Riveting Riffs Magazine

Jim Cliffe and Donovan's Echo

“I think déjà vu is something that we have all experienced in one form or another and a lot of things can bring it to fruition. I certainly am not suggesting that it has any specific meaning or that it is connected to past lives or past experiences, but in any case it is something that I have felt many times in my life. It is always an interesting phenomenon when it happens, particularly if you are in a place or a situation where you have never been and something just washes over you that feels extremely familiar, like you have done this before. I thought of my experience and something went off in my head afterwards saying it might be an interesting idea to explore,” says director Jim Cliffe who collaborated with his wife Melodie Krieger to write the screenplay for the feature film Donovan’s Echo.

The supernatural thriller stars Danny Glover in the lead role as Donovan Matheson, Bruce Greenwood as Finnley, Natasha Calis as Maggie and Sonja Bennett as Maggie’s mother Sarah and it was filmed in 2010, was in postproduction for much of 2011 and had a limited release in Canadian cinemas during February of 2012. In May of 2013 the film was released through digital stores, as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.

“I love genre films. I love sci-fi and things that really stretch our imagination. Those are things that I like to explore, says Cliffe.”

Donovan Matheson is the central figure in this film and the storyline deals with Donovan’s demons, his inability to conquer his alcoholism, something that is fueled by his inability to forgive himself for a tragic event over which he had no control. He returns to the scene of those tragic events decades later and his past world collides with the present when he encounters a little girl named Maggie. Although Donovan is both a tragic and tormented figure, he is also very likeable.

“I originally had the idea for the story in 2006, so it is going back quite away. I was coming off Tomorrow’s Memoir (his award winning short film) and I wanted to make the leap to a feature film. My original protagonist was a young man. That is the idea that I was going with. A few things happened that caused me to think that might not be the best direction to go, as I was already trying to structure out a story with a young character. Read More

Detroit's Rio Scafone

Rio Scafone who is set to rock out at Callahan’s Music Hall in Detroit on June 15^th, as part of a double-bill concert, also featuring singer-songwriter Carolyn Striho and her band, will treat the audience (all of the reserved seating was sold out three weeks in advance, but general admission tickets were still available as we went to press) to her own brand of Rockabilly music. Her band Rio and the Rockabilly Revival have almost grown to legendary status for their high energy performances.

It never ceases to amaze us how many truly gifted artists, whether they are singers, musicians, dancers, actors or whatever their craft happens to be, often receive their first inspiration as young children. Rio Scafone who is also a songwriter, as well as a television, film and theater actress has a story that is almost magical in nature and it begins when she was a small child growing up in Hazel Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It is a story so enchanting that we suggested to Ms. Scafone that she should seriously consider writing a children’s book about her experiences as a child. Young girls still need to be able to have their dreams of what one day might be.

Urban legend has it that as a very young child Rio Scafone organized other children into putting on performances. Knowing how these stories tend to become exaggerated over the years and their retelling we were somewhat hesitant to venture down this line of conversation, but boy were we in for a surprise!

(She starts to laugh) “Yes it is very, very true (she is laughing louder now) Oh my goodness. I, from a very young age was performing and I believed that everyone else should be too. The earliest stories that I have been told by my parents was at age six I was strong arming the neighborhood children into pretending we were The Little Rascals. I would be outside conducting and interrupting and telling them what parts they would play. I was the director and the producer. I just grabbed anybody that I could and I dragged them into my productions on a daily basis. I have a lot of memories of doing stuff (she can hardly get the words out, because she is laughing). There are a lot of people who remember it to this day, ‘I remember growing up with you on this street. You used to make me Read More

Carolyn Striho In Concert

Photo by Lynn Maslowski, protected by copyright, All Rights Reserved
Visit the Carolyn Striho website

Interview with Arrica Rose

“I always try to come up with a way to say something that would not be your first choice. I think that it helps the listener to understand what I am trying to express. I think it gives them a new perspective, a perspective that I have, but that they may very well relate to. I think of it as painting a picture and using colors that maybe quote unquote aren’t the proper colors, but somehow you still feel what the person is trying to paint and you see even more of what they are trying to paint based on the choices that they make,” says Southern California singer-songwriter Arrica Rose.

Some of Arrica Rose’s songs such as “Microscope,” and “I Wasn’t Done Dancing,” from her new EP Lucky, explore the side of relationships and life that is not always fun and yet when set to ethereal vocals and more upbeat music listeners never find themselves bogged down in gloominess.

