Root Down in the Shadow

photos by Dan McGurk Haunt The House / Amanda Glasser / Anna Coogan  Last Tuesday, rising folk stars  Haunt The House came to town for their first Philly show. Tagging along to Bourbon and Branch were two more out-of-towners; Amanda Glasser and Anna Coogan . Haunt the House Anna Coogan Anna Coogan Anna Coogan, the veteran of the line-up, was up first at the always interesting Bourbon and Branch.  The gritty songstress was ready for her set no matter what, even if it meant disobeying doctors' orders after a recent broken bone. The best/most ironic part of her set was the ease with which she was able to switch back and forth between love songs and break-up songs.  She explained this may have to do with the break up songs, such as "Cricket Sea", being mostly about the man she eventually married.   However, there was that extra oomph of grit and passion on the love songs.  Before turning over the reins to the next artist, she left

John Shavel of Sympathy and the Lion - Photo by Kettle Pot Tracks Fleisher Art Memorial - Philadelphia, PA Photo By Dan McGurk Spring is upon us here in Philadelphia.  It's time to start exploring again and shaking off those winter blues.  What better way to celebrate than by going to check out a venue and band for the first time?  I thought it was a great idea, so off I went to Fleisher Art Memorial for an afternoon show with Sympathy and the Lion. Fleisher Art Memorial at first glance appears to be your standard gallery with classes and community space, but it also has a 19th century church connected to it where they occasionally host some shows!  For this Sunday's show in the front of the old church, the bands were tucked neatly in the choir chambers with fans at arm's reach sitting comfortably in the small pews. Photo By Kettle Pot Tracks Cardinal Arms , the musical arm of artist/poet/song-writer Bevan McShea was first to delight fans.  With a bl

Kevin Killen has been hard at work at Philadelphia's Cambridge Sound Studios lately laying down some new tracks. To give us a tease of what he's been working on, here's the brand new video for "Streets of Sorrow", a cover originally by the Pogues. Kevin Killen - "Streets of Sorrow" (Pogues cover) Streets of Sorrow from Kevin Killen on Vimeo . Kevin Killen plays tonight at the Root Down In The Shadow - Living Room Show. Follow us on Twitter @RootDownPhilly for more infomation as we're working on getting a live stream together of the at-capacity show.

"From the Notebook" is a new series at Root Down In The Shadow, that will explore great experiences with bands and events that didn't make it to the web within a normal deadline, but were too good not to share.  If all goes well we'll let that original moment simmer and provide some additional insight beyond our first take.  Our first subject: Dirty Dollhouse. Chelsea Mitchell All Photos by Lindsey Borgman unless noted  Chelsea Mitchell Dirty Dollhouse Who is Dirty Dollhouse ? Who is Dirty Dollhouse ?  Officially Dirty Dollhouse is the all-beautiful, all-female Chelsea Mitchell-Amber Twait-Vanessa Winters trio.  The lush harmonies of these long-time friends are the crux of any Dirty Dollhouse tune.  But which band is really Dirty Dollhouse?  Is it only the trio? Or, is it a full-band extravaganza?  Chelsea Mitchell Some fans already caught their first glimpse of Dirty Dollhouse at one of their rare shows in 2014.  The ladies had been play