Root Down in the Shadow

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...

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,...