W O M E N W H O R O C K D E T R O I T:
CAROLYN STRIHO, RIO SCAFONE, KERRI LYNNE ROCHE AND MAGGIE COCCO By Julia Sikora
December is a time for many things –
snow, holidays, family. And now, it’s also a time for “Women Who Rock.”
Featuring Carolyn Striho, Rio and the Rockabilly Revival, Keri Lynne Roche, and Maggie Cocco, the “Women Who Rock” showcase concert will take place Saturday, December 13th at The Loving Touch in Ferndale. Each woman in this fearsome foursome comes to the table with immense talent and her own unique brand of rock. First on the bill is Carolyn Striho. Described as a blend of rock, pop, and indie punk, her work is eclectic to say the least. The one constant is Striho’s voice, drawing strongly from her punk-rock influences and crooning over sparse, but strong, instrumentation. Striho’s previous credits include fronting both The Cubes and Detroit Energy Asylum. Striho has also worked with punk rock legend, Patti Smith, having been invited by Smith herself to play the Meltdown UK Festival back in 2005. The list of honors does not end there. Striho has won numerous Detroit Music Awards, including Outstanding Acoustic CD in 2014 for her most recent album Word Attack. A veteran of the Detroit music scene, she’s sure to get the night off to a great start. Next up is another well-known Detroit act, Rio and the Rockabilly Revival. Reaching back through the decades, lead singer Rio Scafone has skillfully brought seemingly old-school genres like gospel, jump blues, and hillbilly swing back to the forefront of
Rio Scafone
Carolyn Striho Detroit’s local music scene. Not that this is any surprise, as Scafone is not the first member of her family to have this kind of impact on Detroit music. Scafone is the niece of rockabilly legend Jack Scott, and has stated in past interviews that growing up on his songs – as well as the music of Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins – heavily influenced her taste and passion for music. Revered for the intensity of their live performances, Rio and the Rockabilly Revival kick off their shows with energy to spare and don’t stop until they’ve left it all on the stage. Also taking the stage at the showcase is Keri Lynne Roche, an indie rock singer/songwriter. Originally from Ann Arbor, Roche is best known for making it to the Hollywood round of American Idol auditions this past year. Roche’s music has a quiet intensity, transitioning from soft to soulful to edgy. Accompanied by either acoustic guitar or piano, Roche brings to mind artists such as Sara Bareilles and Tristan Prettyman. The main event of the night is Maggie Cocco, a blues/rock fusion artist out of Sterling Heights. The “Women Who Rock” showcase will double as the release party for her debut album Get Me. Get Me is comprised of songs Cocco wrote between the ages of 15 and 22. “There’s something in them for everybody,” Cocco says. Cocco hopes that because of its various genres and themes, the album will gain a wide listenership and radio play. She also hopes that listeners will come away from the album with a sense of “emotional growth and honesty.” “I would hope that it’s incredibly relatable because I’m very honest emotionally and lyrically. I would hope that it’s therapeutic for other people to listen to and just know that [they’re] not alone, there’s other people who go through these things, and I’ve just been blessed with the medium of music so that I can communicate that.” While talking with Cocco it became obvious that music is her home and her life. In addition to writing, recording, and performing, Cocco is a music director at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Grosse Point
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