Root Down in the Shadow

It's Folk Festival Time for everyone in the Philadelphia area.  Have you checked out the newly updated Philadelphia Folk Festival website?   The site is so easy you can personalize your own schedule for the festival.    Other fests say you can do it, but they still end up being super cumbersome. You can sort this by stage or date, or just select a bunch of favorites from any page and have them show up as highlights to the schedule with the "Show My Schedule" button. But even if you a super easy site isn't for you, here's Root Down In The Shadow 's "Five to See Live" at the 55th Philadelphia Folk Festival presented by Philadelphia Folksong Society.  Hurricane Hoss  Friday 3:30 Martin  Guitar Main Stage:   Hurricane Hoss is everything country & folk music needs. None of this bro, country-pop with bimbos in the videos. Hoss brings back swagger and sass and has the chops to back it up. The backing band this year is a veritable ...

As a music fan, one of my favorite activities is chatting about seeing amazing bands in interesting places.  While I'm stoked to see Pearl Jam later this month in an arena, I was more excited to see Lucius at mid-sized Union Transfer where I could be two feet away from them.  I'm edge of my chair excited to see J. Roddy Walston & The Business, playing the tiny Ortlieb's. Sometimes you know who to look for.  Sometimes you luck out and find amazing where you wouldn't expect it.  Sofar Sounds is a great way of finding magic in unexpected places.  Tonight we'll travel back through the Sofar Sounds: Boston archives for some gems.   Share some videos as you go and don't forget to sign up for your local Sofar Sounds IF you like what you see here, check out our top 20 performances of Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia in honor of their four year anniversary and to take a look at our friend Max García Conover's trip through some Sofar cities. November 2013 ...

Shakey Graves Levee Drivers and Ladybird As a first-time "fest" attendee I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been to many fests, but never before a folk fest, and never before one in such a sprawling, open, natural environment. I'd heard of the Philadelphia Folk Fest (or just fest, as everyone calls it) of course but didn't know what kind of crowd it would draw, what the general feel would be, or how I would fit in as a young(ish) photographer with more of an indie music bent. As it came to be, the answers were, in order: the nicest fest crown I've yet experienced. I had anticipated an older crowd and while they were there in droves, there were also a ton of younger adults, kids and everything in between. There was no pushing, or crowding, or obnoxious drunk bros as far as the eye could see. The crowd was refreshing, and happy. Fest had this feel of absolute love of music, and of shared appreciation for it. I don't think I've even bee...