Biography
Rio en Medio (Spanish for river in between), is a pseudonym of folk singer / baritone ukulelist Danielle Stech-Homsy (born in New Mexico, USA). She debuted in 2004 with the album A Bride's Guide To Waiting Music (2004, self-release).
As Rio en Medio, she has released The Bride of Dynamite (2007), Frontier (Feb 2009, Manimal Vinyl), Peace Sequence (2012), and Rio en Medio Radio (2015). Stech-Homsy's recording / live performance is often in collaboration with Justin Riddle (drums, percussion), Christian Lee (guitar, banjo) and Nicholas Toll (keyboards, percussion).
Read full biography ↓
After moving to Brooklyn (NY), from her high desert New Mexico birthplace, Stech-Homsy began to record and perform her own compositions. Working independently and in secret, she created The Bride Of Dynamite (Feb 2007, Gnomonsong), a collection of collage-like songs incorporating found sounds / electronic-programming, lifting texts from disparate sources - evoking traditional / folk song structure, themes and melodies. A friend passed a hand-made copy of the record to Devendra Banhart, who requested releasing it on his label.
Following The Bride Of Dynamite's release, Stech-Homsy has since performed on stages across the US, Europe and the UK. As well as Banhart, she has worked with many well-regarded artists, including: Grizzly Bear, CocoRosie, Brightblack Morning Light, Vetiver, Patrick Wolf, Vashti Bunyan and Tim Fite. In April 2007, she did Take-Away Show, an acoustic video session, shot by Vincent Moon.
Rio en Medio's music can be described as delicate and fragmented songs, featuring a sparse/haunting trio of baritone ukulele, subtly harmonized vocals and electronic/sampled soundscapes - evoking the spun poetry of ancient folk lullabies and a hint of contemporary culture's darker side.
Stech-Homsy cites influences, including, traditional styles tropicalia and folk (Russian, Spanish, US and English), plus a diversity musicians (e.g. Bob Dylan and Beth Gibbons).
As well as Riddle, Lee and Toll - on stage, Rio en Medio has been represented by a range of other musical and visual guests/collaborators, including: Justin Hartery (video), Cohdi Harrell (aerialist) and the sound/visual artist Vlad Kromatika.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.