Root Down in the Shadow

Photo by Jeff Coon Photo by Jeff Coon Just over two years ago, Max García Conover in preparation for his first show in Philadelphia at The Grape Room , he reached out to Root Down In The Shadow to connect.  Could I review his new album Burrow?   A review wasn't possible, but the Grape Room was just down the hill from my house.  Since then we've collaborated many times for house shows and connections for other line-ups and sessions.  This last August was a very special day for both of us.  He was able to join make a Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia show and since we had made arrangements with the host, we had the ability to do more recording and pulled off a Cover Club Session. It isn't just the last two years that made Max García Conover's relationship with Philly special.  It's been going on for most of his life.   He explains, "My romanticization of philadelphia started way back in elementary school, dancing and singing in my bedroo...

There's always something exciting going on for the bands of Cover Club . This week's entry, Mason Porter , will finish the week with their own curated fest : The Midnight Mountain Music Show featuring friends galore such as Wallace Brothers , Ladybird , Kalob Griffin Band, and Hinton, Bower, Jones . Meanwhile they start the week celebrating other friends, American Babies , by choosing them as their Cover Club selection! This has to be the best value in town with$60 for two nights camping and show ticket. How's the response so far? "The response has been unbelievable. So much enthusiasm. So many people want to be a part of this and help out and see it succeed. We have an amazing community of fans and friends and family and this festival is really bringing everyone together in a really special and exciting way." For Midnight Mountain Music Festival tickets head to MasonPorter.com/MMMS Joe D'Amico of Mason Porter explains the choice of Ameri...

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...

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 ...

This week for CoverClub we get to be extra excited. This week, Pine Barons are playing our favorite festival: XPoNential Festival and they have a great cover for us to share! Cover Club | Pine Barons "January 1979" (mewithoutYou) Now based in Philly, these New Jersey exports weaned on mewithoutYou in high school. It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright was out at the time, but it was Catch for Us the Foxes that the fellas gravitated to. For Pine Barons they all agreed "it's different from our band and so fun to play. It encompasses being a high school student and wanting to yell. Plus a song we can all agree on" During their #CoverClub session, when they recorded the amazing cover of mewithoutYou' s "January 1979" they also treated us to a studio version of "Clowns."  Expected to be part of a full length album, being recorded in Head Room Studios in Spring of '16, this ...

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.

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club. Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist. Vita and the Woolf joined by Tutlie for #CoverClub - photo by Lindsey Borgman We're ready to reveal the final band of Season Two of CoverClub. Wrapping up our second recording session at Cambridge Sound Studios in South Philly, young rising stars Vita and the Woolf tackled the exciting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!  In the video, Jennifer Pague grabs the bass and leads her band and session-mates Tutlie as her chorus!  Cover Club: Vita and the Woolf "Satan Said Dance" (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) Last November for Philly Sings Philly Jennifer Pague covered Dr. Dog 's "Shadow People" to a positive response so it was a logical choice for Cover Club.  Until a few days before our second sess...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club.  Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist. Director Bob Sweeney in action filming Tutlie at Cambridge Sound Studio - Photo by Lindsey Borgman Tutlie is hands down one of the most exciting bands I've had the chance to work with in the last year.  In a year where I had to pick & chose which shows to go to, as I had a newborn at home; it was great to see Tutlie continually popping up on the radar.  First it was the Communion label "Club Night" at Underground Arts and later at Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia .  I was thrilled when we were able to sit down to talk about "who" they were.    As I got to know them, one thing was sure; they had to be a part of Cover Club .  When we started booking for Season Two , they were a mu...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club.  Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist. Ali Wadsworth - Photo by Bob Sweeney Satellite Hearts - Photo by Bob Sweeney Ali Wadsworth + Satellite Hearts are two names that were all over the Philly map in recent years.  Ali Wadsworth most recently put out an album ( Ali Wadsworth ) of songs written by her friends and has contributed vocals for countless others including Kalob Griffin Band , Aaron & the Spell , Kuf Knotz , and Small House.  Satellite Hearts just dropped a new single to tease their upcoming album, but spent most of 2014 backing Kuf Knotz, Ali Wadsworth, Ron Gallo & others.  Meanwhile they're up for the Indie Rock Band of the Year and will be a featured performer for the 4th Annual TriState Indie Awards ....

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club. Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist.   We started Cover Club as a means to share the diversity and strength of the Philadelphia scene.  So when we had a chance to collaborate with Kettle Pot Tracks for a Small Houses session of Cover Club, we jumped at the chance.  This session represents a culmination of so many things going right.  It goes back to the June 2013 Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia show when I met Small Houses.  He had recently done the local On The Hill Sessions for Kettle Pot Tracks, a site that is/was one of the places we would look to find more out about bands from Philly.  So when I got a call, last summer from Mike Batchelor of Kettle Pot Tracks, "hey Jeremy Quentin is here recording, do you want to do a...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club. Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist. Photo by Bob Sweeney Photo by Bob Sweeney In late 2013 at the Philly Sings Philly event, I first met Dan B . of TJ Kong .  Truthfully, I hadn't yet figured out that he wasn't actually Mr. Kong.  While the "real" TJ Kong, was actually Major T. J. Kong, the B-52 bomber pilot from Dr. Strangelove . Philadelphia's TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb is a band full of Dans & Joshes dropping musical bombs (the band has two Dans and two Joshes in it). I've seen Dan B. cover "Standard Human" from Purples solo at Church of Kong (a brunch song-writer series at the former Nodding Heads Brewery ), but it was with Joshua Machiz on bass joining Dan B. that this cover, really takes on new li...

Covers Mix #12 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio .