Music
Press
"I first heard about Crystin Byrd through a recommendation from a friend of mine. I was in search of a band to cover the theme song for the indie film "Making Maya (2003)", and wasn't having much luck. Demo CDs were being sent in week by week by different local artists, but none really grabbed my attention. I was looking for that one voice...one that was beautiful, unique and most of all, real...and I found it in Crystin Byrd.
Crystin Byrd is raw talent. One of best singers currently working the Portland music scene. If you are looking for a singer with dynamic stage presence who can capture an audience's imagination, look no further. Her unique sound echoes that of Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos by merging the best of both singers....Her voice is the one I picked from countless submissions. She moved me. The finished product speaks for itself. This moving love song created a one of a kind experience. Thank you Crystin for adding your voice to my project".
~Rolla Selbak, filmmaker
- Rolla Selbak, writer, producer, director of "Making Maya"
Discography
2005: debut 12-song album -- "My Silence"
2002: 6 song demo -- "Exhibit B: The Demo Sessions"
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Award-winning singer/songwriter Crystin Byrd has just released her debut CD, "My Silence," recorded and mixed with the reknown Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, The Decemberists). The ablum includes 12 songs chosen from Crystin Byrd's prolific writings from a time period in her life when she was facing and healing from the sexual abuse she experienced as a child. "The CD holds together well as a concept album about breaking the silence and using the voice to discover personal freedom," says Marie Schumacher, a fellow Portland-based singer/songwriter who harmonizes with Crystin in the title track. The songs reveal the vulnerable, yet powerful, the sorrowful, and the joyful, while showcasing the full band's exceptional talents. Crystin Byrd's emotional intensity shimmers in her voice, and through her songs, a quality that has repeatedly brought her the attention of a variety of indie filmmakers, including Rolla Selbak, Chris Roy, and Shilpa Sunthankar, for use as the essential backdrop in pivotal, life-changing moments onscreen.
In just one year, two of the songs featured on the album have received honorable mention in the highly-regarded international John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Her melodic pop-rock music with its unusually intelligent and poetic lyrics is sung with a voice that is emotive and pure, sometimes compared to that of Natalie Merchant or Aimee Mann, but completely her own, and is here lushly produced with a great sensitivity to the message and meanings in this bold debut.
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