Crystin Byrd: News

Exciting news! We've got our mastering date scheduled for late February, with the honorable Jeff Stuart Saltzman presiding! CD art is being done as we type! And we've got a wee little addition to the CD which will remain a surprise.





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Crystin Byrd on the Radio!

Sunday, December 26, 2004
Crystin Byrd Live on KPSU 98.3fm
5 to 6pm
on "Hello Cruel World" with Host John B. Jones
Crystin Byrd & Todd Bayles will perform live and be interviewed
in the studio on air and will also spin a cut from the upcoming debut CD!




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Todd, Larry and I have been holed up at Jackpot studio for the last two days MIXING our hearts out!! I'm exhausted! Each day, ten hours of intense listening, minute knob nudging, tweaking, and perfecting. Listening to these songs I feel waves of gratitude for all the people that have made the music exist and sound so amazing. Musicians that gave of their enthusiasm, talent, time, and heart. This album may bare my name on the cover, but it is much much bigger then just me. I stand here rather stunned, actually. Yes, it takes money...studio time, tape, all that...but I was helped even with that, by people who have wanted to see this vision realized, who have supported me, encouraged me, come to the shows, sung along to the demos in their car.

Mastering hopefully in early January, and the CD graphic design as well, and then follows the duplication. And then maybe, just maybe, one or two of you out there will want to listen too. That's what the dups are for. We'll have a few copies just in case.




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We'll be playing this whole weekend, so you've got your pick of cool venues to hear our new cello player, Scott Allen join Todd & Crystin. We've got the cozy Touchstone Coffeehouse Show, a new last minute show at the Portland Saturday Market, and two appearances at Hip Chicks Do Wine wine-tasting weekend event. We're thrilled to have Scott with us! We think you'll agree.



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Lately we've been meeting with some potential new bandmates who play things such as cello, keyboards, percussion, and maybe even viola. No electronic kazoo players yet! One exciting aspect of the new instrumentation is that I can pull out some of the songs that have been dying for strings, ones that Todd wrote cello arrangements for, and such as that! We'll let you know just as soon as you can hear the new line-up. I'm so excited and can't wait to hear it myself!

Restoring the tracks lost in the computer crash is coming along, tho' the flu came along as well this month. But it sounds AMAZING and GORGEOUS and I can't wait to let it take wing into the world. We'll let you know about that too!

Hope you are keeping warm in heart and home,
love,
Crystin





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Hey Byrders,
The band has had quite a few shake-ups recently - first, replacing our bass player
(we found the excellent Ralph Porter).

Then, with the album basically done and the rough mixes bringing tears of joy to my
eyes, we had a computer crash at the home studio, causing us to lose a lot of tracks
on about 7 of the 12 songs. Fortunately, the stuff we recorded at Jackpot was not
among the lost; safe also are the vocal tracks, drums, bass, violins...not so
fortunate were 7 songs worth of guitars, keyboards, various sounds....

To quote Todd, "We'll do it better and faster," and to that end we've set a heady
goal of completing one song per week until it once again resembles the glory that
brought tears to my eyes.

But wait, there's more news. Our drummer, Adam Mack, has decided to move on, and I,
recalling the crazy and time-intensive Drummer Search of 2002 that finally (50+
interviews later) resulted in finding Adam, have decided that all my attention
should turn to recording so that "My Silence" can finally break her silence. To
that end, I've dissolved what remains of the Crystin Byrd Band for now. Doesn't
mean I won't be out and about at all, but it does mean that this Saturday will be
the very last show for this form of the Crystin Byrd Band.

Once the album is done, I look forward to reforming a new band, but the exact shape
and form, instrumentation, and what-all, remains to be seen. All I know is I'd like
to change it up a bit! (Cello? Upright Bass? Electronic Kazoo?) For now, I can
take some much-needed, nice deep breaths, look back over the exciting and eventful
year and a half since the inception of this band, lift my head and...clean my house.

SATURDAY, Sept 18th - SATURDAY MARKET MAIN STAGE
http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com 2pm to 4pm
free outdoor all ages show!!
The Last Show for the Full Band!

Also, you should check out Camille Bloom from Seattle (http://www.camillebloom.com)
who plays before us from 11:30am to 1:30pm. She's fantastic.

Thank you, everyone, for your love and support, your kind words, your encouragement,
your chocolate chip cookies (Joel!). As soon as the CD is done, don't think you
won't be hearing from me!!

