Kristina Stykos: News

A little indulgent social time 7/2 in Brattleboro to kick off July, with fellow studio owner (I admit he's more than a little ahead of me on the music industry timeline) Will Ackerman and a few others who shall remain nameless. Between guitar makers that we have in common and huge gardening projects going on in tandem, there is always an interest to learn something new about how things get done in another studio. I pressed Will to share some of his philosophy regarding producing and was not disappointed. To be continued.

Could not have enjoyed myself more during a night on the town in Burlington VT last Friday 7/9. Tried a new Italian restaurant that I can't tell you the name of except that it was on College Street - tasted the sweet memory of squash blossoms battered and fried just like my grandmother used to. This was our meeting place for planning Robert Resnik's new solo project, which dares to go where no man (named Robert) has gone before. Walking about town later on, we stopped into the Black Crow bookstore where I made Robert buy Vermont author Robert Jeffrey Lent's book "A Peculiar Grace" and then onto the One Half Lounge (Myra Flynn onstage) and Radio Bean. A steamy, sultry evening with good cheer spilling onto the streets from every over-heated corner.

The next two days we tracked his project in Chelsea (Pepperbox Studio), with production help from Mary McGinniss on day two. More sweaty hours at the console and behind the mics, punctuated - at Mary's insistence - by trips to the local swimming hole - almost too cold even at 90 plus degrees F. That's a good thing. It definitely brought home the irish penny whistle medley.

Rehearsal Monday 7/12 bright and early - Back to Burlington with Bow Thayer to play with Tyler Bolles, who will be adding acoustic bass to our mix at Solarfest. This is very exciting for us and will be the first time Tyler (amazing bass player) and Patrick Ross (amazing fiddle player) will be meeting each other jamming on the same stage.

Approved the master for Mary McGinniss's solo CD, fresh out of the mastering studio at Discmakers. I have been enjoying getting to know some of the fine engineers in their lab and hope to make it down to be a fly on their wall one of these days.

Has anyone heard of Dylan Waller? I read about this musician in the Montpelier Bridge newspaper and tracked down his music online. Although he's on his way to Bratislava, I'm hoping to catch up with him and see a live show as soon as I can. What an unusual sound and I can't even explain what that means except that there's something unabashedly direct about his message and his approach that stuns with it's originality. He is not trying to sound like ANYONE else. Refreshing to my ears that have been suffering from sameness fatigue and an aversion to most popular culture - that includes Vermont musicians who conquer little corners and keep others out without really showing anything honest or open-minded. Is that snotty?

My month of May was largely dedicated to travel, family parties and the return of gardening season. A long trip to Cincinnati by car to our friends Jeff and Diane's wedding brought musical encounters with Wild Carrot, a talented duo based there and pleasing sounds from Scott Ainslie as the moon rose above the city skyline. Back at home, a few other music related things did manage to sprout between flower and vegetable plantings, including Mary McGinniss and Scott Davis here in the studio for some finishing touches on their CD projects. And finally caught up with Sara Grace for a melding of musical minds, jamming out in her art studio with drums and guitars.

Here it is now almost the end of June. Ran up to "Jax" a bar on the Killington access road with Bow Thayer and Patrick Ross 6/7 to punch out some tunes under the greening mountain and make plans for future adventures on the road. The "Jax" decor - arcade games, punching bag and multiple televisions - set an interesting backdrop for our version of old time acoustic mayhem. We'll be returning there 7/25 for another late night show.

Pepperbox Studio ushered in much anticipated singer-songwriter Andre Souligny of Roxbury VT, who has been waiting in the wings for what might well be years for his schedule to lighten up - we launched into recording guitar tracks for what will become a full length project of his original music. More on this as we move deeper into it.

