Root Down in the Shadow

Show poster by Jennifer Prough Ahh, Sofar Sounds , that wonderful international phenomenon sweeping the globe that brings an eager group of music fans to living rooms and hip places to see bands large and small play intimate shows each month. Ever since the first Sofar Sounds I went to, back in Jan '13, I've been absolutely hooked.  It's really the best of all worlds for the music fan with amazing international acts, national touring bands, fabulous local bands, the best music fans to be-friend, acoustic/stripped/re-configured/interesting song arrangements, great homes &hosts, and plenty of other reasons to keep coming back for more.  In the last two years, showing up to these select locations it's been surprise after surprise worthy sharing with all my musical friends. The September show was yet another success by the Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia crew ( Carolyn Lederach, Ken Winneg, & Davis Howley ).  They brought us back to the Fishtown/Kensington neighbo...

American Diamond Recordings , Philadelphia's newest collective had a really big weekend.  The newly minted label, home of Ron Gallo / Toy Soldiers / The Lawsuits / TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb / Levee Drivers had major appearances across the North-East.  The Lawsuits opened the River stage on Sunday at the 2014 XPoNential Music Festival Presented by Subaru while on Thursday night; Toy Soldiers played the Newport Folk Festival kick-off party!  The Levee Drivers and TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb are never ones to steer away from the fun, so they popped-up at XPNfest as well.   In the very brief cross-over between River stage and JerseyArts.com Marina stage, The American Diamond bands took up shop on the concourse playing songs between sets.   First, Levee Drivers, joined by TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb members TJ Kong & Josh Machiz, took the lead for a song playing "Bound By That Ride" immediately after the Lawsuits XPNfest set.  Af...

So our pal Mat Burke had the bad luck of getting his place broken into a few months ago.  To overcome the major shortfall that isn't covered by Mat's numerous jobs, he's doing things to raise money in the only way that he knows how: a "Break In Fundraiser."  Here's what Mat has to say about the event: "As many of you know my home was broken into shortly after christmas. The burglars ended up stealing around 10,000 dollars of my stuff. Bummer I know but the really bad thing about all of this was that about 5-6 thousand of that wasn't even my stuff. It was mics, mixing boards, pedals and other odds and ends i was borrowing from a studio for the recording of my new record. Underground Arts and their awesome staff has donated the room and the staffs time to help raise money in hopes of paying back the studio and replacing the equipment that has been stolen. Every dollar of the ticket sales will go toward this. We will also be holdin...

In just under two weeks, a very special edition of #CoverClub will take place live at Church of Kong .  This is the monthly series featuring TJ Kong of TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb and a selection of rotating friends.  The series is a wonderful way to wake up on a sleepy Center City Philly morning.  The combination of the Nodding Heads killer brews, yummy menu and live tunes are great.  When you allow the Kong touch on the lineup to be applied and it's a fantastic morning. LIVE AT CHURCH OF KONG The Cover Club crew is eager to capture some new TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb for our Philly-centric cover series.  The original track stands to be one of their brand new songs, while the Philly-centric cover is yet to be announced.  Come join us to see the tapings before they are released in the upcoming months on YouTube. Be sure to stay for the intense line-up.  Ron Gallo returns for another Church of Kong, as he selects from new solo work and his...