My first engineer and producer - Kristina Stykos

CD cover photo by John Churchman

What feels like a million years ago, but was in fact 2005, I had this crazy idea to record a CD of stories. I had no idea how to do it and wanted to do it right. I asked a few friends, some of whom said: 'do it yourself, you can do that', but I wanted to set the bar high and have no regrets about what I put out as my first foray into the retail world of CDs – while it lasts!

A friend of mine, Rick Barrows told me about Kristina Stykos who going digital and was a recording engineer. I got in contact with her and the rest, as they say, is history. My first CD is still one of my favourites. Kristina did a brilliant job. Recently Kristina released her own fifth, to my knowledge, CD called Horse Thief. I had Ms. Stykos' first CD, In the Earth's Fading Light (2005) and could not quite get into it. I saw and heard a great songwriter and performer, but for me, there was something missing that I could not put my finger on. Whatever it was, is here in bucketfuls on Horse Thief.

Kristina's songwriting skills, both musically and lyrically are top notch. Her word choices are flawless. The sadness in some of the songs (some heart wrenching) is deep, her lyrics are powerful, have meaning and grit behind them. There is humour too. And bounce! I listen to so much music and these days it is hard to find a great beat and tune, catchy as all heck and good lyrics. It seems that either the words are, quite bluntly, shite and the music is good, or the other way around, or it's all crap. But not here. Oh, no, not here. I grew up listening to master song writers from Paul Simon to Elvis Costello, and Stykos hits the mark on Horse Thief, totally!

The album opens with the crackingly good title track resplendent with slide guitar, passionate fiddle and thumping bass and drums, and of course Kristina's voice. I have to say something about her voice. It is all hers. Some voices out there in the ether sound the same as many others, and but a few stand out. As you wind through the songs on Horse Thief you will hear slight traces of Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith and a hint of Marianne Faithful, but it is all Ms. Stykos. Her voice is like a V12 engine, just idling, or cruising along some boardwalk with the wind blowing in your hair. I have not seen Kristina playing live, but will try to, as I want to hear her belt out some song and see what that V12 voice can do!

Photos of Kristina Stykos by Jack Rowell

The second track keeps up the high standard of work (which flows with ease through the whole album) and the music here is complimented with keyboards which I wish there was a little more of. But that's just me – I love the sound Kristina uses on the song and in You'll Never Love Me. The third song, Me, Myself, Moi could have seemed a little out of place, but it is perfectly at home on Horse Thief. For some reason, with no reason, this is one of my favourite tracks. The lyrics are very clever in an unpretentious way. Although a tradition approach to a sort of patter song in it's feel, it is a very topical song with references to our modern digital world:
"I need a 12 step, two step /Quarter sawn fix /Or a savvy zen seduction /I need clickable buttons /And a 1-5 list of simple tips /And how-to instructions." Love it! These are very different lyrics to It's Over where Kristina sings:
"...I threw down my stars /and shouted at the night" - powerful stuff. As If Tears Could Say is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard.

The album jogs along taking you through country, city, and rural Vermont life. This is a great album. Unpretentious, clever, witty, intelligent. Kristina has great insight. The music, played by Stykos (acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, mandola, mandolin and keyboards as well as vocals) is backed up by some great musicians: Bow Thayer, Patrick Ross (the brilliant fiddle in Horse Thief), Alex Abraham, Neal Massa, Steve Mayone, backing vocals on a couple of tracks by Nikki Matheson, and drummers Matt Musty and Jeff Berlin.

The packaging is a treat. I loved album covers when we all used to buy vinyl and some LPs I only bought because of the covers. This might have been one of those albums. The photography throughout the tri-gate digipack and booklet (yes, there is a booklet inside with all the lyrics and players so you can read along!) is stunning and, I think, captures all of Kristina.

I would love to hear an album of Stykos' with more work like the title track. Story songs of floods, old timers, bank robberies, or maple syrup thieves maybe! This album is about love, betrayal and loss, and redemption and done in such a way it is uplifting. I did not want the album to end and when there were some longer pauses after some of the tracks I hoped for more and got it. The 13 titles ends with an instrumental called Remembering and is the perfect ending on a perfect album, like a sigh in the night.

Package designed by Darryl Garland/red-garland.com

Kristina Stykos is a musician and recording engineer/producer. Her websites are:-
For her music: http://www.kristinastykos.com/
and her studio, Pepperbox Studios, which is totally off the grid: http://pepperboxstudio.com/
And you can buy her music at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/KristinaStykos

Review - Elisa Pearmain’s “Forgiveness”

Elisa Pearmain’s “Forgiveness” – Collection of folk tales, workshop, or counseling?

