Reviews: In the Earth's Fading Light

Kristina Stykos, Susannah Blachly, Patti Casey

Fortunately Kristina has started and finished this first of what we can only hope will be many more. She is another of those grand Vermont musicians with the experience and wisdom to seek peace-of heart, mind, spirit and the world-far in excess of any sugar-plum dreams of fame and fortune on stage, radio or recording. We’re fortunate to have her among us.” - Mark Sustic, concert promoter
Stykos' 'In the Earth's Fading Light' could be the best album this year. If Kristina Stykos' new album "In the Earth's Fading Light" was on vinyl I'd have already worn it out. Luckily, it's a compact disk and should be good for a long time to come. Ever since I received a copy over a month ago it has been spinning in my car's CD player. "Fading Light" is perhaps the best new album I have heard this year by anyone, and I'm a heavy consumer of music. ” - Art Edelstein, Times Argus

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Central Vermont genius songwriter, musician, and concert promoter Kristina Stykos doesn't crank out recordings easily. The years of painstaking work that have gone into her new CD release, entitled "In the Earth's Fading Light" has resulted in a big payoff, though: Stykos has created 16 tracks of original music (well over an hour) which are as textural and color-rich as any of Joni Mitchell’s finest work. ” - Robert Resnik, Seven Days

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If you were not briefed beforehand about the homegrown album, however, you would have no way to discern that it was not produced professionally in a large, grey slab-like urban studio. Though the masterful playing and strong lyrics are the most important and enjoyable features, the crisp, clear and alive-sounding tracks complete the image of a skilled Stykos locked away in a studio. It somehow brings a sense of relief, however, when you can imagine her surrounded with an odd array of technology and country life. ” - Richard Radford, Vermont Standard
The 16 acoustic songs on the CD rise like smoky mist from the dark, cold landscape being warmed by rays of sunlight’ sometimes with the old-world feel of an Irish jig or a French Canadian fiddle tune, other times with a singer-songwriter’s poetry of the heart. ” - Eric Reagan, Vermont Folkus
What finally makes "In the Earth's Fading Light" such an award winning CD is the fact that Stykos created it without another person in the producer's seat. Her conceptualization for her music was so right on she didn't need another's ear to tell her what to do. She recorded the many parts at home on studio equipment inviting friends, including banjo whiz Bela Fleck and others, to lend their talents, which enhanced the material. Stykos' vision of her music is totally accurate and I cannot imagine hearing it in any other way.” - Art Edelstein, Times Argus