kids here at UCLA who can blow me out of the water, so I worked with my professors to be able to incorporate more bluegrass music,” Vance said. “I really wanted my studies to fit what I need, in order to do what I want to do.”
Vance has also learned to take advantage of and appreciate his time spent traveling with the band.
“Tour gives a lot of clarity. Sometimes your mind just opens up and you can write tunes that way. For me though, as a student, I get a lot of reading and studying done,” Vance said.
The band’s female vocalist Kate Nicholsen said that Vance’s college student behavior is very evident on the road.
“(Vance) is one of the most diligent people I’ve ever worked with,” Nicholsen said.“As a student, he tours the way he’s used to living at school; he’s always on time, studying and being observant of everything around him. He’s always just really open to learning new things.”
When asked what he thinks of people’s perception of his genre as music for the old, Vance laughs.
“It’s funny. I learned a lot of what I know from old people, but you have to play so fast and be so on top of your game in the moment that it can’t be anything but fresh,” Vance said. “Yes, it’s an old language … but playing it is really just trading improvised licks. In the end it’s an open forum, and there’s nothing more fresh.”