Root Down in the Shadow

So much excitement is brewing around Philadelphia 's burgeoning music scene. It seems the theme this summer is album releases.  Pretty much every Philly band that has been covered here on Root Down In The Shadow has a release dropping this spring, summer, or fall.  To kick off the coverage of these new albums, here's three hot new singles that have caught my attention in the last two weeks. RELEASED 4/30/2013 "Married In The Aviary"  CHELSEA MITCHELL Married in the Aviary by Chelsea Mitchell * This new single, 'Married In The Aviary' is the first tease from the Married In The Aviary EP.  Set to release is 6/4/13 Chelsea Mitchell tackles her most complex release to date.  This evocative track will make even the least romantic person you know take a dreamy walk through the garden in their mind as the song plays. Enjoy Chelsea Mitchell and her cast of musicians as you count the days until her release show at World Cafe Live June 7th with t he Lawsui...

Levee Drivers are a band with a lost identity?  At least it seems that no one seems to know who they are?  Are they an acoustic duo?  Power Trio?  A White Stripes cover band?  What they are, is Philadelphia's best kept secret.  After sets like last Saturday night, when they performed at Craft Culture presented by Maxwell's On Main, they won't be a secret for much longer! Levee Drivers  Live At Maxwell's on Main - 'Poor Boy Shoes' & 'Whichita'    Gearing up for their upcoming EP release and eventual LP release, Levee Drivers were back to their power trio form with Jeff Orlowski on drums, Kyle Perella on bass, and August John Lutz II on harmonica, vocals and electric guitar joined on a few songs by songstress Chelsea Mitchell .  For two sets worth of songs, they impressed the crowd, turning out new songs, older songs unreleased & released alike, with some covers to shake it up. Clearly the band...

Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia - April 6th, 2013 Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia 4-6-2013    Here's the March review          Here's the January review ** All photos from Lindsey Borgman**       http:// www.flickr.com/ photos/linky-b/ For those of you that don't know what Sofar Sounds is here's 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." The first month I got involved with Sofar, I was impressed by how exciting things were, how intimate it was. During the second event, it became clear to me that I was not alone in this recognition. Fans were back, previous artists were in attendance, we were all waiting for magic to happen. The historic 10th show for the Philadelphia team was a culmination of all the great things learned from the previous shows. Even with two returning ba...

When I saw the lineup announced for the recent Country Mice show at North Star Bar, I had to go.  First a national Indie band I kinda dug, two local bands I really wanted to see live, and a local musician that suddenly was in my radar.   I had to go, it was a must see.  Despite a crappy experience the last time I went to North Star, and despite a complete fail on my part the last time I tried to see the Song Dogs, I had to go.  If it took going early just to get a parking spot, so be it, it was going to happen.  I had to see this show!  Seriously how often do you get four acts out of four that you want to see?   Kiel Everett/Tin Horses   http://tinhorses.bandcamp.com/ Kiel Everett-Vocals, Guitar Michael Sobel-Guitar, Lap Steel Patrick Hickey-Vocals, Bass Aaron Chiazza - Drums First up was Kiel Everett.  Kiel was originally set to be solo that night, due to a lack of drummer.  Things fell into place for the nigh...

Philly indie-party-rock band Toy Soldiers are coming to a town near you with pals from NC, Holy Ghost Tent Revival . Philly fans know them well, as they just won "INDIE ROCK BAND OF THE YEAR" at the Tri State Indie Awards.  Now it's time for the rest of you to know them as well.  They are hitting the road with a batch of new material for their upcoming album The Maybe Boys.   For the Philadelphia stop, fans will get to see the premier of the Toy Soldiers tour film The Maybe Trails by Seth Klinger Toy Soldiers – a lively & hard-working band formed in 2007 by frontman Ron Gallo, started out as just a duo, fluctuated between a cast of upwards of 12 players, then eventually settled into a solid 5-piece who love a good song and dance with no pretense or wall between the band and audience (as members often times ending up in the crowd). The group, consisting of Gallo (lead vocals, guitar), Dominic Billett (drums), Bill McCloskey (bass), Matt Kelly (gui...

With the music "season" starting with South by SouthWest in March, April has been such a great time for tours and new albums.  2013 is starting off the just as expected.  Here's some must see shows coming to towns near you. Purling Hiss are touring for their March release Water On Mars.  Their low-fi, indie-hard-rock sound is reminiscent of early Nirvana.  Regardless of who they remind you of, do yourself a favor and check out the fuzzy 'Lolita' 04 Apr 2013 Williamsburg, NY 05 Apr 2013 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA 06 Apr 2013 Metro Gallery Baltimore, MD 07 Apr 2013 Maxwell's Hoboken, NJ 09 Apr 2013 O'Brien's Pub Allston, MA  10 Apr 2013 BAR Nightclub New Haven, CT   12 Apr 2013 Brillobox Pittsburgh, PA   13 Apr 2013 Ace of Cups Columbus, OH 14 Apr 2013 The Garden Bowl Detroit, MI 15 Apr 2013 The Empty Bottle Chicago, I 16 Apr 2013 7th St. Entry Minneapolis, MN 18 Apr 2013 Linneman's Riverwest Inn Milwaukee, WI 19 Apr ...

Hey friends and fellow fans of Brown Bird, if you've been following the blog here @ Root Down In The Shadow for any length of time, you may come to realize that we're big fans of Providence, RI duo Brown Bird. The newest Brown Bird album, Fits of Reason( see the review here ), is inspired by the writings of Omar Khayyam, Christopher Hitchens, and Plato, among others, and grapples with the human condition in a smooth but unapologetic departure from the band’s previous release" While still featuring the same drum heavy, two part music; Fits of Reason is more complex.  David Lamb left behind the banjo on the album, "writing above my ability and doing my best to play up to the new songs" with the electric guitar.  MorganEve also expanded her skills, incorporating the new weapon in her arsenal, the electric bass.   Long intros and interludes are featured on the instrumental heavy (two complete instrumentals and two majority instrumental tracks) album,...

Who is Brown Bird? Well, besides the most played band on my iPod behind Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, and Iron &Wine, Brown Bird is a Rhode Island based duo featuring David Lamb and MorganEve Swain.   David Lamb has been synonymous with Brown Bird since its inception so many years ago.  Dave was touring solo in 2008 when MorganEve Swain joined the band.  A few people have come and gone since, but the current 2.0 version as they record and tour is David Lamb and MorganEve Swain. For this version 2.0, the third Brown Bird album is the April 2nd release, Fits of Reason . At first enigmatic, Fits of Reason , via Supply & Demand music , picks up where Salt for Salt left off with a faster pace than previous Brown Bird works.  Salt for Salt  lyrically had more gore, darkness, and damnation than before.  While "we didn't want to write the same songs that we had already written" Fits of Reason dives deeper than previous works.  The album was "inspir...