Cover of CD

We all need forgiveness, or to forgive, even ourselves. ElisaPearmain’s double CD set “Forgiveness” is a must-have on many different levels. First there are the stories themselves. But this is not simply a collection of good folk tales, well told.  This is a collection of stories and knowledge which has been put together, very thoughtfully, as a program which uses stories to teach and to heal.

There is the glimpse at Pearmain’s skills, and gifts, as a counselor.  She brings to the front of the CD the forgiveness which is inherent in the stories Elisa has chosen and shares with us on the 2 CDs.  She teaches, through these stories, how we can learn to forgive (ourselves and others), exploring what we need to do first to be able to forgive and/or receive forgiveness.  Pearmain allows us to look at ourselves in a new light through these tales, and from that spring board, how we can grow.  The way the stories and narrative between the tales is presented, is not preachy or cloying.  Pearmain’s voice is guiding, gentle and strong.

“Forgiveness” also gives us the treat to discover, if we have not already done so, Elisa the storyteller, and what a strong storyteller she is.  Her delivery is natural, pacing immaculate, and her voice and style makes it wonderful to listen to.  She invokes sadness and joy in her telling, and each tale is given a power that few can deliver as well as Pearmain; more so, in the context of which she shares the stories.

The 15 tales (and the 8 sections they share) themselves come from many different cultures, traditions and countries. Two are personal stories: one of Pearmain’s own, and one from another primary source, and shared with permission.  These stories add to the power of the program, proving that one is ‘not alone’ in suffering or grief. There are also teachings, ritual, and meditation included to help understand, travel through, and learn.  The eight sections take us from ‘Getting Started’, and ‘Empathy’ through to ‘Letting Go of Anger’ concluding with ‘The Forgiving Stance’. Each section contains at least one story with a reflection or exercise to aid the listener “and those they serve to heal…[to] live more joyfully in the present”.

One could buy the 2 CD set for the tales alone: they are worth ever penny.  One could also buy the CDs for therapy work, or as a gift for those close to us who may be in need of such a program.  15 stories, plus the teachings included on the 2 CD program are very much worth the $22.50.  For more details on the stories, where the stories come from (there are very good sources here), and details on how to purchase Elsia Pearmain’s recorded “Forgiveness” program, please visit: http://www.wisdomtales.com/forgiveness.html

If Elisa Pearmain ever offered a workshop which is based around this program, or brought out a book, to explore and expand this program, I for one would be on board.

Artwork by Simon Brooks, copyright 2013

Audio Book - 1

How would YOU pronounce the name Gythal?  And what does a giant sound like when talking?  Think about that for a while.

I have finished recording the book "Hapenny Magick" by Jennifer Carson.  It has been a fun process and I have learned a lot throughout.  It is an almost 200 page chapter book and my daughter loved listening to it.  I read it through once to get a feel for the writing style with her and then read it again so I was familiar with the writing and story before recording.

Because I knew at nearly 200 pages it would not be done in one take, I set up my studio space and marked where everything was.  This was a precaution against my kids coming in and borrowing or moving things around (or myself for that matter).  To make sure I had the same sound, everything would have to be in the same place.  So duct tape was stuck everywhere to mark where I stood when reading and where the microphone stand was placed, and the height of the microphone and sound baffles.

Each day I recorded, I warmed my voice up*.  I found that 'jumping into the studio first thing in the morning' was not the thing to do!  Some days the kids were around, but I got most of it done before the summer vacation began. I recorded the stories for my third CD in this same studio and it sounded great (getting a Gold award from Parent's Choice and an honors from Storytelling World).  I now I have better sound proofing so I know this will sound at least as good, even better.  However, my mic still picks up the sound of mowers, large trucks, kids playing, and cars passing by.  The passing cars can be painful as there is a 25 m.p.h. speed limit and those gracious enough to oblige take a LONG time to get out of sound range.  In the middle of a take, that can be annoying!  When the kids are in the street playing it is easier, as it is simply time to quit until playtime is over!  So in some respects, for me, recording this book is like a live performance: being aware, whilst reading and recording, of the environment around me.  And with all of what can happen, it is like performing for squirmy kids some days!

