Root Down in the Shadow

Cover Club crew Bob Sweeney & Paul Lorenz Before putting Season One of CoverClub to rest, it seemed like a great time to share the demo session from August John Lutz II of Levee Drivers . This first session brought together producer Peter Joseph ( Married In The Aviary by Chelsea Mitchell 's) and his Break Neck Studios with #Cover Club.  Two fantastic sessions were recorded at the Newtown, PA studio, but this hot August demo session is what started it all.   Here's the still unreleased track, "All Dolled Up In Red" by the Levee Drivers front-man. The long-time live show fan favorite, has yet to be recorded on an album. Although, there are rumors of the song making its way to a new project soon, but only time will tell.  Make sure to head over to LeveeDrivers.com and let them know you want to have the song released! Cover Club / August John Lutz II (Levee Drivers)  "All Dolled Up In Red" Levee Drivers can be next found live at Bo

Hey There Ladybird album art A few weeks back, we tossed a curve ball at our followers, releasing a cover song on a Thursday when we put out the Ladybird cover of Jersey Corn Pickers ?  What gives, right?  For Cover Club, covers are Monday, originals are Thursday, right?  Well sometimes you just have to break the mold.  Since we only released one video that week, to make it up to our fans we have two more Ladybird videos from their Cover Club Session , live from Church of Kong . First, we present to you their original "Traveling Song" written by Cecilia Ferneborg.  This original is expected to be on an upcoming album that is in the works by the three hard working ladies of Ladybird.  Meanwhile, the trio put out an EP this spring to whet your Ladybird appetites.  Hey There Ladybird is available now on Bandcamp.com . Ladybird - "Traveling Song" As a special treat for our #CoverClub followers, we are also unveiling a second cover.  "High On A Mou

It's ironic that a series featuring an extensive collection of Philly-centric covers has also become a sounding board for adventurous new material as well.  The bands invited in for R oot Down In The Shadow' s Cover Club series are given two requirements, one Philly-centric cover and one original.  Time after time the original is an exciting new unreleased track ready to be unveiled to audiences way ahead of upcoming albums. For Kate Faust , she introduces "21st Century Man" to her fans, getting them ready for new material in 2015.   According to Kate, "it's going to be a lot different than Crucial Companion . It's very raw and pure and very truthful. I think it'll resonate deeply with a lot of people." If we follow Kate's trajectory, it will be quite the success.  After parts in other bands ( Toy Soldiers , Perkasie) and leading previous projects ( Lady ) Kate has been gaining more and more traction as she continues to fine tune her

  Earlier this week we unveiled the gutsy cover of Hall & Oates "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Underwater Country Club .   Gutsy in the sense that Darryl Hall is hard to replicate and Hall & Oates songs are just way harder to play than most people recognize.  But really, for Underwater Country Club, it wasn't gutsy at all, it's just sort of what they do.  Brothers Andrew Robinson & Skip Robinson with cohorts Anthony Coppa and Jack Zaferes are gearing up to take the Philly scene over, show by show, song by song.  With somewhat of a reckless abandon, they play their style of rock 'n roll with a confidence that most bands wish they had. The foursome has a new batch of songs they are so very ready to put out to the world.  Add that to their road-tested back catalog including their 2013 EP and they have a killer showcase ready for new fans and old fans alike to hear.  Brand new song "Heat Seeking Missile", captured at No

We're back for more from brand new band Leaf & Tree via #CoverClub.  Earlier this week, we debuted the Leaf & Tree cover of Levee Drivers' "Bourbon Coated" recorded at Breakneck Studios .  Today we debut original track "Hunter's Ridge" and spend some time getting to know Leaf & Tree creator Peter Joseph . Cover Club | Leaf & Tree 'Hunter's Ridge' In the last year you've produced & played on Chelsea Mitchell's "Married In The Aviary" and are producing and mixing Philly singer/songwriter Liam Gallagher's new album. What keeps you the most motivated: your own work, playing with others, or producing others. I would say working with someone else on a project keeps me more motivated because I don't want to let anyone down. I have more of a sense of responsibility when I feel like someone else is counting on me. Which seems backwards, but it is why I haven't finished my own pro

