Root Down in the Shadow

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 Sofya who provided backing vocals.

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