Root Down in the Shadow

Kalob Griffin Band celebrating their Cover Club session at Cambridge Sound Stuidos The bands of Cover Club have done a great job of bringing out the best Philadelphia has to offer varying from contemporaries such as Strand Of Oaks , The Districts , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah , mewithoutYou , the Lawsuits , Cruisr , and Chris Kasper. The classics have been deep with Hall & Oates , Ween , Nina Simone , Boyz II Men , The Dead Milkmen , Joan Jett , all the way to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles . No matter which end of the contemporary/classic spectrum bands choose from, there's always an "oh yeah, I can't believe he/she/they hasn't/haven't been covered yet. Oft overlooked, Jim Croce is an indisputable favorite no matter where you're from, and fits perfectly for Cover Club as he was born and raised in South Philadelphia and laid to rest nearby after spending most of his 30 years on the planet here.   With a bit of unintended irony, Kalob Grif...

Philadelphia Folk Festival is an enigma. It's actually far away from Philadelphia at Old Poole's Farm in remote Schwenksville, PA. Once you arrive and park, and either walk or shuttle in you pass a sea of cars and a tent city. There are stages off in the woods, there's a whole other world off in the distance in this magical tent city. What is going on? For this blogger who has experienced only about 8 or so sets total at the fest in the last few years, it is a nut that must be cracked. What exactly goes on at this fest? All the local musicians seem to be buzzing about it every summer year. It was suggested that the only way to get to understand the fest is to ask those who experience it every year. And by every year, we don't mean in the last few years since an adult moved to town. We mean, from people who in some cases, have been going ALL of their life. With the help of Philadelphia Folksong Society , Root Down In The Shadow invited some "life...

Cover Club started as one of those "let's see where this goes" types of projects. We started with a friend's studio in Newtown, Pa with Break Neck Studios to showcase some favorite bands. While the goal of the project has always been to share the Philly music that we love so much, it has been a great opportunity to share our affinity for our favorite studios and sessions. We've worked with Nomad Recording Studios , Kettle Pot Tracks , and Cambridge Sound Studios ; while making stops in Fairmount Park , the Sluice Box , MilkBoy , Church of Kong , and more! We'd be terribly amiss if we didn't take the opportunity to work with John Vettese of WXPN 's The Key for a chance to collaborate for a Key Session - Cover Club edition! Slight problem though, John is such an avid supporter of the Philly local scene, it's tough to find someone he hasn't already worked with. On top of that, how do you pick from the list of people he's on ...