Root Down in the Shadow

This summer, just a few days old, is already filling up with more and more momentous and unforgettable shows and lineups.  In the last week, the beautiful photos from Pastorius Park where Hezekiah Jones played circulated Instagram, the larger than life Firefly Festival loaded up your Twitter feed when New Sweden made their big stage debut.  # MakeMusicPhilly had more bands and stages than you could imagine, leaving no chance of seeing every band you wanted to.   The pang of regret gets harder and harder to ignore as more amazing lineups are introduced each week.  The only cure to cancel out this regret is finding the next awesome lineup.  This week, the show to see is presented by Philadelphia Folksong Society .   Hezekiah Jones headlines the event at Johnny Brenda's , anchoring the lineup for a special Lovers League album release show .   Joining the event are New Sweden , who will soon have a headlining release show of their own in Wilmington at the Queen, and special app

Band Name : Christopher Davis-Shannon Photo by Kettle Pot Tracks Style : Dance Music for the Old at Heart Years on the Scene : 3 performing under my own name...a lifetime performing with others such as Lover's League and Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets. Members : Yours Truly Any New Album Projects : Currently in the studio hashing out the first of a series of recordings witha full band, with the first bits intended to trickle out this summer with a full length to follow in the fall. Recent or Most unique Show : So many to choose from, but I think most recently has to be in Auckland. We were about halfway through our second set when a 60 year old man in a leopard print jacket decided he should hop up on the five foot stage and have a dancing contest with me. Life is an odd thing sometimes. He won. Upcoming Shows : I'm at the Twisted Tail the 13th and 20th next month solo! Also there is the Lover's League CD release on June 26th with Hezekia

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!   The first sessions for #CoverClub were recorded in October, at the intimate Break Neck Studios under the sonic helm of Peter Joseph!  The posts here at Root Down In The Shadow have featured the excellent videos by director Bob Sweeney with Paul Lorenz and Jeff Coon also behind the lens. Since the audio tracks are soooo good, it was decided they had to be shared!  Now at SoundCloud with permission from the bands we have switched the audio files to be a free download !!   Download them and share them.  Make sure all your friends hear them.  All we ask of you is to listen, watch, and share!  The Lawsuits members Brian Strouse & Vanessa Winters - photo by Jeff Coon

This week, Christopher Davis-Shannon played a version of Brad Hinton's 'Mourning Dove' for the inaugural release of Cover Club.  With hindsight it was clearly a perfect pick, but it took a certain amount of serendipity to make it happen! Photo by Jeff Coon I was first introduced to Christopher Davis-Shannon by mistake!?!  The quick version of the story goes like this:  A friend tagged a picture on Instagram of Davis Howley of Commonwealth Choir .  Turns out the "wrong" Davis was tagged, but a response of "I'm not the right Davis, but I like your pic" was gained! I first saw "Topher" playing with Dani Mari at the Brandywine Folk Festival.    I made sure I had the "right" Davis that time when I met him in person! Christopher Davis-Shannon again popped into the peripheral when playing with Chelsea Mitchell recently at Johnny Brenda's!   Peter Joseph, who was also playing that night, is the audio engineer of Break N

Christopher Davis-Shannon , a preeminent upright bass player in the Philadelphia scene, is into two things: Simplicity and honoring the eras past.  Mostly this manifests with folk music. "I have a love for real traditional, dirty, authentic music," says Christopher Davis Shannon. Christopher is a magnet for these types of bands and projects.  Whether it's solo with his guitar, or playing upright with Lover's League , Dani Mari , April Mae & the June Bugs or Bill Haley Jr. & the Comets ; Davis-Shannon is likely to be involved if harkens back to the earlier traditional music. It's only natural that when selecting an artist for Cover Club, that Christopher Davis-Shannon would select Brad Hinton.  Christopher was hooked after listening to the Brad Hinton On The Hill session!  It was exactly what Davis-Shannon loves, "short, to the point, no bull-shit, well crafted, no showing off!"  Ironically Brad Hinton is somewhat of a kindred spirit for