“It is by design. I really enjoy that juxtaposition (in a song). They do have dark lyrics that you don’t necessarily notice. You can enjoy a song on one level and then all of a sudden you listen closely and you say wait, is that what the song is really saying? That is something that I do play around with. It is no accident that you would notice that with my songs.

(The song) “Microscope,” began with me saying to someone else, just put away the microscope and let’s not dissect this thing. That just stayed in my brain, put away the microscope and to the point that I ended up writing it down on one of the many pieces of paper that I write things on. Really what I was saying is look at the big picture, don’t try and over analyze every tiny little detail to the point where everything is just this big mess. That’s where “So put away the microscope, let's live in a big picture that paints us lucky,” came from. From that point on I had the idea of a microscope, so I wanted the rest of the song to have scientific references too, to (express) this feeling I had that Read More

Jim Piddock's Family Tree

The television show is called Family Tree and it airs on Sunday evenings on HBO in America and it also airs on BBC 2 in England. The one-half hour comedy was co-created by Jim Piddock and Christopher Guest and the show revolves around the character of thirty year old Tom Chadwick who explores his family tree and his ensuing adventures. Guest and Piddock wrote and produced eight episodes which were first broadcast early in May (2013) and Guest directs the shows, while both men appear in Family Tree, Piddock in a recurring role as Mr. Pfister an antique dealer. Recently, Jim Piddock visited with Riveting Riffs Magazine in our virtual studio, to talk about Family Tree. The third episode in the series was broadcast on Sunday June 2^nd. The show which stars Chris O’Dowd as Tom Chadwick, Tom Bennett as Chadwick’s best friend Pete Stupples, ventriloquist and actress Nina Conti as Tom Chadwick’s sister Bea, Michael McKean in the role of Tom Chadwick’s father and Ed Belgley Jr. as Tom Chadwick’s American cousin was filmed both in England and the United States.

“Partly it came from the business sense, because NBC Universal is based in both countries and we wanted (Family Tree) to have an English component and we wanted it to be shown there. Chris (Guest) and I obviously have strong ties with England and we thought it was a big enough story to straddle the Atlantic. It appealed to us. Fairly early on we decided that it would start in England and then it would come to America. After that decision was made it fit perfectly for Chris O’Dowd,” explains Jim Piddock.

As for the original inspiration behind Family Tree, Piddock says, “(Christopher Guest) Read More

Rockabilly Magic in Detroit

Three and one-half hours before Rio and the Rockabilly Revival fronted by singer-songwriter Rio Scafone took to the stage at Callahan’s Music Hall in Auburn Hills, Michigan there was a buzz running through the people lined up outside the venue as they waited for the doors to open. Comments such as “Have you seen Rio before?” and remarks about how exciting her last concert was were common. Following the one hour and forty minute concert Rio Scafone was paid the ultimate compliments as fans waited patiently to have their photos taken with their pixie like hero with the dynamic stage personality and big vocals. In the ultimate form of adulation some fans even dressed similarly to her.

This was not your everyday club gig in a suburb of Detroit, as it was a very polished, well-choreographed musical act, backed by superb musicians and excellent backup singers. Jarod Thompson was outstanding on rhythm guitar, Charlie Bongo kept the drumbeats, guest saxophonist Mambo was solid, Sean Eric Harris is a very good upright bass player and Renee Turner and Yana Levovna were incredible as background vocalists. Rio and the Rockabilly Revival is not merely a concert, it is a memorable experience involving dance, music and elements of theater.

Rio Scafone draws upon her acting experience to tell a convincing story of the condemnation of emerging Rock ‘n’ Roll music in the 1950’s (true story) by the Reverend Jimmie Snow and her songs including, “It’s In The Beat,” are a reference to the farcical assertion by evangelical clergy that the beat of the music stirred up primal urges and would somehow lead people into sin.

Rio Scafone provided a good blend of original songs, songs made famous by her double Read More

Detroit's Kathy Kosins

I suppose we should not be surprised that Detroit singer and songwriter Kathy Kosins pursued a career in music, as the granddaughter of Max Kosins and daughter of Harry Kosins the celebrated tailors who built Kosins Clothing Company into worldwide force in the fashion industry, dressing many music icons including, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy. As a child she met Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin and the list is seemingly endless. Max Kosins’ clothing gained a worldwide reputation for both his fashion sense and the quality of the clothing.

