Root Down in the Shadow

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 - photo by Lindsey Borgman Jennifer Pague- Photo by Dan McGurk It's an exciting time for the young band Vita and the Woolf !  Last fall they released their debut EP Fang Song, played a Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia , kicked ass at the Communion Club Night , recorded a Key Session , took part in Philly Sings Philly, played all over town, and were featured in an in-depth interview with WXPN's the Key . If that cross-section of their recent schedule wasn't enough, on-tap is an even crazier next month.  According to Jennifer Pague , the principal member of the band, "What's next is March Tour down to SXSW . We are hitting 10 states and playing a bunch of shows. Then we 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. 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.    Mark Cruttenden of Tutlie Rebecca Way of Tutlie Just two weeks ago, Tutlie came to Cambridge Sound Studios for their Cover Club session. All six members came ready to lay down an awesome session. It could have been chaotic, but the Tutlie team came ready to rock. Warming up with their original, "Frejya" the session started off great. Hailing from their debut LP Young Cries,  this amazing track shines in their video, directed by Bob Sweeney . Cover Club | Tutlie - "Frejya" Check out the Tutlie original "Frejya" via Bandcamp.com Young Cries by Tutlie Head over to the CoverClubPhilly.com audio page for more songs from this session/series Tutlie w

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 must to incl

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 Cover Club | TJ Kong "Post Apocalypse Blues" The TJ Kong Cover Club session at Cambridge Sound Studios "living room" was complete, like most of our sessions, with the recording of an original tune.  Ironically, "Post Apocalypse Blues" was one of the very first songs ever written for TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb , according to Dan Bruskewicz , front man of TJ Kong .  While this may be throwback original having been recorded on Idiots (2010) & Manufacturing Joy (2012), it was a fresh choice for the session.   According to Dan, "we love playing it in a stripped down setting, such a different blues feel." While enjoying this fresh take on an old-

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