Rio en Medio came into being when songwriter Danielle Stech-Homsy picked up her childhood baritone ukulele and recorded 8 songs in her bedroom in Harlem. These haunting songs, inspired by experimental music and traditional folk alike, and loosely interwoven with natural found sounds and fragmented electronic beats and samples, eventually fell into the hands of Devendra Banhart. This delicately hewn album became known as The Bride of Dynamite and was released in 2006 on his Gnomonsong label. Rio en Medio's follow-up album, Frontier (Manimal Vinyl), further plays on the tension between electronic and organic sound, balancing delicate vocal harmonies on oscillating synth riffs and driving dance beats offset with gamelan-like percussion. Recorded in New Mexico the album is imbued with desert and astral references, evoking the original wonder and possibility of the West or the awe of early space travel. Since 2005, Rio en Medio has toured worldwide with many notable bands —Grizzly Bear, Cocorosie, Brightblack Morning Light, Patrick Wolf and Devendra Banhart, to name a few.
Now, with the album release imminent, Danielle is already getting busy on her next projects. There are whispers of a collection of dance tracks in the works. She has alluded to a collaborative album with Tim Fite. As she gains momentum, Danielle is sure to surprise both herself and her audience, inspiring renewed faith in the power of a song to transform the reality of its listener. Danielle’s songwriting reflects a vast scope of influence from techno to traditional folk to early and contemporary classical, drawing on literature as well as music, from ancient to avant, and incorporating elements of chance. Her crystalline vocals, delicately strummed baritone ukulele and found sonic elements evoke the strange delight of a dream where the dreamer’s authority is always in question. At its best, the gentle, the fearful, the sorrowful, the formidable, the entranced and the rambunctious collide to create a sound that is as responsive as it is moving. In her own words, it is music that wants to listen as much as be heard.
European dates supporting Brightblack Morning Light.
27 Nov – Parkteateret , Oslo
28 Nov – Fritz’s Corner, Stockholm
29 Nov – Laedes Kalder, Copenhagen
30 Nov – NB! Club, Berlin
1 Dec – K4, Nurnburg
2 Dec – Botanique, Brussels
7 Dec – Luminaire, London
8 Dec – Vooruit Theatre, Gent
9 Dec – Rowtown, Rotterdam
10 Dec – Effenaar, Eindhoven
11 Dec – Paradiso, Amsterdam
12 Dec – 1 Stock, Basel
13 Dec – El Lokal, Zurich
14 Dec – Officina 49, Cesena
15 Dec – La Casa, Milan
16 Dec – Sudpol, Luzem
Rio en Medio on MySpace Music
Now, with the album release imminent, Danielle is already getting busy on her next projects. There are whispers of a collection of dance tracks in the works. She has alluded to a collaborative album with Tim Fite. As she gains momentum, Danielle is sure to surprise both herself and her audience, inspiring renewed faith in the power of a song to transform the reality of its listener. Danielle’s songwriting reflects a vast scope of influence from techno to traditional folk to early and contemporary classical, drawing on literature as well as music, from ancient to avant, and incorporating elements of chance. Her crystalline vocals, delicately strummed baritone ukulele and found sonic elements evoke the strange delight of a dream where the dreamer’s authority is always in question. At its best, the gentle, the fearful, the sorrowful, the formidable, the entranced and the rambunctious collide to create a sound that is as responsive as it is moving. In her own words, it is music that wants to listen as much as be heard.
European dates supporting Brightblack Morning Light.
27 Nov – Parkteateret , Oslo
28 Nov – Fritz’s Corner, Stockholm
29 Nov – Laedes Kalder, Copenhagen
30 Nov – NB! Club, Berlin
1 Dec – K4, Nurnburg
2 Dec – Botanique, Brussels
7 Dec – Luminaire, London
8 Dec – Vooruit Theatre, Gent
9 Dec – Rowtown, Rotterdam
10 Dec – Effenaar, Eindhoven
11 Dec – Paradiso, Amsterdam
12 Dec – 1 Stock, Basel
13 Dec – El Lokal, Zurich
14 Dec – Officina 49, Cesena
15 Dec – La Casa, Milan
16 Dec – Sudpol, Luzem
Rio en Medio on MySpace Music
