Root Down in the Shadow

1. Spirit Family Reunion - "Green Rocky Road" Traditional Sandwiched in the middle of their incredible 2012 release No Separation , this traditional has become owned by the Brooklyn sextet. Green Rocky Road has been played in the past by such folk stars such as Arlo Guthrie or Elizabeth Mitchell, but none has taken the song on with such a life! Mat Davidson on fiddle & Maggie Carlson on banjo have absorbed every note and tone of the song and bring it alive. Just watch the video once(Skip ahead to 4:05), and you will be hard pressed to not want to watch and hear more from this band. On this short 3 song set, you get a great glimpse into this jovial and upbeat band. Spirit Family Reunion - "Green Rocky Road" Tiny Desk Concert If you have the opportunity, go see this band live !  Pittsburgh that means YOU. Spirit Family Reunion is coming to Club Cafe on December 11th! Previously Featured:  Concert Review April 2012 or Concert Review October 2011

Free Music ALERT: I've been browsing the net a lot this week, searching for some cool places for music to share.  Here's the best of what I found:  Brown Bird - Fingers to the Bone by supplyanddemand This is one of the singles from the new Brown Bird album Salt for Salt, released in October a few weeks ago.  This album and the corresponding E.P.  The Sound of Ghosts are just infectious.  If you start listening to them, it will be very hard to stop. Brown Bird just started touring with the Devil Makes Three another incredibly enjoyable band.  Catch them if they come to your town.  Regrettably this match up won't be coming to Philly just yet.  For more info on Brown Bird , check out the interview with one half of the band MorganEve Swain ! While browsing SoundCloud.com for some free tracks, I came upon more of the Dum Dum Girls. They are currently on tour in support of  Only In Dreams .  Feel free to preview the album.  Pay attention to &

LAST CONCERT: Matthew and the Atlas, the Low Anthem, and Mumford & Sons at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. NEXT CONCERT : AMY CORREIA . It's just me and the little one that night, so it should be pretty easy to grab her after work and head to NJ for the free show! I hope to get through more than 4 songs this time! CONCERTS TBD : 311 & Sublime with Rome. 311 has gone way downhill since their first 3 discs (first 2 really, but who's counting), but they have managed to put out some stellar singles along the way. All Mixed Up ,  Amber , Creatures (For a While) , Come Original , Beautiful Disaster , and I'll Be Here a While . Also, they typically pick less than stellar tour partners.  I haven't been inclined to see them live since a pairing with G Love many years ago.  Sublime with Rome, is the best tour partner I would ever imagine.  This really should be a fun show!   I really just wish I could go back in time and re-live 311 live, on the rel

9. Daytrotter Split LP featuring Iron & Wine and the Low Anthem! What a great reason to break out the record player!   Before the end of the Spring tour featuring Iron & Wine and the Low Anthem, there was a wonderful announcement for this split LP.  Each band had been touring for their new 2011 albums Kiss Each Other Clean and Smart Flesh respectively.  They also completed some of the best Daytrotter sessions of the year.  If you haven't heard these Iron & Wine songs do yourself a favor and get to it.  Especially for all you boo birds out there, that aren't a fan of the new record because of Sam Beams new sonic experience!  These are stripped down and beautiful.  'Godless Brother in Love' is tremendous track!  Rosie Thomas provides just the perfect amount of backup to Sam's vocals.  Iron & Wine Daytrotter session (Sam Beam & Rosie Thomas) Track listing: 'Tree By the River', 'Godless Brother in Love', 'Naked As We

10. Bonnaroo Turns 10! What a line up! I'm not going, but my next favorite activity after thinking about what to do with lottery winnings that I haven't won, is thinking of bands I would see at festival that I can't afford to go to. THURSDAY: Hayes Carll, Freelance Whales, Best Coast, Sleigh Bells & Deerhunter FRIDAY: Jessica Lea Mayfield, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (the original lineup), Freelance Whales, the Decemberists, (and I would be in two places at once to also see Ray Lamontange), Florence + the Machine, Primus, Arcade Fire, and to cap off the night Big Boi! SATUDAY : the Low Anthem, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Portugal the Man, Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys, Buffalo Springfield, Eminem, Scissor Sisters **EDITOR NOTE** how effing cool is it that A. Eminem is playing Bonnaroo, but that the Scissor Sisters go on after? What a party!!!!!!!!! ******** SUNDAY: The Head and the Heart, G Love & Special Sauce, Nicole Atkins & the