Down to the Tunbridge Town Hall Friday 6/25 to play in a mind-blowing double bill - all friends of Bow Thayer. Set one featured Lisa Parade and her oh-so-interesting trio which turned into a quartet when her husband flew in from L.A.. Their style rides on the strength of Lisa's songwriting and solid presentation on guitar and vocals, with band mates adding penetrating harmonies, cajon, glockenspiel and electric piano. Lisa's rapping is just right. Then second set brought on Bow, Patrick Ross and myself doing our trio thing. The appreciative crowd seemed to be riding high with us on our wild old timey improvs and some courageous solos on guitar, banjo and fiddle. All miked up with no special effects we sound acoustic-y but energetic enough to rock the house thanks to our collective groove quotient. Tim, our sound man, handled it all with stellar mixing and a fastidious but mellow attitude. He didn't have his card with him but I'm chasing him down for future gigs.

Finally booked a weekend of recording Robert Resnik at Pepperbox Studio, to work on his first solo CD. This is something I've been wanting to co-produce for a while as this musician deserves first rate treatment for all his various and sundry talents that sometimes seem under-reported. We will be in pre-production discussing the myriad possibilities towards the beginning of July.

On Saturday I drove south into the Berkshires of Massachusetts (6/26-27) to the Institute for Musical Arts run by June Millington and Ann Hackler to assist in recording a performance of student projects on the last day of their "Explore Rock n' Roll" summer camp for pre-teen girls. Walking into their new studio in Goshen MA to run the board was made easy thanks to the assistance of Lee Madeloni, June's nephew and a fine musician in his own right, who had the ins and outs of the system pinned. I love a situation where I can learn something AND bring my expertise to bear for a good cause. I hope to continue my relationship with this exemplary non-profit that supports young women who are creative and ready to hit the ground running.

April has been a roller coaster, but I'm still hanging on. I got back from Italy and survived the NJ Transit system without getting on the wrong train and ending up in NYC. Phew. Had a great visit with my brother Marek, his family and friends including Robb Zenn of Alto Music in Middletown NY and Leah Farrar, a talented film producer and musician. The big news was a pile of at least ten electric guitars sent to Marek for his review. Being my brother, he set me up with an amp and put each one out on his huge leather couch for me to sample, even though I was obviously suffering from a desperate case of jet lag.

Thanks to a night on the town galavanting with fellow troubadour Robert Resnik, I finally caught Brett Hughes honky tonk show (w/ bassist Tyler Bolles) at the Bluebird Restaurant - and followed up with an afternoon of swapping songs with him - he's another hidden gem of a player known mostly only to Burlington VT. Hoping to figure a way to play out with him one of these days. Also enjoyed a couple hours picking with bluegrass mandolinist Adam Buchwald - Adam recently moved to Vermont from NYC to build and repair instruments in Post Mills VT - and man, he knows how to play. We hope to join forces with Doug Perkins in May to play at an open house featuring Adam's work as a builder.

Busy days in the studio as well, with several new clients including roots man Derrick Semler laying down tracks for his daughter Bridgette's new project and pastor Donna Colletti Lowre with her pianist Jean recording here at Pepperbox for the first time. Mary McGinniss, on the tail end of her project brought her usual good cheer, good food and laughter to Chelsea; our three days together brought intense work on three new songs, as well as revision and mixing for songs previously recorded. And she didn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me behind the microphone with my mandolin, tracking parts on a couple. I 'm really looking forward to hearing local DJs spin that disk in the near future. Scott Davis is also getting ready to have his disk professionally mastered, after months of layering fine percussion playing and vocals that are totally original and definitively hot.

The Worker's Center "Health Care is a Human Right" campaign brought us together with many fine musicians Friday April 16 at the UU Church in Burlington - I'm still stunned by the fire power of that gathering and happy to have contributed to the cause. Promoter-activist James Haslam pulled together this benefit, opened by Mayfly (Katie Trautz and Julia Wayne), MC-ed by the wonderful Scott Ainslie who also played a set of his amazing blues and originals songs and then the Bow Thayer acoustic project including myself and fiddler Patrick Ross, brought it home with a final set of Bow's originals. Guitarist Doug Perkins joined us at the last minute making beautiful, extraordinary string noise - in an effort to bring the Worker's Center message and hard work to a higher level of local awareness. Thanks to all who contributed to the evening, including Jack Donovan of WDEV in Waterbury VT who had us on the air to talk about the event and our recent musical endeavors.

Our social calendar this month has been full of music:

A concert by Chad Hollister at the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph VT, with an opening set by guitarist singer-songwriter Sara Grace and Giovanni (who's last name eludes me at the moment) - great to finally experience the energy and high powered musicality of Chad and his band and to meet Sara after months of near misses. I'm hoping she'll "grace" me with some drum tracks on my next newest recording project.

A house concert featuring Nashville guitarist David Grier, hosted by the Vermont Instruments School of Lutherie in Post Mills (also showcasing guitarist Doug Perkins and mandolinist Adam Buchwald in an opening set of tunes). Somehow David identified me, my husband and a couple others as being especially appreciative of his more "off-color" jokes and came directly to us after the show to share a few more. We think that perhaps the only person who can rival him would be Patti Casey with her sheep joke (which i can never remember when I try to retell it, so I'll just have to ask her to). Great music, very low key and friendly, a fabulous little venue for hearing acoustic music that I recommend heartily to anyone who really likes to see what guitar players do close up and hear it without amplification.

Also made a night of it and after a bubbly social frenzy of a dinner hit Higher Ground to see rocker Graham Parker, whom we met in the pub at Ariel's Restaurant in Brookfield not long ago. One never knows who is going to turn up in the outback of this amazing state. The show was backed by a band called The Figgs - good songwriting, lots of spirit, no pretentious posturing, friendly vibe, solid talent. I'm going to keep tabs on Graham because I think we'll be seeing more of him in the state.

And when the snow came back this last week in April, there was nothing to do but drive south and visit Verdant Studio in Athens VT, the marvelous creation of studio owner-engineer Pete Weiss located on a back road that even I had never been on before. Verdant has an exceptional spatial concept that includes a cool one room recording area, additional isolation booth and great hang out area with cozy wood stove. Set up to support the out-of-town bands which make up most of his business, his facility has dorm space and a kitchen too. Pete's demeanor surely provides a calm, thoughtful balance to red-light anxiety. And the results of his mixing and other skills can be heard on several of VT rocker Bow Thayer's CDs, and include some of the Levon Helm sessions. Glad to have finally connected!

The month started with a field trip to I.M.A. (Institute of Musical Arts) in Goshen MA, which hosts rock and roll camps for teenage girls and a studio recording week. They started in Bodega CA, and moved their non-profit organization to the East Coast in 2001. Their recently renovated barn facility is filled to the rafters with vibrations of creativity and some handsome new gear. I enjoyed a delicious dinner there cooked by executive director Ann Hackler and swapped stories with her and creative director June Millington, former guitarist of the 60s rock band Fanny, about some of the unique challenges women face in what is still largely a male dominated music industry.

And there are days, nay weeks, the stars align to make technology uncooperative - March has been following that model to some extent. Last week I had to unravel multiple issues while transferring a live recording I did between Pro Tools 7 and Pro Tools 8. Simultaneously, another little project, doing a transfer from tape cassette to digital, had me unplugging every piece of old equipment in my house, only to discover nothing would match. Even my phone calls to Audio Proz in Watertown MA seemed to dissolve into days of phone tag, with no final decision or purchase.

A request from singer-songwriter Susannah Blachly for backing tracks to her song "Morning Prayer" took me longer than expected to put together, but that's only because I'm a perfectionist and want to get it right. The initial three hours spent on that grew to include a whole other day. But the bottom line is that creating and arranging guitar parts to fit the mood of a song is one of my favorite things to do. Add a little mandolin and you're there.

I admit I was slightly frustrated when percussionist Scott Davis came back with more recording to do after our last mix, but after taking a few deep breaths I allowed trust to prevail and now I'm getting excited to hear what mastering, like icing on a cake, will do - this recording is rich with textures and pure tones, a must-listen for anyone who loves hand drums. It's been an honor to witness Scott's creative process and watch him build this amazing, deep musical poem incorporating rhythms he has gathered over many years of intensive study and dedicated playing.

