Root Down in the Shadow

Sofar Sounds is based on the idea "Songs for a Room".  A "room": meaning not a warehouse, not an amphitheater, not a club.  These intimate shows are built around fans having a premier experience without the normal trappings of lines, cover charges, overly loud P.A. systems, and uncomfortable venues.  Instead you have bands intermingled with fans in comfortable homes and unique places.  In the case of the June '14 Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia the room is " The Rivals House " aka Nomad Recording Studios aka, home of SwiftLessons .  Whatever you want to call it, it's a cozy place to listen to live music. In fact, it's comfortable enough that we find ourselves back at The Rivals House for the third time in the last year.  Coincidentally enough each time at the Rivals house, the show has involved the Satellite Hearts.   They played the show in September '13 with The Unlikely Candidates , Penrose , and Murchant .  Lead singer Justin Pelle...

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...

Cover Club crew Bob Sweeney & Paul Lorenz Before putting Season One of CoverClub to rest, it seemed like a great time to share the demo session from August John Lutz II of Levee Drivers . This first session brought together producer Peter Joseph ( Married In The Aviary by Chelsea Mitchell 's) and his Break Neck Studios with #Cover Club.  Two fantastic sessions were recorded at the Newtown, PA studio, but this hot August demo session is what started it all.   Here's the still unreleased track, "All Dolled Up In Red" by the Levee Drivers front-man. The long-time live show fan favorite, has yet to be recorded on an album. Although, there are rumors of the song making its way to a new project soon, but only time will tell.  Make sure to head over to LeveeDrivers.com and let them know you want to have the song released! Cover Club / August John Lutz II (Levee Drivers)  "All Dolled Up In Red" Levee Drivers can be next found live at Bo...

Hey There Ladybird album art A few weeks back, we tossed a curve ball at our followers, releasing a cover song on a Thursday when we put out the Ladybird cover of Jersey Corn Pickers ?  What gives, right?  For Cover Club, covers are Monday, originals are Thursday, right?  Well sometimes you just have to break the mold.  Since we only released one video that week, to make it up to our fans we have two more Ladybird videos from their Cover Club Session , live from Church of Kong . First, we present to you their original "Traveling Song" written by Cecilia Ferneborg.  This original is expected to be on an upcoming album that is in the works by the three hard working ladies of Ladybird.  Meanwhile, the trio put out an EP this spring to whet your Ladybird appetites.  Hey There Ladybird is available now on Bandcamp.com . Ladybird - "Traveling Song" As a special treat for our #CoverClub followers, we are also unveiling a second cover.  ...

In just a few days, THIS SATURDAY, a line-up of epic proportions is ready to be unleashed AT THE RIVALS HOUSE . Last month, we started off the joint series at the Rivals House with rockers Up The Chain and Satellite Hearts .  This month were turning down the volume and doubling the lineup.  Four acts will take to the mic with Sean Hoots, Emily Ana Zeitlyn (Divers), Ladybird, and The Rivals all ready to wow audiences.  Ranging from Folk-tonk to Bluegrass to cutting edge rock, these four local outfits are some of the best Philly has to offer. The event is limited, so be sure to RSVP.    While the event is NOT FREE, please be prepared to pay according to how awesome you think the night is going ($10-20).  To get an idea of what incredible fantasitic-ness you'll be a part of, here are a few videos to get you ready. Sean Hoots from his recent Cover Club session Emily Ana Zeitlyn of Divers at Johnny Brenda's The Rivals from their recent Cover...

Across the globe, music festivals are getting larger and larger with dozens of bands gracing multiple stages.  One festival, XPoNential Festival , bucks this trend and still has only two stages at a time with a major effort taken to prevent overlapping live music.  A favorite for many, this festival comes together each year with such great bands and such few issues.  If you're wondering what their secrets are, now's your time to find out.  Root Down In The Shadow recently had the opportunity to connect with Paul Severin - Events Producer for WXPN to get all of our questions answered, finding out what goes into planning XPoNential Festival [FOR LINEUP & TICKETS - Click over to XPN.ORG ] What is it about an artist that catches your attention or makes them a good fit for the festival? Just like what we decide to play on WXPN, first and foremost we simply think about what our listeners will connect with the most musically as simple as that may sound. W...

It's our favorite time of the year: XPoNential Festival time!  Like most things here at Root Down In The Shadow we're going to take a band-centric view of the festival and let them tell you who to go see this year at the 2014 XPoNential Music Festival Presented by Subaru, brought to you by WXPN . SATURDAY - RIVER STAGE - 12:30 PM-1:00 PM Davis Howley - Vox/Guitar - Commonwealth Choir Band Most Excited to Share the Festival Stage with : " Jenny Lewis & Dawes are both really significant to the band.  Rilo Kiley (Jenny Lewis' former band) was sort of the cross over artist for us, as teenagers moving from punk & hardcore to a new genre, they exposed us to country & folk in a modern way, but still bad-ass & sexy.  It's really expertly crafted music." Band Most Excited to see live at #XPNFest :   "We all became obsessed with Dawes .  Individually we started going to see them at shows, covering them at parties, drawin...