The Cousins Project (Kristina Stykos & Steve Mayone) – Child Of The Hills
As veterans of the acoustic music scene, they bring their combined songwriting chops to the table on this recording, with both a ferocity and tenderness, that is strangely compelling
The Cousins Project (Kristina Stykos & Steve Mayone) – Child Of The Hills
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital
Label: Thunder Ridge Records
Release: 2026
Release date: June 19, 2026
Roots and Americana songwriters Kristina Stykos & Steve Mayone, known as The Cousins Project, are deep in the woods, as their newest album will tell you – and it ain’t always pretty.
As veterans of the acoustic music scene, they bring their combined songwriting chops to the table on this recording, with both a ferocity and tenderness, that is strangely compelling. Much of their co-written material here speaks of a dangerous, natural world: one populated by long-haul truck drivers trying to make it home in the snow, as well as with children seeking solace and stories, beneath ancient pines.
The album has a twang, and a rock sensibility, as well a big soft side. Featuring long-time musical cohort Jeff Berlin [Catlin Canty, Jeffrey Foucault, Reed Foehl] on drums, and guest artists including Seamus Egan [Solas] on low whistle, the music covers many miles of dramatic landscape, echoing both the bucolic splendor of Stykos’s home turf of Vermont, and the sharp wit & wisdom of Mayone’s native Brooklyn NY.
Touching on themes of joy and struggle, comfort and disconnection, this album will keep you guessing. As always, look for some great instrumental power from both sides of the family.
The Backstory
In 2006 Steve was playing a gig in Vermont, with a band called The Perfect Trainwreck, and Kristina showed up. The two had never met. When Steve was introduced from the stage, Kristina’s ears perked up – oddly, his last name [Mayone] was her middle name!
As they soon figured out, they were 2nd cousins, from opposite sides of a family split. When their great-grandfather’s Mayone Brick Company in Saugerties, NY went bankrupt in the late 1940s, the family scattered and became estranged – Steve’s branch moving downstate outside of NYC, Kristina’s branch moving west to Ithaca, NY.
The cousins soon realized their familial and musical connection. They began meeting in Kristina’s mountaintop studio in Vermont to work together. The result was Beautiful Blood, released in 2013, which Maverick Country UK praised as “an album of quiet beauty and marvelous moments.”
Their next album project, Child of the Hills, began almost immediately. Steve made the journey from Brooklyn to Vermont as often as he could, and working with drummer Jeff Berlin, and with Kristina again at the console, the three slowly crafted this 13 song album. Factoring in many obstacles along the way, and a pandemic, it took 12 years to complete.
Website: https://kristinastykos.com/
Tracks:
01. Green Mountain Moonrise (2:28)
02. This World is Broken (3:27)
03. Your Bitter Love (3:19)
04. Traveler (3:12)
05. And the Love Came Pouring Out (4:04)
06. What’d You Come Here For (3:08)
07. Shows to Go Ya (3:00)
08. Woods Road (3:54)
09. Give it Time (5:09)
10. Wandering (3:51)
11. This Green Valley (3:29)
12. Child of the Hills (3:39)
13. The Story Tree (3:20)
All songs written by
Kristina Stykos and/or Steve Mayone