Root Down in the Shadow

Last week for #COVERCLUB , The Rivals selected Birdie Busch for our introduction to Nomad Recording Studio !  The relative newcomers to the Philadelphia music scene, The Rivals , did an intense take on the delicate Birdie Busch favorite 'Be The Arrow'.   Like with most things that the Rivals do they overwhelm your senses, leaving you stunned and amazed.  Unlike a black-out that leaves you wondering what you missed when from the night before, The Rivals leave you plenty aware of what hit you, whether it's Rob Swift 's intense guitar, Wayne Gallagher 's rollicking keys, or Tom Williamson 's funky bass.  Don't let their unassuming rock star attitudes confuse you.  Although they are clearly having fun, don't mistake their enjoyment of the moment.  These guys are hard at work with their songs.  To complete their Cover Club session, the fellas stripped back down to their three piece form for their new song 'The Confessor'! Cover Club | The Riva

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  We started the series on with an acoustic focus, taking on four local bands at Break Neck Studio and we caught up with national recording artist, Joe Fletcher before his sound check at MilkBoy!   The newest installment of the series takes us to a new location, our second featured studio, Nomad Recording Studio.  Tucked in the University City section of Philadelphia, Nomad was our host for the session recorded just over a week ago.  This session features a full band for the first time in the series, with the Rivals taking the helm.  With the wide open spaces of the Victorian home that houses Nomad, it was time to switch things up and plug in! When Wayne Gallagher , Rob Swift , and Tom W

Joe Fletcher at Milkboy recording for #CoverClub This week, the session of the new Philadelphia-centric music series #CoverClub, features a national act, Joe Fletcher , covering a local Philly band the Toy Soldiers .  It's an unexpected pairing of sorts with the road veteran covering the enterprising young bucks from Philadelphia, but there's more than meets the eye ear.   As Joe detailed their connection in the earlier post , it's clear that Joe gets a boost from these rockers.  After seeing the Toy Soldiers for the first time, " I believe they pushed us to give our best performance of the SXSW week." With Fletcher's tour dates in 2013 shared with many incredible artists such as Brown Bird , Deer Tick , Jason Isbell , Band of Heathens , Christopher Paul Stelling , Birdie Busch, and Patrick Sweany , hopefully there's a little push from each of the bands that Joe crossed paths with this year. With Joe Fletcher now based on Nashville, TN, the

The 40th Anniversary Innervisions #Revisited show "was initially inspired by a Facebook comment made by Robert Drake , on-air host and producer for WXPN , in which he said, “The #XPNfest has just started and I already have a new favorite band!! Philly's own Aaron & The Spell ... it's like listening to vintage 1970s Stevie Wonder .” After reading that comment, it struck lead singer and songwriter Aaron Brown that it would be great fun to actually cover a Stevie Wonder record. After looking into it further, Aaron realized that it was the 40th anniversary for one of his favorite albums, Innervisions, and the rest was easy after that. He enlisted some great friends to help play and promote the shows." The idea for the show was well conceived on so many levels.  It is a perfect reason to get familiar with a classic album, another reason to go see Aaron & The Spell, and all the proceeds of the event went to charity!  The show in Philadelphia took place at Wo

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  Rewinding back a few months, Joe Fletcher the road warrior extraordinaire, was down in Austin, doing one of many SXSW shows!   At the showcase he heard the scrappy but bangin' fellas from Philadelphia, Toy Soldiers ! Joe Fletcher, explained,  "I first met Dom Billett and Matt Kelly at a show of mine in Lancaster, PA last fall, and after hanging out awhile after the show I could tell we were speaking the same language. I never got a chance to see Toy Soldiers until we were booked at the same SXSW showcase this past March. It was an event called Northern Exposure at The Taproom on 6th and Toy Soldiers went on right before my band. I was immediately floored by their spirit and t