It's # CoverClub time again and this week we unveil the final artist from our Breakneck Recording Studios / Cover Club session 2.0: Leaf & Tree covering Levee Drivers .  Leaf & Tree is the fourth of four artists we invited to record for this session, including Levee Drivers covering Chris Kasper , Lucy Stone covering Cruiser , and Mat Burke covering the Menzingers .  Recorded on a chilly January day, we took to the cozy confines of the intimate Breakneck Studios. Leaf & Tree at Breakneck Studios As sole founder and mastermind, Peter Joseph is no stranger to the angular attic space lovingly known as Breakneck Studios. Under his care and guidance, Breakneck has quickly become the fountainhead of fine-tuned Bucks County folk rock, including that of Peter’s own project, Leaf & Tree. It’s also the birthplace of Cover Club, which likely would never have come to fruition if not for Peter and his seemingly unremarkable - yet somehow magical - attic.  A few months

The #CoverClub series was created to showcase the Philly music scene in all aspects.  Current bands covering other current bands.  New bands covering older bands.  Soon to be legends covering already legends.  Unlike one the inspirations for the series the AV Club Undercover , these sessions had to include some original music as well.  Showing off the current band has to be just as important as honoring the others. Getting to hear these superb new cover versions has been fantastic.  What has been unexpected was hearing, often for the first time, new original material being showcased for the series.  In fact ten of the last twelve sessions have included exciting, new, non-album released material.  For Lucy Stone and their Cover Club session at Break Neck Studios, after they covered pals Cruiser and their "Moving To Neptune" they unleashed their soon to be hit "Ten Below."  Moving further away from their pop/Singer-Songwriter pigeonholing labeling, Lucy St

It's Monday morning, so it must be time for #CoverClub.  This week's video with Lucy Stone brings us back to sonic haven Break Neck Studios where we unveil our 3rd artist from our Session 2.0 .  So far we've had the Levee Drivers covering Chris Kasper and Mat Burke covering the Menzingers .  Stay tuned this week for a killer Lucy Stone original and in the next two weeks we will have DEBUT VIDEOS for two Philadelphia artists! Philadelphia rising stars Lucy Stone, did a great job with their cover of Cruiser .  It was such a great match for them that at first I didn't realize it wasn't their song.  First off, both bands do a killer job of putting out great authentic pop including Lucy Stone - Would You? EP and Cruiser - Cruier EP .  To confuse matters more, in the fall when I was preparing for some work with up & coming artists including Lucy Stone & Cruiser I mixed them in with a few other promising artists including Folk-Americana bands Elijah and the M

Mat Burke is all man; he is well inked, rides a Triumph, brews professionally, and knows his way around a cigar shop.  So, of course, his choice of local Philly bands to play for #CoverClub would be punk band the Menzingers .  In this cover, Mat does manly with style.  He tones down the popular 'Mexican Guitars' with his acoustic guitar at the intimate Break Neck Studios. With this new session, Mat Burke joins other notable front-men of Philly covering their geographically related favorites for the Philly-centric #CoverClub series such as Sean Hoots, Ron Gallo, Aaron Brown, and Brian Strouse  Be sure to check back this Wednesday for more info on Mat Burke's new album, an upcoming benefit show, and of course his original track for this weeks #CoverClub session.  Cover Club | Mat Burke "Mexican Guitars" (The Menzingers) Compare to the original - 'Mexican Guitars from  On the Impossible Past

In mid-January the Root Down In The Shadow Cover Club film crew of Bob Sweeney & Paul Lorenz were back in action with our friends at Break Neck Studio .  After a successful first round with Kevin Killen, Christopher Davis-Shannon, Chelsea Mitchell of Dirty Dollhouse and Brian Strouse & Vanessa Winters of The Lawsuits we followed our model of getting four bands into the studio for a Philly centric cover and an original track. Our first release from the 2.0 session of Cover Club at Break Neck Studio features Root Down In The Shadow favorites, Levee Drivers .  Front-man August John Lutz II has been heavily involved in the series as a co-producer, handpicking our Bucks Co. studio partner himself.  His band was a more than obvious choice to include in the series, as Levee Drivers are one of the most captivating bands gracing Philadelphia stages today.  It seems somewhat easy to figure out some of August Lutz' stylistic influences such as Johnny Cash , Jack White,