Today Kathy Kosins is still rubbing shoulders with music icons, as her song “Hershey Kisses,” her adaptation of the Johnny Mandel and David Frishberg song “Hershey Bar,” originally titled “Little Did I Dream,” drew accolades from Johnny Mandel.

“It meant a great deal to me that Johnny Mandel, not only gave me his stamp of approval, it meant even more to me that he actually came with his wife to my performance in Los Angeles and they sat through two hours of it. It was two one hour sets,” says Kosins.

Mandel was invited to attend Kathy Kosin’s concert in Los Angeles, by film score composer Ian Bernard who also served as Music Director for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in television show in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Kosins says, “Apparently he said to Johnny, I would like you and Martha to come to this performance. It was really wonderful to sit down with Johnny Mandel at my concert and I have spoken to him a few times on the phone. He is really a wonderful guy.” Read More

Diane Marino Interview

On the eve of releasing her new album Loads Of Love it was to Riveting Riffs Magazine’s delight that we had the opportunity to chat once again with Jazz singer, arranger and pianist Diane Marino from her home in Nashville, Tennessee. Ms. Marino who grew up in Queens, New York City was reunited with her friend and saxophonist extraordinaire Houston Person who played on ten of the rejuvenated standards that are featured on Loads Of Love.

Diane Marino possesses impeccable phrasing, her voice has beautiful colors and tones and the new arrangements are lush without detracting from yet another wonderful recording from a truly magnificent vocalist.

The album opens with Cole Porter’s “Get Out Of Town,” written for his 1938 Broadway musical Leave It To Me! The song is introduced on Loads Of Love by Frank Marino’s upright bass, eventually joined by Diane Marino accompanying herself on the piano. Houston Person has an extended melodious solo, followed by Ms. Marino’s lively piano solo. For those not familiar with the song, the singer’s former beau arrives on the scene and she bids him to go quickly, before she falls in love again and has her heart broken once again.

Acknowledging that she is definitely a romantic, Ms. Marino says, “I didn’t really set out to do an album about love songs, but if you look at it, it is all about love. Subconsciously I guess that is what I was thinking of (she is laughing). I wanted to do an album of good vocal standards, but standards that haven’t been done a zillion times. I do Read More

Billy Alexander Interview

Billy Alexander who makes his home in Lake Forest, California knows what it takes both in the studio and on stage to be a good performer and to build a solid career in the music industry. The Fairfax, Virginia native, who grew up in Maryland and Massachusetts was lead guitarist, keyboardist and sang vocals with the late nineties and early 2000s with the band FEEL, which also consisted of Scot Sax (guitar, lead vocalist), bassist Mark Getten and drummer Dave Schaffer. FEEL was formed after the band Wanderlust broke up. Getten and Sax were both members of Wanderlust, a band that toured with The Who and Collective Soul and which had their own hit single, “I Walk.” Getten and Sax then collaborated for a song “Summertime,” that became part of the American Pie soundtrack and they recorded it under the name Bachelor Number One. The duo expanded into FEEL and had two memorable hit songs, “Won’t Stand In Your Way,” (# 18 National Radio Charts) and “Got Your Name On It,” (# 28 on Billboard).

We will revisit FEEL in a few minutes, but when the band eventually went separate ways and amicably Billy Alexander says, “I started doing a lot more writing and co-writing and one particular co-writing session was with a girl called Ginger Reyes (now Ginger Pooley) who later became the bassist for Smashing Pumpkins. She was an Orange County gal. People were telling me that a lot of my writing was reminding them of what was called then, New Country. Bands like Sugarland and Keith Urban were coming on the scene. It was Country Music, but it had a lot of Rock and Pop fused into it. I think “Mutt” Lange and Shania Twain really helped fuel that, because they took the whole Pop Rock thing and brought it into Nashville. They did a real fusion number and that opened the door. Read More

Carolyn Striho Concert Review

Carolyn Striho and her band served up a concert on June 15^th that is deserving of a much bigger stage and that is not disrespecting Callahan’s Music Hall in Auburn Hills, Michigan where the concert took place, but it is a testament to just how powerful of a performer Carolyn Striho is and a compliment to Callahan’s for booking such an outstanding singer-songwriter-musician.

