Root Down in the Shadow

The buzz has been all about Sonja Sofya and her new album The Patterns We Know .  Tonight Sonja Sofya and band take to the stage at Boot & Saddle in South Philly along with a great line-up featuring Arc Divers and the dove and the wolf. Right off the top we have some great reasons to expect great things from this album, such as produced by Ross Bellenoit at Turtle Studios and excellent musicianship by guitarist/producer Ross Bellenoit, bassist Jonathan Colman , and drummers Matt Scarano and Jonas Oesterle . But we at Root Down In The Shadow wanted to dig further and see what Sonja had to say about the album. Here's 3 questions we had for the songstress Sonja Sofya: RDITS: What was the impetus to make a full length record and why did you pick the people you worked with? At a certain point, playing and writing as much as I was, it felt like the logical next step, but I waited for a while, trying to find the "perfect" time to go into the stud...

Gallo, Bellenoit, D'Agostino @ Fergie's Pub A few years back, I went to Fergie's Pub for a late night music hang.  It was still early into my indoctrination of the Philly music scene and really didn't know just how amazing those nights would/could actually be.  I just knew a friend or two were likely to play and my child and wife were already asleep.  Ron Gallo would be playing that night, and the lanky front-man was flanked by a guitarist who just walked in, a dude on bass, and the host of the night was at the drums.  There's no way it was going to be any good; Gallo and two random dudes?  It couldn't be good, right?  It was a Wednesday night, late as hell, and a bunch of jokers at the upstairs "dive" portion of a great Irish bar were about to rock out without a set list.  What could actually be good about this? What I didn't know was this host Jonas guy, was Jonas Oesterle (of Purples and other projects), the bassist was Phil D'Agosti...

Those who wanted to extend their Halloween festivities into the weekend were in for a treat this past Friday.  Milkboy invited three local bands to cover well known artists.  And this wasn’t just covering a band – it was completely embracing it.  Song Dogs as Talking Heads ; Ross Bellenoit as Elvis Costello; and Val De Val as Alice in Chains . Ross Bellenoit  kicked off the night, taking the stage as Elvis Costello.  Ross decided to pay tribute to Elvis Costello by performing his 1986 album Blood & Chocolate cover to cover. Some might think this to be a risk mainly because it’s not well known. But in chatting with Ross he told me it was just something he had wanted to perform for quite some time and also was attracted to the challenge of performing this album on stage.  Joining him in this feat was   Patrick Berkery on drums, Joe Baldacci on guitar, keyboardist Matt Landis , Todd Erk on bass, and Sonja Sof...

From time to time, there comes a need to bring fans up to speed with all the goings on with a band.  Hence the "Catching Up With...." series here at Root Down In The Shadow 'Fold' Single Lots of big things are happening for Kwesi K.   First and foremost, a new Pronouns EP is weeks away from release.  Funded last fall in 37 days of crowd sourcing via a Kickstarter project , Pronouns EP has been a constant part of Kwesi's life since it was conceived.  There were many occasions, where he came straight from the studio to a gig, such as the June Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia show.  If Kwesi thinks life might slow down a little now that the album is done, he's dead wrong. After getting a sneak peak on the single 'Fold', it is clear Kwesi K will be a busy man.  Affectionately referred to as " Graceland 's cousin", 'Fold' is a vibrant tune that brings his talents emphatically to the forefront.   So many melodious sounds en...

Photo by Lindsey Borgman Your band name: Sean Hoots/Hoots & Hellmouth Style: Anything with passion/fire/vibe. My general approach can be expressed by the formula Soul + X, where X represents any number of mixable styles (rock, folk, electronic, noise, etc.). Years on the Scene: Many years, to be sure. 8 with Hoots & Hellmouth , but I've been around a lot longer than that doing a whole host of musical things. Current Project and/or Members:  Hoots & Hellmouth is currently on a bit of a pause. 8 years of hard touring requires a breather at some point! In that space, I am exploring a variety of music, involving a variety of folks, everything from solo singing and soundscape-making to ensemble playing with some of Philly's best (and cutest), including Todd Erk , Jaron Olevsky , Tom Bendel and Carl Bahner . Any new album projects? Sessions in the works? All kinds of stuff in the works...I just did a trio session/show at Carl Ba...