Root Down in the Shadow

Maine, singer-songwriter Max García Conover , shook off the New England winter funk and hit the road in April.  For Max García Conover, April marked many premiers.  April 2nd was the launch of his debut album Burrow and his inaugural Philadelphia show! "Burrow is the debut album from Max García Conover. Recorded in Max’s attic studio during winter in Maine, these songs are about digging in, or trying to, through the work that we do and the art that we make. Burrow was mixed, mastered, and co-produced by Pete Morse ( Red Vault Recording ). Pete also wrote and recorded the electric guitars. The album is being released through Clip Records , a Portland-based independent label. The artwork is by painter Meghan Howland ." While 2012 was a time of growth, as he worked on his ambitious Sunday Sessions and was rewarded with Maine’s Best New Act ( Portland Music Awards ). 2013 has been the time to show off his wares, taking the best songs from Sunday Sessions and...

Photo by Jeff Coon Photo by Jeff Coon Just over two years ago, Max García Conover in preparation for his first show in Philadelphia at The Grape Room , he reached out to Root Down In The Shadow to connect.  Could I review his new album Burrow?   A review wasn't possible, but the Grape Room was just down the hill from my house.  Since then we've collaborated many times for house shows and connections for other line-ups and sessions.  This last August was a very special day for both of us.  He was able to join make a Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia show and since we had made arrangements with the host, we had the ability to do more recording and pulled off a Cover Club Session. It isn't just the last two years that made Max García Conover's relationship with Philly special.  It's been going on for most of his life.   He explains, "My romanticization of philadelphia started way back in elementary school, dancing and singing in my bedroo...

So what's a formula for a successful House Concert. 1. Find bands that fill your soul 2. Invite your like minded music fiends 3. Forget the rest, if you have music & friends nothing else matters. **** Some of you may have noticed some repetition to a Root Down In The Shadow House Concert.  But if a musician fills your soul, why would it be a bad thing to repeat?  Max García Conover , is one of those artists I will gladly go see everytime he comes through, even if it happens to be in a living room or backyard of a friend.  Haunt The House , who are coming this Saturday , is another one of those artists.  But hey, when you find something that works; stick with it. Last Friday we had a special show in Fishtown.  Max had a Thursday slot in Nashville for Sofar Sounds and a gig Saturday in Mt. Holly, NJ; so of course a Philly house show made sense.  Why not? Filling out the line-up were William Doobies & Dan Weirauch of New Sweden and Mike ...

Two years ago at a super intimate Root Down In The Shadow house show, before Sofar Sounds: Boston existed, Max García Conover met up with Mark Schafer , the Boston Sofar Area Coordinator.  Mark must have heard something he liked as Max was selected for the 2nd Sofar Sounds: Boston show that November, 2013.  Since then, Max has been popping up at Sofar Sounds all over North America. I was able to catch up with Max to see why he keeps coming back for more Sofar Sounds shows. He explained, "I've played Sofar Sounds shows in Fort Worth, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Maine, and they were all great. House concerts are some of my favorite shows to play in general, but there's an intensity to Sofar Sounds shows that's hard to match - having a room full of strangers give their utmost attention to music that's unknown to them is a special, rare experience. Sofar magically seems to deliver that every time." Here's a glimpse of that magic fr...

If you haven't noticed, we're big fans of Max García Conover.   A few months ago we chronicled Max García Conover's first videos with Sofar Sounds.   Now we're back as there are 2 more to share! Max has now done 8 Sofar Sounds across the country and if the other cities are lucky enough, hopefully more to of these posts will follow. Here's performances from Philadelaphia and Maine:     Eddie's Wine | Sofar Philadelphia As Much a Rising Sun As a Setting One (Part 2) | Sofar Maine   Hopefully his appearance from Nashville will be following soon!

As a music fan, one of my favorite activities is chatting about seeing amazing bands in interesting places.  While I'm stoked to see Pearl Jam later this month in an arena, I was more excited to see Lucius at mid-sized Union Transfer where I could be two feet away from them.  I'm edge of my chair excited to see J. Roddy Walston & The Business, playing the tiny Ortlieb's. Sometimes you know who to look for.  Sometimes you luck out and find amazing where you wouldn't expect it.  Sofar Sounds is a great way of finding magic in unexpected places.  Tonight we'll travel back through the Sofar Sounds: Boston archives for some gems.   Share some videos as you go and don't forget to sign up for your local Sofar Sounds IF you like what you see here, check out our top 20 performances of Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia in honor of their four year anniversary and to take a look at our friend Max García Conover's trip through some Sofar cities. November 2013 ...