Striho opened with “Always In My Heart.” Scott Dailey introduced the song with his electric guitar, before being joined by the other band members for a thirty second instrumental that segued into Striho’s vocals.

Although, Striho is backed by a band of sensational players comprised of the aforementioned Scott Dailey, dynamic Bonnie Kaye on violin, electric bass guitarist Dave Dion, guest drummer Charlie Bongo, and background vocalist Maurya Kay, there is absolutely no doubt as to who the leader of this band is. At times Striho is like the female embodiment of Freddie Mercury (Queen) and at other times she displays her Punk Rock roots as her fingers attack the keyboard like mini jackhammers. Intensity pulsates through her body and passion infuses her vocals and every note that she plays. On the harder hitting lyrics her eyes pierce your very soul.

The band then moved into the hard hitting “Circles,” introduced by Carolyn Striho singing “Carve my hand / carve my heart / Tattooed daggers / now it starts / Crawling around in my mind…” and later “Mr. Love holds us close to earth / I think it is time to clean my turf.” Scott Dailey on Read More

Bria Skonberg Interview

So Is The Day the 2012 album release by Jazz trumpeter, singer, lyricist and composer Bria Skonberg signified that the still twenty something music dynamo who has already toured numerous Jazz festivals worldwide, as well as performed at prestigious Jazz venues in America, is the complete package who is just as comfortable covering Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” as she is in presenting her sensational original song “Keep Me In The Back of Your Mind.”

“I wrote “Keep Me In The Back Of Your Mind,” at a time when I was feeling particularly single and sassy, which is exactly what it is. I was in a place where I wasn’t looking for any kind of commitment and (the words) just came to me, “I love you forever / Just keep me in the back of your mind.” I riffed on that and then I built a story around it and it is fun the way that it builds. It is really fun to let loose in front of an audience. Nowadays I have the guys in the band to do (a response and call) (she sings it is what it is and then sings the band’s response “It is what it is.”) and it gets people to sing along. Now I live a little more vicariously through it and I invite people to do the same,” says Bria Skonberg.

The sassy attitude is evidenced in lyrics like, “If you want my attention, walk on by / Make me work to even catch your eye / Ain’t ya’ been listening honey, prove me wrong / And I’ll be chasing you before too long.” Skonberg is backed with some fabulous and high energy performances by Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Kelly Friesen (bass) Read More

Barbara Payton On Tour

One might suppose that a person whose parents were music teachers and who grew up in the Salvation Army, playing a brass instrument and going to music camps, might have a better than average chance of having their adult life closely linked to music. What might come as a bit of a surprise for someone growing up in that somewhat conservative environment is when you learn that Detroit singer and songwriter Barbara Payton, in addition to carving out a splendid solo career, has also toured extensively (as a background singer) and recorded (Face The Promise – 2006) with Rock and Roll legend Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, as well as Kid Rock. Payton has also opened for Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar, Lou Gramm, Eddie Money, Jonatha Brooke and Terri Clark.

“I grew up in a musical family in Port Huron (Michigan) and part of my family is still there. All of my cousins, uncles and grandparents are (musical). It was not expected necessarily, but it was a flow to go right into music, learn how to read music and to pick an instrument. I grew up in the Salvation Army, which had a brass band, so playing a brass instrument was very appealing to me. I picked up the equivalent to a French horn, an alto horn. The alto horn is an upright and it almost looks like a small baritone. It is not the sexiest instrument to play for Rock and Roll. I wish I had picked something else,” she says laughing lightly, “but it was what I was drawn to at the time. I played the French horn in the band in high school and I had my dad as a teacher, but he certainly didn’t play favorites. In fact I think he may have been a little tougher on me, as one of his students. In the Salvation Army they have a very impressive and developed music program and we also had a choir, so I started singing at an early age and going to music camps,” says Barbara Payton.

As a teenager growing up in Port Huron Barbara Payton was drawn to the music emanating from the Colony Bar.

“I snuck into the biker bar. I remember going by and hearing this voice and Rock and Roll guitars. I wasn’t really exposed to that music. I remember hearing a lot of Classical music and brass music in my home when I was growing up, so that really piqued my interest when I walked by and I heard it. Kathy Cole was the singer of the band and the band was called Jump Street. My friend and I were able to win the bouncer over and clearly we were underage, so we weren’t going Read More

Beverly Leech Interview Part II

In Part I of our two-part interview with acting coach, author, stage and television actress Beverly Leech we introduced you to her career and her book ACTOR MUSCLE A Professional Guide to the Business of Acting. In Part II of our interview with Beverly Leech she talks about her book and particularly the scams that seek to take advantage of young actors and the provisions that have been put in place to protect actors. She also takes us back to her early days in the entertainment industry.