In honor of the current tour with Headliner Iron & Wine and opener the Low Anthem cruising through the East Coast, I thought it was a perfect time to introduce my readers to The Onion - A.V. Club .  The satirists at the Onion took a break from their off the wall articles to bring an awesome twist to the cover song.  According to the intro on the videos (after the Starbucks commercial - sorry) It goes like this.  "With some help from our readers, the a.v. club made another list of 25 song and we’re inviting bands into our office to cover them.   Once a band has played a song, it gets crossed off the list.  So the later a band comes in the fewer songs they will have to choose from." We start off with the inaugural song of this season's list Iron & Wine covering George Michael 'One More Try' Iron And Wine covers George Michael It's a rare look at Sam Beam & Co doing outside songs. Of course there is the larger than life 'Such Great H

I got the email recently from the Low Anthem fan list with their big news (amongst a whole bunch of great tour news) that 'Boeing 737' has now seen it's video release. The video/article can be caught at Spin.com commemorating the release, including all the details about creating the video. While sitting and trying to understand the song, I've been watching the "making of" video, recorded at the Pasta Sauce Factory, where Smart Flesh was made.  I find two themes in the song. The first being a hazy look back @ the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Whether it was meant or not, especially since the only 737 involved was one that nearly ran into a 767(one of two) that did fell the towers; imagery of those events are created. Past attempts from other bands thought back to what they were doing, what they felt or where they were. To me, the Low Anthem entry looks at the second theme more prominently.  Looking at the intended step down from the peace keepers side,

A few years ago, I stumbled across the Austin City Limits television show website. I was searching for some live music, and found the mother load. The site can be a bit cumbersome at times, but it exists as a tremendous treasure chest of some of the best music our country has to offer. The concerts were all supported by PBS, free music, paid for by our taxes potentially soon to go away. I have featured my three favorite episodes. There are so many excellent artists, I have barely made a dent. But I will do my best to go through and chronicle them for you to make it easier. PEARL JAM First is, an excellent intimate hour long Pearl Jam concert. The set list includes an excellent version of 'Porch', some awesome treatments of 'Just Breathe' with a strings section, and a fantastic version of 'Red Mosquito' with Ben Harper on steel guitar Chapter 3:Just Breathe Chapter 4:The End Chapter 5:The Fixer Chapter 6:Johnny Guitar Chapter 7:Amongst T

WHO ARE THEY? Oh so many times in the last five years, the conversation goes like this:   "Who've you been listening to?"  To Which, I reply " IRON & WINE".  Nearly always, the response is "Who are they????"  Iron & Wine initially represented SAM BEAM , a singer/songwriter out from the South, who now resides in Austin, TX.  Now, especially with the latest album, Kiss Each Other Clean , Iron & Wine represent a larger collection of musicians, more representative of the full sound that Iron & Wine albums are offering recently. the Postal Service with their original 'Such Great Heights' The bands exposure has been tough to track, as far as why should you know the Iron & Wine.  Sub Pop label mate the Postal Service , featured Iron & Wine on their ' Such Great Heights' single, in 2003.  At that time the band only had their debut and an E.P. to show.  In 2004 soon after the release of Our Endless Numbered Days

"Molly Songs" are very important in my house.  As a self prophesed music snob, I have started from the beginning exposing my young daughter to various music.  We started with songs that would calm her down, while she was colicky.  The instant winner, and savior of ours, was 'Boy With A Coin ' from IRON & WINE, which instantly soothed her with it's lovely rhythm and vocals .  As soon as she could coordinate her tiny little legs, she would have dance party, shaking her booty in front of the entertainment center, watching herself in the glass doors.   Medeski Martin & Wood 's kid album Let's Go Everywhere selection ' Where's the Music ' was a frequent and repeated choice.  As she ages and more becomes more self-importatnt, music has helped give her some identity.  "NooooOOOOOO, I need Molly songs", is frequently yelled in the car on trips, and I would die if forced to listen to commercial kid crap, like Barney.   Instead, we