Ana Cristina Cash is a Nashville-based American singer-songwriter who was originally raised in Miami, Florida by her Cuban parents who moved to the United States in the early 1960s during the onset of the revolution. Growing up listening to a multitude of genres, Cash’s sound was influenced by an eclectic array of inspiration from Country, Pop, improvisational Jazz and Latin music. Writing directly from the heart, the singer-songwriter’s recordings exhibit a broad vocal range, spanning from an expressive and resonating contralto to a soaring coloratura soprano, otherwise known as the “whistle register.” Ana earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Florida International University and her master’s degree in creative writing and literature from Harvard University.
The bilingual artist started her professional music career debuting her talents at age 6 on the Spanish-language variety show “Sabado Gigante,” where she continued to film regularly until the age of 14.
At the age of 15, she signed to Sony Music’s Latin division and released her first album Ana Cristina in the Spanish-language, working with multiple Grammy Award winning producers. Ana’s debut Spanish-language album as Ana Cristina with Sony Music’s Latin division, titled Ana Cristina, was released in 2003.It included the single, “A Un Paso De Mi Amor,” which had been featured the previous year on the soundtrack of Telemundo Network’s telenovela Vale Todo. Another song from the album, ¡Vivan los niños!, was a closing theme of Televisa Network’s 2002 telenovela ¡Vivan los niños!.
In 2004, Ana was selected to participate as a songwriter and performer in Festival Mundial De La Cancion (“World Festival of Song”) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the year’s sole representative from the United States, competing with her song “Cuando Menos Lo Esperas. The same year, she was also nominated for a Premio Lo Nuestro Award.
Ana Cristina’s recording of Schubert’s “Ave Maria” was part of Nuestra Navidad, a 2005 Sony Music Christmas compilation album that also included Jon Secada, Celia Cruz, José Feliciano and others. On 20 January 2005 she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Constitutional Ball, part of the Second inauguration of George W. Bush. Later that year she performed at Festival de Calle Ocho (Calle Ocho Music Festival) in Miami.
The following year she performed at the White House as a part of the celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month. Also in 2006, she released the single “You Can Change the World” as a duet with MichelAngelo. Univision used the song’s bilingual counterpart, “El Mundo Puedes Cambiar,” as its theme song for its FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 coverage.
On 5 January 2009 she released on her own label her album Time, containing all original material entirely written by her, with six tracks in English and three in Spanish, produced by Randy Barlow. In 2010, she earned the title of Miss South Florida USA 2011. That same year, she moved to Los Angeles and studied Acting at Michelle Danner’s The Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica.
In 2014 Ana Cristina recorded her first full length English-language album in Los Angeles. The pop/soul The West Coast Sessions, produced by Chris Price, in Los Angeles. That year, she moved to Nashville.
She released the album in 2015.That year she performed with John Carter Cash at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s album release concert for the Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats- A New Music City album.
On Oct. 29, 2016, Ana Cristina married music producer John Carter Cash and has since been writing and recording the music she feels she was born to sing. That same year, she performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 20th Anniversary Music Master concert tribute to Johnny Cash on October 21, 2016.
During September 2017, the couple’s daughter, Grace June, was born in Nashville. In July 2021, the couple’s son, James Kristoffer, was born in Miami. Ana Cristina and John Carter Cash live in Nashville with their two children. .
She recorded a full-length holiday album, My Christmas Collection, at the Cash Cabin studio. It was released in 2018. That year she provided guest vocals on heavy metal band DevilDriver’s cover of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and performed at the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival.
On 1 April 2019 she was a part of the Loretta Lynn birthday tribute show at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and later that year she performed at YouTube’s “Cash Fest” concert honoring Johnny Cash. On 9 November 2019 she made her Grand Ole Opry debut performing her original material. Mayor Jamie Clary of Hendersonville, Tennessee, declared 9 November “Ana Cristina Cash Day.”
In 2019 a Spanish-language adaptation of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”, co-written by Ana Cristina Cash was recorded by Los Tigres Del Norte for their prison documentary Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison and the accompanying Latin Grammy-winning album.
She released another holiday-themed recording, a single of “Mele Kalikimaka,” during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020.
During 2020, Ana released her full-length Country-Pop album, titled “Shine,” which was produced by John Carter Cash and recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn. (in which Johnny Cash built himself in 1979). The album premiered at Billboard.com and includes the track “Brand New Pair of Shoes” with lyrics by Johnny Cash that had never before been set to music. The same track was later included on an expanded edition of Forever Words, a Legacy Records album of poems and lyrics by Johnny Cash set to music by artists including Elvis Costello, Chris Cornell and Jewel. The music video for the single off of her “Shine” album, “Broken Roses” was directed by acclaimed director David McClister and was shot in Nashville. In 2023, Ana Cristina released a duet of the Tori Amos penned song, “Winter” alongside acclaimed artist and fiddle player, Caitlin Evanson.
Ana Cristina is currently working on recording a new project in Nashville in the studio that incorporates her country music with pop sensibilities and Latin influences. She is a frequent performer on the Grand Ole Opry, The Bluebird Café, 3rd and Lindsley, major sporting events and is an active part of the thriving Nashville music scene. Her vocals or songwriting have been featured on recordings of other artists such as T Bone Burnett, Natalie Cole, Juanes, Brad Paisley, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Los Tigres Del Norte, John Carter Cash, John McEuen and more.