  What's the point of making friends with the best music fans in Philly if you can't invite them to come hang for a year end house concert. For a suggested donation of $15-20 we're going to supply 3 incredible artists for one last house show of the year! The artists include the beautiful songstresses Jeannine Hebb & Lily Virginia each from Brookyn, NY and Jake Lewis and the Clergy from Lancaster, PA. You can check in on the event on facebook, but the official list will be held by RSVP-ing at RootDownInTheShadow[at]gmail. com ****You can invite friends, but we're limited to 50-60 peeps, so RSVP asap**** "doors" at 7:30pm.. music will start promptly at 8pm. Don't be left out in the cold! Be sure to RSVP so you get the address for the West Phila/University City location. Lily Virginia - Yuriko "Run Around" Jake Lewis & the Clergy JEANNINE HEBB - THESE DAYS - Balcony TV Session

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  Coming up this Saturday, #CoverClub sessions are being recorded at Nomad Studio with our friends at RLS Video!  Starting at 10am, we will bring in artists for one-hour sessions throughout the day. The line-up includes: Aaron Brown of Aaron & The Spell the Rivals Ron Gallo of the Toy Soldiers the Fleeting Ends How would you like to catch some hot Philly bands, in studio while they record the their #CoverClub session?  Just imagine you and a friend, hanging out a the studio while the bands work on their Philly-centric cover and an original.  Wouldn't it be better with YOU watching? Here's how you can make this work: For each session you would like to attend, blow-up Twi

Photo by Jeff Coon This week, the session of the new Philadelphia-centric music series #CoverClub, features Brian Strouse & Vanessa Winters at Break Neck Studios where the members of Philadelphia band, the Lawsuits, covered Ween !  Ironically, just as I lamented here are week ago, that 'Fine Quality' covered by Chelsea Mitchell was being rescued from the growing stack of incredible songs by the Lawsuits on the new album Cool Cool Cool .  Brian and Vanessa dug further into the Lawsuits catalog for this week's original session track! 'Dancing In Church' is a Lawsuits throwback.  In fact, it's technically on a solo Brian Dale Allen Strouse album, 18 South Main.   The 2010 album was early tinder for Strouse, as several tracks made it onto other releases.  Two songs became tracks on the subsequent Lawsuits album Darleen ('Hot Water Blues' and 'Mermaid').  The dark 'Hurricane Blues' a lament of a broken relationship, became a ste

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  This week, the featured #CoverClub artists are Brian Strouse and Vanessa Winters of  The Lawsuits .  On a very chill afternoon in October, Brian and Vanessa came in to Breakneck Studio for their session.  Coincidentially they came in right as Chelsea Mitchell was recording her version of the Lawsuits' 'Fine Quality'. The band Brian Strouse chose cover was Ween.  Ween ?   Ween is just one of those bands.  You'll never hear them on the radio.  You didn't see them on MTV or VH1, but maybe once in their lengthy career.  Someone had to introduce you to Ween.  For Brian Strouse it was his older brother.  My experience was through an older brother too, not mine, but my frien

This week, the session of the new Philadelphia-centric music series #CoverClub, features Chelsea Mitchell at Break Neck Studios where she covered the Lawsuits !  She did the song in one amazing take, so there was plenty of time to record one of her unreleased originals. 'Shake All Over' is one of the first, of a new batch of songs from Chelsea, to surface to the web.  She released a fabulous EP this spring, Married In The Aviary , but she's moving right ahead with new songs.  If you are keeping an eye out for Chelsea Mitchell on the concert calendar, be sure to also look for her new outfit, Dirty Dollhouse , featuring two more knockouts, Amber Twait and Vanessa Winters.  But to give you a head start, here's a show to put down on your calendar: 01-09-2014 Amanda Shires / August John Lutz II / Chelsea Mitchell - Milkboy Cover Club | Chelsea Mitchell "Shake All Over"

For those of you who don't know what Sofar Sounds is here is their story: "We have created a movement which brings music lovers together in secret living room locations to hear some of the world's most cutting edge artists." **Unless noted, ** All photos from Lindsey Borgman** Links to earlier SofarSounds: Philadelphia reviews November 15th University City - Philadelphia, PA Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia's November 2013 show marked the 2 year anniversary of the most special music series to hit the banks of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.  In anticipation of this momentous show, I had asked some friends what have been the surprises, favorites, and overall thoughts of the preceding shows. The best synopsis came from my pal, concert buddy, and site contributor Mariel Lorenz : " There is nothing quite like your first time.  The secrecy surrounding a show is a little thrilling in itself.  I didn't know where to go until a few days befor

