Performer tunes it artfully, following line (8)
I believe the answer is:
lutenist
'performer' is the definition.
(lutenist is a kind of performer)
'tunes it artfully following line' is the wordplay.
'artfully' is an anagram indicator.
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'line' becomes 'l'.
'tunes'+'it'='tunesit'
'tunesit' is an anagram of 'utenist'.
'utenist' after 'l' is 'LUTENIST'.
(Other definitions for lutenist that I've seen before include "Stringed instrument player" , "Stringed-instrument player" , "Plucky player" , "Instrumentalist" .)