Caleb Hawley is playing Milkboy: Philadelphia April 2nd 2014.  After years of relentless touring, open mics, and learning the business good & bad, Caleb Hawley has found his groove.  With a full band in tow, Caleb returns to his roots, ready to share his love of R&B. To get you ready for the show, here's some Q&A with Caleb Hawley and a few tastes of what to expect! Your career seems to be coming back around to your early influences (Ray Charles, Stevie etc).   How have the singer/songwriter circuits prepared you to come back to the full sound? Definitely have been coming back around to some of the influences that made me fall in love with music in the first place.  Maybe it's just a phase of the cycle, but I've been back in it for a few years now. I started off solo & stripped down because I was eager to tour and it seemed to logistically make the most sense.  I think the most important thing that I got from playing the sing...

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! #2 Little Comets - The Blur, The Line and The Thickest of Onions We've already featured two other videos from this particular July 2014 show with Satellite Hearts and The Gallerist reeling off great ...

Typically I prepare for my posts throughout the day. I listen to music constantly while I drive around town. It's really one of my most favorite parts of my job, the other being the puzzle of addressing how a car got damaged and how far that damage traveled. Today, however, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed when getting ready for this post. I love... emphatically love the Blood Sugar Sex Magik album, but I've come to realize it's just not a "Desert Island Disc". Anthony Kedis ' insane lyrics of feelings, drug trips, and other adventures are outstanding, but the disc itself is too much of a roller coaster to ever be on repeat (preferably with 4-5 other albums) for a desert island eternity.  I somewhat always knew this, but at the same time I always wanted more out of this pinnacle of Red Hot Chili Pepperdom. Even after reading Scar Tissue the Kedis autobiography, and understanding more of the lyrics, especially his ever constant binge and purge wit...

Philly/CT band  Birds Over Arkansas ' is currently recording their full length release as a follow up to their 2014  Behind The Lights  EP.  Root Down In The Shadow is proud to debut the first single from this release, "Forgotten Lights." "Forgotten Lights" was first teased in an exclusive release for a RDITS house show in March featuring BOA , Kevin Killen , Chelsea Mitchell , and Max García Conover . Finally ready for the masses, "Forgotten Lights" is helplessly watching a loved one slip away into dementia. The song starts as a mellow Americana groove, and the split at the outro introduces the progressive rock elements to bring in the lyric "the flame blew out again." This was the pivotal point in the lyrics, signifying the change from someone who was slowly losing their faculties who has now seemingly become a different person. The switch from the easy, mellow groove to the frenetic time signature embodies this. Scott Haskitt - ...

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....

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to go to Newport Folk Festival for the first time.  I was very excited to go, with notables such as Decemberists, Gillian Welch, Tegan & Sara,  and Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three  amongst the acts.  It would be a good time for me to get to know bands I had heard of through my tour manager buddy, David Wax Museum and Brown Bird .   Those six alone would make it worth it for a weekend away with my wife, plus there were countless others that I sure wouldn't mind seeing if I had the chance, M. Ward, EmmyLou Harris, and Elvis Costello.   As time got closer to the festival, I was beyond excited.  I had started to learn more about the other bands, such as Freelance Whales, the Civil Wars, and The Head and The Heart.   Once the schedule was released I was in full blown chaos level excitement.  Except for one thing, now there were too many bands I was excited to see.  The worst ...

Next Thursday, Arc Iris is featured on a co-bill with Anthony D’Amato at the Philadelphia intimate venue The Tin Angel . Having caught Arc Iris now five-or-so times in Philly, each time they conceptually get more expansive and bolder, I couldn't wait until Thursday to find out what Arc Iris had in store for the Tin Angel guests. With all of the wonderful buzz circulating around Arc Iris seemingly focusing on the bands matriarch Jocie Adams , I felt it was time to get some perspective from the other half of its creative mind Zachary Tenorio-Miller .  Zachary and I chatted about meeting Jocie, the birth of Arc Iris, and what is coming next! Zachary Miller-Tenorio or Storm Trooper? Root Down In The Shadow :  When did you first start making music with Jocie Adams? Zachary Tenorio-Miller : It all started when I first met Jocie.  We had like a million mutual friends back when I had been playing with members of Elvis Perkins in Dearland in an off-shoot band Diamo...

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...