“My goal was to (write a book) about how to go about a career in sequential steps and how to actually do it. There are really good books on how to do an interview, how to do a commercial audition and how to read for TV, but they are separate. I was teaching all of (those things) and teaching them in a semester long course, as the academies wanted me to cover everything, so I thought this is great, now I can go ahead and make my teaching materials available to fifty or one hundred kids in my class. I wanted to make it available to everyone in the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles markets, because they are also inundated with a lot more shysters. It is very important for me to take them through each step of the process and teach them how to look at a contract and to know what you are looking at. Most of the kids don’t know anything about contracts when they are starting out. Managers appear to be very similar to agents in their responsibilities and their take of the commission, but they are very, very different and if you don’t pay attention to the fine print, you are going to get hurt.

The city attorney here in Los Angeles is really clear about what an agent can and can’t do in the city of California. The Krekorian Scam Prevention Act prevents agents who still try to sign actors to contracts, which aren’t legal, kosher and moral. There are a lot of protections in place. It doesn’t matter. I can teach this class and do my very level best to help protect actors from people like this and yet no matter how many times I say out loud, never pay an agent to represent you Read More

Alaina Blair Interview

Twenty year old Alaina Blair’s debut full length self-title album opens quietly or so it seems until at the thirty-eight second mark of the opening song “Sweet Talkin’ Lola,” when she launches into a Rock number driven by thundering guitar riffs and Blair’s edgy vocals with lyrics that have a bite to them turn her into a Rock temptress. Ron Blair (no relation to Alaina) of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is featured on slide guitar, vibes, keys and bass, Billy Alexander who also produced the album plays electric and acoustic guitar and Tony Morra backs Alaina Blair, playing drums. Ron Blair, Alaina Blair and Billy Alexander co-wrote “Sweet Talkin’ Lola.”

Alaina Blair talks about writing “Sweet Talkin’ Lola.” “I talked to Ron and I asked him if he was interested in writing a song with Billy and I and he was yes for sure, come on over. We were all sitting around in his living room and he got all of these random instruments that he could find. His whole house is just filled with music and it is so awesome. Every time that I go in there I feel like a kid in a candy store. He got a mic set up. We recorded everything that we had been working on and we didn’t have any lyrics until the next time that we got together. Our working title was “Oh The World Didn’t End After All,” because the day that we wrote it was the day the world was supposed to end. The next time that we got together Billy had the idea of “Sweet Talkin’ Lola,” he brought it to the table and we talked about it. A friend of his was in a situation where this kind of sleazy girl was always getting what she wanted and there was not a man she couldn’t manipulate kind of a thing. I loved that idea (for the song), because there is always that girl who knows just what to say and how to just get the guys to do what she wants. Not many girls sing about a girl, but the idea behind it was Read More

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week - Madrid

Fashion Designs by Ion Fiz and Sara Colleman

Jon Herington Interview

Jon Herington’s current album Time On My Hands is a departure from previous solo albums Like So and Shine Shine Shine, because he decided to make his guitar the centerpiece of the songs. That might sound odd at first, because he is solidly entrenched as one of the music community’s most highly regarded guitarists, who has been the guitarist for Steely Dan for the past thirteen years and who also regularly tours with Madeleine Peyroux. Add to his resume past tours with Bette Midler and with The Dukes of September (Boz Scaggs, Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald) and it may sound incredulous that until Time On My Hands his guitar has not played a more prominent role on previous albums.

Jon Herington says, “I got many comments from a lot of listeners, after Like So and Shine Shine Shine saying they were surprised and disappointed that the records didn’t sound like typical guitar player records. I think they meant the guitar was less in the spotlight than they expected and there was maybe less of a featured role for the guitar. They were exactly right and that was my intention. I was thinking about the songs and I wasn’t thinking about the guitar playing so much. I certainly wanted to play the guitar and I wanted to play well, but the songs seemed to call for a short eight bar guitar solo in the middle, like on a Beatles’ song or something like that, so I would do what the song seemed to call for. It seemed like the natural thing to do and to make those records sound good. Read More

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