Root Down in the Shadow

Somehow Sofar Sounds : Philadelphia is hitting their 4th Anniversary. The now world-wide phenomenon was a few shy of twenty cities world-wide when Philadelphia joined the ranks. These days, the shows are all over the globe and it seems like there are just shy of twenty dates in NYC alone each month. It all started in London, back in 2009, and slowly spread during the next two years to New York, Paris, DC, Los Angeles, Pune India, Houston, Brighton, Seattle, New Dehli, Sydney, Madrid, Berlin, Toronto, Dallas-Forth Worth, and Glasgow before hitting the City of Brotherly Love.  During the next 10 days I'm going to look back at four years of Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia trying to give my version of the best videos. Please comment and share what were your favorites. 16.Justin Pellecchia (Satellite Hearts) - Meet the Greens For #16 we're back at the same show as #19.  Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia just encapsulates what is great about seeing music in Philly.  If memor

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.  After the J. Roddy Wal

Hoots & Hellmouth are back at their rightful place, the stages of Philadelphia, as they have begun a residency throughout May on Wednesday nights in at Philadelphia’s Boot & Saddle .   The event marks a first for both band and venue, as this is the group’s first-ever hometown residency and the club’s first since local concert promotions agency, R5 Productions , reopened the South Philadelphia landmark's doors in September 2013.   Now that the first ever residency week at Boot & Saddle is in the books, it's a great time to check out Hoots & Hellmouth as they go through new material in front of fans and friends alike in anticipation of their upcoming recording sessions this summer. The band—led by founding members Sean Hoots and Robert Berliner —will be debuting new material each Wednesday night in May.  One such song, "Move Me" was first presented with the Root Down In The Shadow series Cover Club earlier this year and will be amongst

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 library of Toy Soldiers tune

All Photos by Lindsey Borgman Jonas Oesterle February 16th, 2014 at World Cafe Live , TRI STATE INDIE threw one hell of a party.  The day of the Third Annual Tri State Indie Awards day was filled with celebratory fun and killer music.  Jonas Oesterle hosted the event with The Living Sample as the house band, who by the way are a much better combo than Seth Myers and The 8G Band with Fred Armisen on Late Night .  The event showcased so much of what is awesome with the Philly music scene. The camaraderie in the building was impressive.  Tri State Indie really captured it well, when co-founders Rich McKie & Stephanie Seiple-McKie explained "the event is not solely Tri State Indie's award show.  It is the award show for the whole scene."  They are completely spot-on, as there were an impressive number of bands playing and being nominated, not to mention all the presenters representing a huge cross-section of the local industry.  To further their point, the n

Ron Gallo, AS​-​IS: Live at Kettle Pot Tracks is not at all what it seems. This new release recorded at Kettle Pot Tracks ’ Lafayette Hill studio in December 2013 is not a follow-up to Ron Gallo ’s 2013 solo release Live at Ortlieb's: an in-venue live recording. It is not the Toy Soldiers front-man’s solo project with producer Reed Kendall , coming later this spring with a full band.  AS​-​IS: Live at Kettle Pot Tracks is neither of those. A S​-​IS: Live at Kettle Pot Tracks is the must-share by-product of a solo On The Hill Session with the Kettle Pot Tracks. This stripped-down release marks the first physical release from the Kettle Pot Tracks after a year of stellar digital releases of their sessions. To the unaware listener, what we have is an incredible collection of 1940s standards. Turns out, only one of them is. “Early in the Morning” reigns from that era, but ironically Ron Gallo's inspiration is from the 1970s Harry Nilsson version, rather than 1940s jazz-m

With just days to go before the next robust Communion event here in Philadelphia, let's take a look back at the insanity that took place at Underground Arts a few weeks back:  Philadelphia Communion Show – January '14 By Michael Southerton and Emily Southerton Rosu Lup Michael: SXSW -bound Philly songsters Rosu Lup set a beautiful precedent by kicking off Communion on the Underground Arts Black Box Stage . The songs of Rosu Lup are tenderly crafted melodies that weave elements of Appalachian roots with modern sonic aesthetics. The steel resonance of acoustic guitars and banjos are folded into a reverb-soaked backdrop provided by rich California tones from the electric guitar. The backbeat drives the rich rhythm section, and the core of the four-piece band is uplifted by the lovely addition of strings (two violins) and brass (trumpet and trombone.) And “uplifting” is perhaps the most appropriate term to describe Rosu Lup. While all songs carry the burden of reality

Earlier this week we released the raw and intimate Ron Gallo version of the Lawsuits ' 'Anybody's Girl' for #COVERCLUB !  The softer rendition gave ample pause to the heartfelt Brian Strouse lyrics as Gallo sang them on a cold December day in West Philly. It was this type of reflective day that Ron had back in Chicago a recently while on tour with Toy Soldiers, when the lyrics for his original 'Expensive Hair' started forming in his head.  The brand new song, part of an upcoming project, a kind of a concept album of sorts focuses on the humor of the American lifestyle. Cover Club | Ron Gallo "Expensive Hair" This new project is not to be confused with a just finished solo record that should be released sometime this spring,  his previous solo work Live at Ortlieb's released last spring or the impressive Toy Soldiers album The Maybe Boys released last fall.  'Expensive Hair' is an example of the most recent songs Ron has been writi