I have a microphone which I could plug directly into my computer, but I have found that there is noise on the mic (it is not an expensive one).  So, I have used the digital voice recorder I have (the high quality one which was used for "A Tangle of Tales"), and then move the tracks (one for each chapter) to the computer where I use my DAW (digital audio workstation) to edit out the 'bad bits'.  Bad bits can be the cars passing, or some folks walking by with their dog talking to one another, or a 'plane flying overhead.  But it is as often me mucking it up.  Sometimes I stumble over a word, or a pronunciation.  When I first read the book and did a preliminary recording for the author, I miss pronounced the title characters - Hapenny's - and I kept doing that every once in a while throughout the book.  Instead of saying hah-penny (like happy) I would say hay-punny like the old British coinage!  Sometimes my English syntax would have problems with the American syntax the book was written in, but after a couple of tries I got it flowing.  Also, when I have read a certain line, especially in dialogue, I might try doing it two or three times in different ways.  Sometimes I would just flub!  Sometimes it would annoy me and a stream of expletives would fly (I record on my own!), and sometimes I would be silly with it and laugh at my own expense.

To give an idea of time of recording time down to the time of a finished piece, chapter 18 (15 sides of paperback book) began as 23 minutes of recording, and was edited down to 19 minutes.  But the editing down to that 19 minutes took a long time.  I actually re-recorded most of chapter 18 twice.  Why?  Because I had so much editing to do what with cars, and flubs that it should have been quicker to do a better take and edit less.  When you edit, you listen to what you have recorded, mark the bits that need chopping out, chop them out, move the piece together and listen to it again; maybe make some other adjustments such as making the gap of 'silence' bigger or smaller, or using fades etc. and then double check that it flows and sounds natural.  Sometimes it does not, so you need to undo it all and do it over again!  This hopefully does not happen too often and takes patience.  I have inadvertently learned a lot more about my DAW than I knew before! So it is all good. The third time I had to re-record was because my voice was a lot rougher the second time I recorded than the first time, and it did not fit in with what I was keeping.  So I recorded those parts a third time and it worked a charm.  Sometimes (not always) it is quicker to re-record than edit a lot out.

When I began recording this book initially, I was still looking for the right voices of the characters.  And in one instance the author did not like one of the voices. One of the characters voices was not how the author had envisioned it, so we got on the phone and talked it through.  It was the giant.  I was so glad we did because it sounds a many, many times better now.  I was able to drop the voice in with some careful editing; fortunately, most of the time, dropping a voice in is easier than making some of the other corrections.  However that does not apply when the dialogue is fast between two or three characters.  Funnily enough the giant was not a fast talker!

One thing I found as I re-did certain parts and edited them, was how much fun the book was.  I liked it when I gave it the initial read-through (with/to my daughter).  The second time I read it, I was working out how I would read it and was figuring out voices and flow.  But in listening to it, listening to the words I had read, I found the book was really good.  I discovered that I had read it the first time thinking only of it as a job.  But as the work progressed I found this book was/is a little gem.  And I have become attached to it.  I have also spent 57 hours with the story so far!

All the chapters, the intro-credits and the outro-credits are now with Jennifer Carson who is listening to it all. I have been providing the chapters as I finished editing them, in case I had missed something, or mispronounced a name.  Once I hear back from her, I will be off to see my friend and colleague Stevens Blanchard who produced my last two CDs.  He and I will then polish what I have done to a brilliant shine and add a bit of flute. Once that is done, I will be handing over the finished work to Jennifer who will have the work made into a 4 CD audio book with a running time of about 3 1/2 hours.

Oh, and Gythal is pronounced Gith aal.  Who knew? (The author!)
And yes, my warm-ups can sound like those Bill does!! A shout needs to go to Bill Ratner for giving me the encouragement to go this route!  Thanks Bill.

The New CD is here - Please Welcome: More Second-hand Tales

My path on the road of storytelling is filled with people who have helped me do what I do and have supported me in many different ways: Duncan McDougall, director of CLiF; Grace Greene and Ann Hoey, ‘in charge’ of the children’s literature and activities of Vermont and New Hampshire State Libraries were a great help at the beginning of my career path. Bonna Wieler, Steve Glazer, Mo Wilson, Betsy Eaton and Peter Blodgett, who were incredibly supportive at the beginning and continue to be a huge support. And then there are other people like Rob Brookes, Rick Barrows, Kristine Stykos, Greg Gundlach, Dean and Sally Whitlock, Ben Power, my LANES colleagues, and my Storytel listserv buddies. And then there are the librarians, the teachers, the parents, the children who book me to perform and come to see me do my thing. And my family - Sarah, Aidan and Perry. Without all these folks I would not be where I am today. With the help of all these people and more I now have a new CD: "More Second-hand Tales".