Sometimes, it’s best to just listen.
And when you drop the needle on “Fire and Brimstone,” or “Satan (Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down)” it’s so easy to hear a passionate, powerful and provocative voice delivering some well-thought, meaningful and colorful lyrics. It’s a fresh, modern and even innovative sound that pops and sways through the speakers.
But when you flip the record, you’re greeted with a more traditional rock ’n’ roll sound as the classic “Runaway Train” makes its way down the tracks through a junction of 1950s and 1960s rockabilly.
What’s surprising to realize, and certainly appreciate, is that both sides are Rio Scafone, a Royal Oak award-winning musician with a family steeped in rock ’n’ roll history but also with a clear vision all her own. She isn’t trapped between two different projects — quite the opposite.
“I really enjoy both,” says Scafone, a 1985 graduate of Royal Oak Dondero High School. “Rio and the Rockabilly Revival is more rooted to rock and roll and a tribute to that amazing music of the past. My solo work incorporates everything and is a more modern sound with many layers to it and is very different.”
The two projects have more than just Rio in common — they are popular with both fans and critics.
Rio recently earned five Josie Music Award nominations, out of 42,000 artist submissions, for her work as a solo artist and with her award-winning band, Rio and the Rockabilly Revival.
Scafone’s nominations include Rock Song Of The Year for her single, “Fire and Brimstone,” Rock Vocalist Of The Year, Rock Artist of the Year and Entertainer Of The Year. Her fifth nomination is Group Of The Year for Rio and the Rockabilly Revival, who celebrated 10 years together in August. The seventh annual Josie Music Awards is slated for Sept. 18 at the Country Tonite Theatre in Nashville.
Founded in 2015, the Josie Music Awards is an all-genre independent artist awards show with nominations based on body of work, quality, live performance and radio play among other criteria.
Like Rosanne Cash, Norah Jones and even Miley Cyrus, Rio is proof that rock ‘n’ roll is in the genes. Her uncle, rockabilly songwriter and performer Jack Scott, charted 19 songs on the Billboard charts between 1958 and 1961 including the hit, “The Way I Walk.” Inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011, he died in Warren in 2019 at age 83.
“While I was growing up he was just Uncle Jack (born Giovanni Domenico Scafone) and music was the family business,” Rio says. “I just thought everybody made records and sang to all hours of the night. I really had no idea how special he was until much later.”
It’s fitting that Uncle Jack’s biggest hit was “The Way I Walk,” because that was the message he delivered often to his niece when it came to music.
“The overwhelming message and lesson he gave me was to be yourself,” Rio says. “He was always himself, whether it was good or bad he stayed true to his creative vision and his own voice. He didn’t care if other people liked or didn’t like what he was doing.”
Rio says from an early age she enjoyed taking music from yesteryear and bringing it forward, doing it in her own voice.
“I enjoy using my own unique voice and style and creativity while still being firmly rooted in those who have come before me,” she says. “I try and bring the music forward to where I am in my life today and that changes as you grow and expand your vision.”
Some of the last advice Scott gave his niece was when she came up with the idea for the band, Rio and the Rockabilly Revival, and wanted to cover some of his songs.
“He told me that I don’t need his blessing,” she says. “However (he said), ‘I have one request and that’s to make it your own.’ Don’t imitate someone else’s sound but bring it forward in a way where your voice is heard.”
Rio also is an accomplished actress who has worked in theaters all over the country. She also does commercials, radio, TV and film. But right now her focus is on her music. Rio releases her solo songs as singles, but is working on packaging them with new material as part of a possible EP or even LP.
“We are working right now on four new songs that we are really excited about,” she says. “There has been a shift happening lately and more artists are dabbling in different genres and willing to step out of the box that they perhaps put themselves in or their fans have built around them. I want to explore all creative facets.”
Rio doesn’t have to look far to find a talented bass player. Her husband, Sean Harris (June Bug), is the bass player for the band and also in her solo work. The couple have a daughter, Sophia, 12.
“I do all the writing and Sean helps with arranging the songs but I’m very hands on with everything I do,” she says. “I’m always writing and I’ve been on a writing spree lately.”
Rio also is eager to get back on the stage. They are in talks with some outdoor venues and also looking to do some live-streaming events to showcase their music while keeping everyone safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• See Rio and the Rockabilly Revival at youtube.com/user/RockabillyRio, her solo work at bit.ly/3tsAyX8, or learn about the Josie Awards at josiemusicawards.com.