Love,
Crystin





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The Crystin Byrd Band has been auditioning bass players for a few weeks now. We are seriously impressed by the quality of talent out there. You will have to come out to our show at the Trask Brewery in McMinnville, where the full band will be opening for The Dimes, to help us welcome to the Byrd family a brand new bass player, soon to be decided upon and announced! Thank you Stork!



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Just a little update on the CD: About half of the 12 songs have been mixed fabulously so far, care of Todd Ayers at Immersive Studios in Boulder, Colorado. The remaining 7 have just a few more minor tweaks ("cut that guitar solo back to 20 minutes") before being handed over to Todd Ayers for more of his magic touch. Then off to mastering. We are confirming that in the next few days. Then comes pressuring Aram Irwin for the final CD artwork and design. We would like to have the CD duplicated here in town to support locals, and are looking into those details. We are also beginning to pull together a little tornado of creative people for the CD Release Event for a night of music including not just us, but some of the other incredibly talented PDXers who have supported us, befriended us, and continue to inspire us. It promises to be a night of art in many forms! So stay tuned for details!



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For the first time ever, someone who has been eager for our cd release, actually said to me, "I don't think the album will ever come out." We-he-hell...I guess they don't know that yesterday we had our final session at Jackpot! with Larry, recording the drum and bass tracks for the title track. We are so close now that I can almost taste it!! And, well, it tastes kinda plasticy, like, I guess, a real cd should. Yumm-ay!



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This week I met with Todd Ayers, out from Boulder, CO, who will be mixing "My Silence." Todd Ayers has, among other things, engineered for the likes of John Vecchiarelli, Marie Beer, Diane French.


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Larry Crane said nice things about us. We like Larry Crane. Even if he didn't say nice things about us. But, in this case, he did. Say nice things about us.

Larry's Day, 3/31/04:
"Woke up early because the neighbors are re-roofing their house.
Ate breakfast.
Answered email.
Walked to work.
Recorded vocal fixes and ods on Crystin Byrd Band project. Cool songs with solid musicians and great arrangements. We've been tracking bits since August. I'm almost done and the band will continue ods in PT at home then some guy in Boulder will be mixing. I've enjoyed working with these folks.
Walked home.
Answered email.
Ate dinner.
Answered email.
Edited Carol Kaye article for next issue!
Checked out TO Messageboard..."


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Update on the CD! Well, clearly, February has come and gone...I see the spring's blossoms sailing through the air, falling onto the ever-greening grass...and I see the completion of "My Silence" drawing ever-nearer. The vocals are nearly finished, and I'm pleased to announce that PDX singer/songwriter Marie Schumacher has agreed to sing harmony vocals on "My Silence." Not only that, but Mary Vander Linden, has added her violin to "Sing To Me," a song which I realized had to be on the first album.


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I walked into the Mississippi Pizza Pub to attend their exceedingly helpful panel discussion for Indie Artists, hosted by John Vecchiarelli, (to be held on the last Sundays of the month for the foreseeable future), and Jeff Rosenberg (of KBOO, Willamette Week) congratulated me for my name appearing in the Sunday Oregonian. I said "really?" and went to get me a copy. The article beginning on page one of the Arts section looks into what Portland's restless bands have been doing this winter. This restless band has been holing up at Jackpot Studios with recording engineer extraordinaire Larry Crane.


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The Longbaugh Film Festival comes to The Hollywood Theater April 2, 3, and 4th! Check times here! Crystin Byrd's music can be heard in 2 different films in this year's Longbaugh Film Festival. "Biography of An American Hostess," a short by Shilpa Sunthankar, features the title track to Crystin Byrd's upcoming album, "My Silence," while "Making Maya," a full length feature film by Rolla Selbak, features "I Love..." a song written by the filmmaker and performed by Crystin Byrd and lead guitarist/arranger Todd Bayles.


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Thank goodness for all the help and advice from others in this music biz! I seriously could not do this without some of the people who have been so generous with their own time and energy, advice and experience. The biz part of doing what I love in the world can be so tough at times. I guess thats the way with us creative types...the art is our living, breathing passion...the biz is our petty little hell. OK, but, like I said, with a little help from our friends...it suddenly doesn't seem so horrible. This little ramble brought to you by someone up way too late at night as usual.


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