Went out to hear music, Session Americana at Langdon Street Cafe, curious to see them for the first time and see how they amplify their show with only a few mics strategically placed on and nearby a small table they all sit around, on stage. I was literally the last person let into the sold out show, and had to stand in the back (not my favorite position since I'm not tall) until I managed to sneak in front and crouch right near the stage. Mostly I want to hear music as if I were in the room with the musicians, close enough to play with them. The energy was great though I left at half time - that was enough saturation for me - and on my way out of town dropped in to catch ten minutes of Bow Thayer and the Perfect Train Wreck at Lamb Abbey just so I could feel like i didn't miss the fun. In all honesty, I was hoping to hit the show during a break so I could be social, but they were on a roll, didn't stop, and it was just too loud for my sensitive ears. I have to be protective of my most treasured asset.

This month started out with a wave of gigs with Bow and Patrick. Our acoustic trio had a short set at the Chandler Music Hall, in between some great music by The Perfect Trainwreck band and Jimmy Ryan and Tim Gearan of Boston. The show raised a bunch of money for the Chandler renovation campaign, which is now well on it's way. It was also a reunion for me and Jimmy, whom I hadn't seen for almost 25 years since we both lived in Burlington VT. Both funny and poignant to touch back on that time.

The next weekend Friday night we settled into our corner of Seasoned Books in Rochester VT amidst the warm hospitality and played a longer show. It was standing room only between the isles of used books and walls of framed and signed poems by well known poets - I've made a mental note to go back and spend more time browsing real soon. My ride back to Chelsea late that night over Bethel Mountain Road with my travel box of vegetarian treats from Sandy helped smooth out those frost heaves.

Then our CD release party at Langdon Street cafe on Saturday night Feb 6. Thanks to my friends who came down to celebrate a year of hard work and adventure creating Bow Thayer's newest disk: "Shooting Arrows at the Moon". In addition to Patrick Ross and his fiddle again making the trek over from Groveton NH to play, we were joined by Doug Perkins on acoustic guitar. Doug also helped us set up and run the (new) sound system at Langdon Street - for once I did not have the stress of being the only techie on the scene.

Also went up to the Black Door in Montpelier Feb 13 to try out a new rack of remote recording gear utilizing the M-version of Pro Tools and an Avid interface - which gives me the capability of running over 16 separate live tracks of audio. The musicians were my friends Doug Perkins and mandolinist Jamie Masefield; they allowed me to experiment on them and we got some fine recordings. As usual, doing something like this creates more questions than answers because the challenges demand constant analysis of one's methods and gear. Next gear acquisition: a rack mount mic splitter. (We have a wood splitter that runs on tractor power at home and so the question is: will this mic splitter be man enough to do it's job without a PTO?)

On the "Oh-god-I-have-to-do-it-again" front, a certain track on the upcoming collaboration album with pianist Philip Aaberg is throwing me for a loop and I'm on the umpteenth redo of a guitar part that just won't sit down into the mix. In the end, we'll probably be blending the sounds of a vintage hollow body Guild guitar with my Martin D-28. If I don't expire before I get it right.

I'll also be working on a guitar part for Susannah Blachly's new CD and a mandolin part for Mary McGinniss's next disk this week. Will there be any time for cavorting in the snow?

I got my 1956 Martin guitar back from repair yesterday - a couple of cracks had opened up in the back, like bookends - one on either side. Just an excuse for me to visit with repair artist Harry Becker of Northampton, MA. I admit I was not in the best mood when I pulled in, winter doldrums I guess, but when I left I had a lift in my step and in my heart. Harry sent me off with a CD called "Odd Man Out" to listen to by a musician named Elric Walker and that had a profound effect on me. Hope I can catch up with this guy somewhere along the way.

Joining the FolkDJ list serve was a stroke of genius - if only because it gives me so much pleasure to find some new contacts - all over the world - to send music to. I've been doing a big mailing of the two most recent albums to come out of my studio" "Shooting Arrows at the Moon" (Bow Thayer) and "Solo Duo Trio" (Brian Clark). Requests from Australia and Israel and Montreal, as well as many in the glorious continental US.

