Roots Finding
Singer-songwriter Krista Detor found inspiration and international success in a place she never expected. By Jessica Smith
Family and friends are gathered around the dining room table by candlelight, finishing off bowls of mushroom risotto — scraping the dishes with pieces of bread between sips of red wine. Krista is in the kitchen with her husband, David, and his brother Robert, plating the next course. Tonight is her daughter Aurora’s last dinner with them for a year. She’s graduated from Indiana University and is leaving for a year in China where she’ll teach English. Krista stops serving and moves behind Aurora’s chair, wrapping her arms around her
chest. She starts to sing with a rich and melodic timbre as the roomful of chatting guests and clattering dishes falls silent. “And I … will always love you…” Krista moves around the table from Aurora to her step-daughter Lena, placing her hands on her shoulders. The daughters exchange glances and chuckle at the familiar Whitney Houston chorus, but tears well up in their eyes. No one makes a sound until she finishes, and even then, they let her voice linger in the silence a little while longer.
Krista Detor takes a break to care for the plants in her home on the outskirts of Bloomington. She estimates she spends around 12 hours a day working on her music business. / Photo by Anna Makris
45 SUMMER/ FALL 2018
