Root Down in the Shadow

photos by Dan McGurk Haunt The House / Amanda Glasser / Anna Coogan  Last Tuesday, rising folk stars  Haunt The House came to town for their first Philly show. Tagging along to Bourbon and Branch were two more out-of-towners; Amanda Glasser and Anna Coogan . Haunt the House Anna Coogan Anna Coogan Anna Coogan, the veteran of the line-up, was up first at the always interesting Bourbon and Branch.  The gritty songstress was ready for her set no matter what, even if it meant disobeying doctors' orders after a recent broken bone. The best/most ironic part of her set was the ease with which she was able to switch back and forth between love songs and break-up songs.  She explained this may have to do with the break up songs, such as "Cricket Sea", being mostly about the man she eventually married.   However, there was that extra oomph of grit and passion on the love songs.  Before turning over the reins to the next ar...

John Shavel of Sympathy and the Lion - Photo by Kettle Pot Tracks Fleisher Art Memorial - Philadelphia, PA Photo By Dan McGurk Spring is upon us here in Philadelphia.  It's time to start exploring again and shaking off those winter blues.  What better way to celebrate than by going to check out a venue and band for the first time?  I thought it was a great idea, so off I went to Fleisher Art Memorial for an afternoon show with Sympathy and the Lion. Fleisher Art Memorial at first glance appears to be your standard gallery with classes and community space, but it also has a 19th century church connected to it where they occasionally host some shows!  For this Sunday's show in the front of the old church, the bands were tucked neatly in the choir chambers with fans at arm's reach sitting comfortably in the small pews. Photo By Kettle Pot Tracks Cardinal Arms , the musical arm of artist/poet/song-writer Bevan McShea was first to delight fans....

Kevin Killen has been hard at work at Philadelphia's Cambridge Sound Studios lately laying down some new tracks. To give us a tease of what he's been working on, here's the brand new video for "Streets of Sorrow", a cover originally by the Pogues. Kevin Killen - "Streets of Sorrow" (Pogues cover) Streets of Sorrow from Kevin Killen on Vimeo . Kevin Killen plays tonight at the Root Down In The Shadow - Living Room Show. Follow us on Twitter @RootDownPhilly for more infomation as we're working on getting a live stream together of the at-capacity show.

"From the Notebook" is a new series at Root Down In The Shadow, that will explore great experiences with bands and events that didn't make it to the web within a normal deadline, but were too good not to share.  If all goes well we'll let that original moment simmer and provide some additional insight beyond our first take.  Our first subject: Dirty Dollhouse. Chelsea Mitchell All Photos by Lindsey Borgman unless noted  Chelsea Mitchell Dirty Dollhouse Who is Dirty Dollhouse ? Who is Dirty Dollhouse ?  Officially Dirty Dollhouse is the all-beautiful, all-female Chelsea Mitchell-Amber Twait-Vanessa Winters trio.  The lush harmonies of these long-time friends are the crux of any Dirty Dollhouse tune.  But which band is really Dirty Dollhouse?  Is it only the trio? Or, is it a full-band extravaganza?  Chelsea Mitchell Some fans already caught their first glimpse of Dirty Dollhouse at one of their rare shows in 2014. ...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club. Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist.  Vita and the Woolf - photo by Lindsey Borgman Jennifer Pague- Photo by Dan McGurk It's an exciting time for the young band Vita and the Woolf !  Last fall they released their debut EP Fang Song, played a Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia , kicked ass at the Communion Club Night , recorded a Key Session , took part in Philly Sings Philly, played all over town, and were featured in an in-depth interview with WXPN's the Key . If that cross-section of their recent schedule wasn't enough, on-tap is an even crazier next month.  According to Jennifer Pague , the principal member of the band, "What's next is March Tour down to SXSW . We are hitting 10 states and playing a bunch of shows. Then we a...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club. Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist. Vita and the Woolf joined by Tutlie for #CoverClub - photo by Lindsey Borgman We're ready to reveal the final band of Season Two of CoverClub. Wrapping up our second recording session at Cambridge Sound Studios in South Philly, young rising stars Vita and the Woolf tackled the exciting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!  In the video, Jennifer Pague grabs the bass and leads her band and session-mates Tutlie as her chorus!  Cover Club: Vita and the Woolf "Satan Said Dance" (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) Last November for Philly Sings Philly Jennifer Pague covered Dr. Dog 's "Shadow People" to a positive response so it was a logical choice for Cover Club.  Until a few days before our second sess...

Welcome to Season Two of Philly-centric video series, Cover Club.  Cover Club is best conceptualized as “A special brand of Philly covers”, akin to The Onion’s AV Undercover series but with one caveat: the song being covered must originally be from a Philly artist.    Mark Cruttenden of Tutlie Rebecca Way of Tutlie Just two weeks ago, Tutlie came to Cambridge Sound Studios for their Cover Club session. All six members came ready to lay down an awesome session. It could have been chaotic, but the Tutlie team came ready to rock. Warming up with their original, "Frejya" the session started off great. Hailing from their debut LP Young Cries,  this amazing track shines in their video, directed by Bob Sweeney . Cover Club | Tutlie - "Frejya" Check out the Tutlie original "Frejya" via Bandcamp.com Young Cries by Tutlie Head over to the CoverClubPhilly.com audio page for more songs from this session/series Tutlie w...