Finally settled on a date with the Langdon Street Cafe for our CD release party: Sat Feb 6. I do like going in there on a snowy day, to sit by the glow of my lap-top in the partial darkness - but on 2/6 I'll be scuffling around the stage with Bow Thayer and Patrick Ross, switching up guitars and making some big noise.

Spent two wonderful days with singer-songwriter Mary McGinniss in the studio, recording tracks for her next album. Her writing and musicality continue to amaze and it was no wonder this morning I found myself humming her song " I Love B-Town" and indulging my own nostalgia for "South Winooki Avenue" and short years living on Maple Street in Burlington VT. Looking forward to finishing up in February.

Made it to the finish line with percussionist/drummer Scott Davis - as far as recording goes - even though we thought we were only mixing at this point - we were actually still discovering missing parts and throwing up microphones to catch the parts as they flew by! The music, all original compositions and soundscapes created by Scott, has been blowing my mind with it's outside the box thinking and right inside the zone playing - I think it will be just mixing from here on in and finishing up the project so Scott can get it to the mastering lab and then out to his eager fans. I hope he and Mary are celebrating his accomplishment with a nice glass of wine tonight.

The guitar in the beat up brown case that I never paid any mind was brought to my attention by my husband, who heard me muttering to myself that I was hankering to work on some songs on electric instead of my tried and true acoustic(s). This older semi-hollow body Guild cranked up very nicely and I've been living in a springy reverb world, tethered to a wonderful Headway amp on these frozen, winter days. Why not work with a mic on my vocals as well, just to balance it out - well, yesterday that worked great but today a hideous hum had attached itself to my little Toa 4 channel and no alteration of extension cords or plugs or circuits or inverters seemed to send it away. I have no idea how anything could be different between yesterday and today.

The upshot is 3-4 new songs though, and I'm on the prowl for a bass player and drummer. This next phase is going to be noisier and less wordsmith fussy. Just because I can ... and I have a few restless bones to pick with the rarified atmosphere most singer-songwriters are condemned to live in. I would just like to play some bars right now and play loud and have fun. We shall see...

It's been a good week for media exposure with reviews (finally) on Bow Thayer's newest release "Shooting Arrows at the Moon" on my Thunder Ridge Records label:

"Bow Thayer: Central Vermont tunesmith hits his stride"
Tom Huntington, the Barre/Montpelier Times Argus, 1/29/10

"Shooting for perfection: Bow Thayer, one of Vermont's best-kept musical secrets"
Brent Hallenbeck, the Burlington Free Press, 1/27/10

Bow and the Perfect Trainwreck are playing at the Chandler Music Hall Sat Jan 30 and I'm looking forward to hanging out with the boys and playing a couple acoustic cuts from our project, somewhere in the middle of all that rock and roll.

My song "Let's Cherish the Day" is featured on a compilation CD produced by musician Scott Ainslie of Brattleboro VT, to raise funds for The Healthcare is a Human Rights Campaign:

"The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign, a project of the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC), aims to change what is "politically possible" in the healthcare debate through grassroots organizing and a strategic reframing of healthcare as a basic human right and the healthcare crisis as a human rights emergency."

Go to http://www.vermontcareforall.org/ to check it out.


I've seen influx of new technology this month, mostly small things but each large in its capacity to affect my daily habits and work palette - including a new mandolin case; a hand-held recorder for sketching song ideas while in the summer kitchen (no electricity); new reverbs for the studio (Audio Ease); new headphones; a BNC cable and a "cable checker".

I'm enjoying the pleasure of borrowing a baritone guitar from Will Ackerman and seeing it make the rounds of all the guitar players in the house, including Scott Ainslie, who while visiting before Christmas and between batches of shortbread gave it a good shake down; and Michael my husband who, though he actually was the one who built it years ago, did not realize it could provide such an inspiration with it's totally unique voice and colors.

The newest Pepperbox Studio/Thunder Ridge Records release, Bow Thayer's "Shooting Arrows at the Moon" received a great review in the Seven Days, Burlington VT's arts and news weekly:

Bow Thayer "Shooting Arrows at the Moon"
Robert Resnik, Seven Days, 12/22/09

I'm getting ready for my winter retreat into songwriting, a much awaited period of my creative year.