Rio en Medio came into being when front-woman Danielle Stech-Homsy picked up her childhood baritone ukulele and recorded 8 songs in her bedroom in Harlem. These simple, 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, with contributions from friends Sierra Casady (Cocorosie) and Andy Cabic (Vetiver), among others.
Rio en Medio’s follow-up release, Frontier, hailed as “captivating” by Pitchfork, 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 Northern New Mexico, where Danielle was born and now lives, 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.
About her inspiration Danielle says, “I have always been drawn to conceptually-charged music that is felt first and maybe never fully ‘understood’. I tend to search for music that listens and responds to paradoxical elements like order and chaos. I am always working to serve the mystery.”
Since 2005, Rio en Medio has toured worldwide, opening for and often joining in with many notable bands – Grizzly Bear, Cocorosie, Brightblack Morning Light, Patrick Wolf and Devendra Banhart, to name a few. On stage Danielle is often joined by a friend or two on a menagerie of instruments, pedals and samplers… or sometimes she will appear on her own. Either way, she is adept at creating a magical world for the listener to step into.
RIO EN MEDIO
All dates with Brightblack Morning Light
May 24 Solar Culture Tucson, Arizona
May 26 Casbah San Diego, California
May 29 Eagle Rock Center for the Arts Los Angeles, California
Rio en Medio
Frontier
(Manimal Vinyl)
Street date: July 14, 2009
01 Heartless
02 Ferris
03 The Umbrella
04 The Diamond Wall
05 Venus of Willendorf
06 Standing Horses
07 The Last Child’s Tear
08 Frontier
09 Fall Up
10 Stars Are
11 Nameless
RIO EN MEDIO LINKS:
MySpace – www.myspace.com/daniellestechhomsy
Label Page – www.manimalvinyl.com