Your band name:   Dominic Angelella/Drgn King Style: Kitchen Sink music. I like loud guitars and synthesizers and cool lyrics. Years on the Scene: I moved here nine years ago to come to college and have moved through countless bands and met lots of interesting and nice people.   Current Project and/or Members: Drgn King is my child and I love it.  Joe Baldacci plays drums, Steve Montenegro plays bass, Brent Reynolds plays synths and tambourines and oversees all the music.  Brendan Mulvihill (current Philadelphia expatriate and member of Norwegian Arms ) plays guitar.  Zach Goldstein is our engineer and he's been helping us record at Kawari Sound in Elkins Park.   Any new album projects? Sessions in the works? We released our first record Paragraph Nights earlier this year and tour a good amount. We're recording our new record which will probably be out next summer at Kawari Sound, which is an amazing studio. Recent and/or most unique/excit

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  On November 11th, we premiered Cover Club, "A special brand of Philly covers". The bands will typically be Philly bands covering other Philly bands, but in some cases like Joe Fletcher, we could be including a national act in the rotation as well. These covers could be old school Philly, current Philly, anything Philly related. Each Monday we will release a cover, with an original from the session being released on the Wednesday of the same week! The third installment of #CoverClub features Chelsea Mitchell , covering The Lawsuits ' "Fine Quality (Coffee Flour Sugar Tea)".   Before scrolling down to the video, be sure to check out the details on the song and the cover!  

This week, Kevin Killen played a cover of Philly legend Ben Arnold for #CoverClub!  While he hasn't been in the scene as long as Ben Arnold, Kevin Killen has certainly put his stamp on the scene! Just soak in what happened at Tuesday's Philly Sings Philly as the tip of the iceberg.   Psalmships' Joshua Britton was on stage, covering a Kevin Killen song 'Oh The Ground' from Laurelwood Road .  It was the last song of his set and going fantastically.  There had been some short set changes, so it didn't see too weird that two guys from Hezekiah Jones jumped on stage, but then two more went up and they were plugging in.  All five members of Hezekiah Jones were now on stage and started playing the song as well.   Momentarily all six musicians are playing in unison before Joshua unplugs and steps off stage, leaving the Hezekiah Jones crew playing the rest of the song, completing one of the most unique stage transitions I've ever been witness to!   Wow!  B

No Philly music project could be complete without including Kevin Killen, considering his large impact on the Philadelphia music scene.  So far this year, I've witnessed Kevin solo, accompanied by Sarah Larsen , as part of Brad Hinton 's band, drumming and writing for Ali Wadsworth, and drumming for the Levee Drivers .  Beyond that, he's part of Psalmships , and Hezekiah Jones .  Also this year, he produced Homesteady for Tin Bird Choir and much, much more!     Photo by Jeff Coon If somehow he didn't get on your radar for any of those outfits, Kevin Killen has played with Chris Kasper (live shows), Chris Bathgate (tour member in 2011), Small Houses (played drums on North ), Joe D'Amico (drums live ), and Wissahickon Chicken Shack . So when I asked Kevin Killen to be a part of #CoverClub, I didn't even ask what he might be playing.  Kevin is an integral part of such a broad swath of the Philadelphia music scene, he would have so much to pick from thro

Through the wonders of Twitter and living in a city with one of the worlds best radio stations and record stores, the stars aligned for Root Down In The Shadow' s Dan McGurk to sit down with Gabe Simon of the Kopecky Family Band between XPoNential Festiva l and an in-store session at Main Street Music ! Now, just in time for Kopecky Family Band's return to Philly on November 23rd, at the TLA , the interview is ready to be watched.  Eight segments take fans along for the ride, that has been the musical journey of the Kopecky Family Band ! We're finally through the series.. The first seven segments can be found on YouTube:  "Mile Marker 1"        Mile Marker 3 "We're THE Kopecky FAMILY" Mile Marker 2 "Making It At Home In Nashville"   "When did you know" "This Is What It's All About"  Advice for Up & comers More Advice Here's the final segment: "Favorite Song of Kids Raising