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born! The newest session in the #CoverClub series finds us at Nomad Studios in West Philadelphia with Philly's hardest working front man, the Ron Gallo of Toy Soldiers !  The selection 'Anybody's Girl' is from the Lawsuits new album Cool Cool Cool , just released in October 2013. Cover Club | Ron Gallo "Anybody's Girl" (The Lawsuits)  Video by Bob Sweeney(director) and Paul Lorenz - Audio by Nomad Studio In the past five years, Ron Gallo and the Toy Soldiers have shared bills with all kinds of bands big and small, in and out of Philly, but the logical choice for Ron's Philly-centric cover was none other than The Lawsuits.   The Lawsuits first came onto hi

Earlier this year here at the indie Philly blog, Root Down In The Shadow, we started the fun series #Philly Presents , ...bands writing about other bands. The most common reaction from bands to this project: "Wait? Are we covering other bands?" And so #CoverClub was born!  Rewinding back a few months, Joe Fletcher the road warrior extraordinaire, was down in Austin, doing one of many SXSW shows!   At the showcase he heard the scrappy but bangin' fellas from Philadelphia, Toy Soldiers ! Joe Fletcher, explained,  "I first met Dom Billett and Matt Kelly at a show of mine in Lancaster, PA last fall, and after hanging out awhile after the show I could tell we were speaking the same language. I never got a chance to see Toy Soldiers until we were booked at the same SXSW showcase this past March. It was an event called Northern Exposure at The Taproom on 6th and Toy Soldiers went on right before my band. I was immediately floored by their spirit and t

In early 2011, I was excited for the release of the Iron & Wine album Kiss Each Other Clean .  I had been keeping an eye on their website for details of shows and maybe a free single.  At the time, the depth of what you could find on the internet for music was burgeoning.  The fans had spoken and wanted more music, but the free-for-all that was Napster, etc was over.   With Kiss Each Other Clean, s omething happened, that I had never experienced before.  All the promo stuff that happened previously city by city, limited to local fans at record stores and radio stations, this now was out on the web for all to see.  There were many session from stations across the country.  Included in this promotional explosion was a video session at Daytrotter.com! Here it was a Daytrotter session in video form. Iron & Wine pre-Kiss Each Other Clean  - Jan 12, 2011: Daytrotter Studio, Rock Island, IL This was and still is a beautiful piece of recording.  I was darn curious what was happen

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 THE MAYBE BOYS RELEASE SHOW Johnny Brenda's September 13th Nearly a year in the works, The Maybe Boys will finally reach its audience.  Headlining their second Johnny Brenda's show this year, Toy Soldiers share the stage with fellow Newport Folk Festival compatriots Kingsley Flood . Get tickets here: Johnny Brenda's Newport Folk Festival?    Yes indeed.  After touring for two weeks with Joe Fletcher and then two more with more with Andrew Combs , it only made total sense that the Toy Soldiers would come along to Newport Folk Festival as well. Joe Fletcher had curated a set so well received by the Newport Folk Fest powers that it got extended from two hours to four.   Even if Philadelphia is neither Nashville nor Newport it is on the route from "Nashvi

Joe Fletcher live @Fergie's Pub   Recently I came across perfect synergy as a fan.  A national indie act that I've been following joined forces with a local indie act that is ready to hit the national stage! Rhode Island based Joe Fletcher is on tour now with the Toy Soldiers , and just played two gigs in Philadelphia with them over the 4th of July!  I had the pleasure of catching both sets, at Fergie's Pub and the Jamaican Jerk Hut, and sat down with Joe betwen sets to catch up on the world of Joe Fletcher! The new album, You’ve Got the Wrong Man, what’s the current status?  The album started out as an EP last year, and has evolved into a full album .  We're preparing for release in late October! The new tracks haven't really been getting much play on tour?  Is it a fear of a crappy cellphone-video early-release on the internet?  That does play a part, but I've either been playing with bands such as Brown Bird or Toy Soldiers along the way. 

#PhillyPresents: by Ron Gallo Your band name: Toy Soldiers   Style: Rock N’ Roll Years on the Scene: 5 years Current Members:  Dominic Billett - Drums, Vocals Bill McCloskey - Bass Matt Kelly - Guitar Luke Leidy - Keys Ron Gallo - Vocals, Guitar   Any new album projects?  Sessions in the works?  We just finished a full-length album entitled, The Maybe Boys with Philly record-making mastermind Bill Moriarty that’s looking to be out in September alongside a documentary called, The Maybe Trails, that our pal, Seth Klinger made about life on the road.  In the meantime we also did a live session at Converse Rubber Tracks Studio in Brooklyn which we’re releasing as an 7” on July 4th this year!   Introducing : Thom McCarthy Why he's an inspiration.. why you like listening to and watching him? I really think Thom is a genius in every sense of the word.  He’s extremely unique, humble and often a nervous wreck leading up to every performance but onc