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Singer CoConi To Perform In Hudson

Provided by CoConi

CoConi will sing both songs she wrote for her album “Venusian Butterfly” and cover songs at Colorama Performance Studio in Hudson this Saturday, July 12.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: July 8, 2008

She got her first paying gig at 13 and has never stopped performing

A few days over 21, singer CoConi is set to headline at Colorama Premier Performance Studio in Hudson on Saturday.

With an American father and English mother, CoConi bridges the Atlantic. She has lived in both England and the United States and is now a resident of Holiday. She recently recorded an album, "Venusian Butterfly," featuring lyrics she wrote herself.

CoConi - for a time she went by the name CoConi Monique - has already managed to work with some big names. Her album was produced by Simon Efemey, who is noted for his work with metal and hard rock groups such as Napalm Death, Paradise Lost and The Wildhearts. She has also opened for Grammy Award-nominated British singer Natasha Bedingfield. Additionally, one of CoConi's songs hit the top of the charts on the Web-based Pod Music Countdown chart.

The experience of being a product of two cultures has made if difficult to relate to people of her own age, CoConi said. As a result, she has developed friendships with older adults. That has proved valuable in gigs with mature audiences.

Her feelings of isolation and the death of her father when she was 6 have been grist for the songs she writes. "The isolation and fitting in, that's why I've been focused on music because that's how I've been able to be connected with people," she explained.

For her Colorama act, she will do some of the songs she has written, but she will also sing cover songs that span generations. Judging from feedback she has received, she said, her music appeals to a wide range of people, from 5 to 60 year olds.

CoConi learned to play to the audience when she toured England for four years, starting when she was 15. "There was such a mixture of people you had to adapt your style to everyone."

The songs she has written are "edgy and quirky with twinkley bits," she said. Those bits are synthesized sounds with keyboards.

The lyrics she writes are as varied as the world of a 21 year old, ranging from life experiences to a song about a vampire. Two members of her English band, guitarist Chris Healey and keyboardist Josh Pullen, will play in her band at the Colorama event. They will travel from England to perform with CoConi at the July 16 screening of the Sundance Film Festival film "American Teen."

The Lowdown

Singer-songwriter CoConi will perform 8 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at Colorama Premier Performance Studio, 9302 Denton Ave., Hudson. The ticket price, $20, includes hors d'oeuvres and three free cocktails or other beverages. Call 727-863-7539 for more information.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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