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

Photo by Jeff Coon This week, the session of the new Philadelphia-centric music series #CoverClub, features Brian Strouse & Vanessa Winters at Break Neck Studios where the members of Philadelphia band, the Lawsuits, covered Ween !  Ironically, just as I lamented here are week ago, that 'Fine Quality' covered by Chelsea Mitchell was being rescued from the growing stack of incredible songs by the Lawsuits on the new album Cool Cool Cool .  Brian and Vanessa dug further into the Lawsuits catalog for this week's original session track! 'Dancing In Church' is a Lawsuits throwback.  In fact, it's technically on a solo Brian Dale Allen Strouse album, 18 South Main.   The 2010 album was early tinder for Strouse, as several tracks made it onto other releases.  Two songs became tracks on the subsequent Lawsuits album Darleen ('Hot Water Blues' and 'Mermaid').  The dark 'Hurricane Blues' a lament of a broken relationship, became a ste

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!  This week, the featured #CoverClub artists are Brian Strouse and Vanessa Winters of  The Lawsuits .  On a very chill afternoon in October, Brian and Vanessa came in to Breakneck Studio for their session.  Coincidentially they came in right as Chelsea Mitchell was recording her version of the Lawsuits' 'Fine Quality'. The band Brian Strouse chose cover was Ween.  Ween ?   Ween is just one of those bands.  You'll never hear them on the radio.  You didn't see them on MTV or VH1, but maybe once in their lengthy career.  Someone had to introduce you to Ween.  For Brian Strouse it was his older brother.  My experience was through an older brother too, not mine, but my frien

This week, Kevin Killen played a cover of Philly legend Ben Arnold for #CoverClub!  While he hasn't been in the scene as long as Ben Arnold, Kevin Killen has certainly put his stamp on the scene! Just soak in what happened at Tuesday's Philly Sings Philly as the tip of the iceberg.   Psalmships' Joshua Britton was on stage, covering a Kevin Killen song 'Oh The Ground' from Laurelwood Road .  It was the last song of his set and going fantastically.  There had been some short set changes, so it didn't see too weird that two guys from Hezekiah Jones jumped on stage, but then two more went up and they were plugging in.  All five members of Hezekiah Jones were now on stage and started playing the song as well.   Momentarily all six musicians are playing in unison before Joshua unplugs and steps off stage, leaving the Hezekiah Jones crew playing the rest of the song, completing one of the most unique stage transitions I've ever been witness to!   Wow!  B

No Philly music project could be complete without including Kevin Killen, considering his large impact on the Philadelphia music scene.  So far this year, I've witnessed Kevin solo, accompanied by Sarah Larsen , as part of Brad Hinton 's band, drumming and writing for Ali Wadsworth, and drumming for the Levee Drivers .  Beyond that, he's part of Psalmships , and Hezekiah Jones .  Also this year, he produced Homesteady for Tin Bird Choir and much, much more!     Photo by Jeff Coon If somehow he didn't get on your radar for any of those outfits, Kevin Killen has played with Chris Kasper (live shows), Chris Bathgate (tour member in 2011), Small Houses (played drums on North ), Joe D'Amico (drums live ), and Wissahickon Chicken Shack . So when I asked Kevin Killen to be a part of #CoverClub, I didn't even ask what he might be playing.  Kevin is an integral part of such a broad swath of the Philadelphia music scene, he would have so much to pick from thro

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

Back in May #PhillyPresents was launched.  The series allowed Philly bands to share with their fans and Root Down In The Shadow fans, the music they listen to amongst the Philly scene.  What better way to get to know bands, than to have your favorite band tell you who they like? Seriously, what could be better?  Well, that would be those same favorite Philly bands COVERING other Philly bands.  Covering their favorites!  Covering legends of the scene!  Covering bands we need to know!  With the help of our friends at Break Neck Studios & RLS Video, we're going to get them in the studio to capture these covers and session tracks! To get a taste of what to expect, here's our two promos for #CoverClub.  Enjoy! August John Lutz II of Levee Drivers