Root Down in the Shadow

Kalob Griffin Band celebrating their Cover Club session at Cambridge Sound Stuidos The bands of Cover Club have done a great job of bringing out the best Philadelphia has to offer varying from contemporaries such as Strand Of Oaks , The Districts , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah , mewithoutYou , the Lawsuits , Cruisr , and Chris Kasper. The classics have been deep with Hall & Oates , Ween , Nina Simone , Boyz II Men , The Dead Milkmen , Joan Jett , all the way to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles . No matter which end of the contemporary/classic spectrum bands choose from, there's always an "oh yeah, I can't believe he/she/they hasn't/haven't been covered yet. Oft overlooked, Jim Croce is an indisputable favorite no matter where you're from, and fits perfectly for Cover Club as he was born and raised in South Philadelphia and laid to rest nearby after spending most of his 30 years on the planet here.   With a bit of unintended irony, Kalob Grif...

Philadelphia Folk Festival is an enigma. It's actually far away from Philadelphia at Old Poole's Farm in remote Schwenksville, PA. Once you arrive and park, and either walk or shuttle in you pass a sea of cars and a tent city. There are stages off in the woods, there's a whole other world off in the distance in this magical tent city. What is going on? For this blogger who has experienced only about 8 or so sets total at the fest in the last few years, it is a nut that must be cracked. What exactly goes on at this fest? All the local musicians seem to be buzzing about it every summer year. It was suggested that the only way to get to understand the fest is to ask those who experience it every year. And by every year, we don't mean in the last few years since an adult moved to town. We mean, from people who in some cases, have been going ALL of their life. With the help of Philadelphia Folksong Society , Root Down In The Shadow invited some "life...

Cover Club started as one of those "let's see where this goes" types of projects. We started with a friend's studio in Newtown, Pa with Break Neck Studios to showcase some favorite bands. While the goal of the project has always been to share the Philly music that we love so much, it has been a great opportunity to share our affinity for our favorite studios and sessions. We've worked with Nomad Recording Studios , Kettle Pot Tracks , and Cambridge Sound Studios ; while making stops in Fairmount Park , the Sluice Box , MilkBoy , Church of Kong , and more! We'd be terribly amiss if we didn't take the opportunity to work with John Vettese of WXPN 's The Key for a chance to collaborate for a Key Session - Cover Club edition! Slight problem though, John is such an avid supporter of the Philly local scene, it's tough to find someone he hasn't already worked with. On top of that, how do you pick from the list of people he's on ...

This week for CoverClub we get to be extra excited. This week, Pine Barons are playing our favorite festival: XPoNential Festival and they have a great cover for us to share! Cover Club | Pine Barons "January 1979" (mewithoutYou) Now based in Philly, these New Jersey exports weaned on mewithoutYou in high school. It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright was out at the time, but it was Catch for Us the Foxes that the fellas gravitated to. For Pine Barons they all agreed "it's different from our band and so fun to play. It encompasses being a high school student and wanting to yell. Plus a song we can all agree on" During their #CoverClub session, when they recorded the amazing cover of mewithoutYou' s "January 1979" they also treated us to a studio version of "Clowns."  Expected to be part of a full length album, being recorded in Head Room Studios in Spring of '16, this ...

For those of you that didn't see the invitation to the Root Down In The Shadow HQ House Show with Haunt the House, Dan Blakeslee , and Kettle Pot Black : Sorry, watch the video below to see what you missed. For those of you that did see the invitation, but chose not to come.  You might not want to watch this video... And I told you so. Haunt the House, "Vampyre" live from RDitS House Show 7/13/15 from Michael Batchelor on Vimeo . Check out more tunes by the band here and keep an eye out for more tour dates. Meanwhile, they're playing Newport Folk Festival on Friday!!

Less than a week away, the XPoNential Festival looms large on the summer music horizon.  The schedule has been released and it's time to start plotting out your must see bands, meeting with friends, and where to put your chairs each day! Luckily for us, some of the festival performers have put in their two cents on which bands are worthy of your attention.  Israel Nash Sunday 1:40pm - JerseyArts.com Marina Stage Band Most Excited to Share the Festival Stage with : Courtney Barnett: ( Sunday 3:55pm - River Stage) "Courtney's done so much lately. I’ve been a fan for a little bit, as we keep crossing paths on the circuit, SXSW etc. To keep seeing Courtney, on the lineup, at all these festivals is awesome! Somehow I haven’t been able to catch her set yet, so this will be the first time to see her live. Her new album ( Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit ) is great. Courtney Barnett is such a great poet, while doi...

Back in April for Record Store Day, the #CoverClub crew went to Main Street Music to cover Anthony D'Amato's in-store session.  It was tons of fun as we did some video inside (see original "Rain On A Strange Roof" below) and then took a jaunt over to the canal to do another shoot of Marah's "Walt Whitman Bridge."  The session was a blast, and all the details are over at the CoverClubPhilly.com site. Afterwards, keeping an eye on the internet buzz.. I found something spectacular!  Many fans and artists love music for the same reason... the connection.  And this, is a connection! Anthony D'Amato — Rain on a Strange Roof from Michael Batchelor on Vimeo .