Skip to main content

Mat Burke Wants To Bleed All Over You at Kung Fu Necktie Dec 19th - Still Bleeding EP Release Show

By




This Friday, Mat Burke will be gracing the Kung Fu Necktie stage for the Still Bleeding EP release show.  Joined by some of the most exciting rockers in Philly: The Rivals, Penrose, and August John Lutz II of Levee Drivers; it stands to be a wild night of music.  

Mat Burke - Photo by Elizabeth Thorpe

If the album title is any indication, Philadelphia's Mat Burke will be ready to bleed for us.  With his new EP Still Bleeding he's visiting a theme he's been capturing for some time.  According to Mat, "everyone bleeds not only in a physical sense but a singer bleeds every time he steps on stage, a teacher bleeds every time she talks to a class, an artist bleeds with every stroke of a brush."  Burke normally plays solo so this makes total sense that he's "still bleeding," sharing his stories as he takes the full brunt of talkative crowds without support of band mates.

Theme aside, on his new EP his music is taken to new heights.  Thoughts of suicide, self-worth, failed relationships, loss of innocence, and of course "still bleeding" are reflective topics he takes on with the new music.  Mat Burke describes it as "hands down the darkest and most personal work I've ever created. Brian [Dale Allen Strouse], Josh [Friedman] and I created something totally diff than anything I've ever done. I was out of my comfort zone on this one and learned that space and emptiness can be a beautiful thing."

Mat Burke - Photo by Elizabeth Thorpe

 Still Bleeding is a vast mix of singer songwriter personal touches, with touches of punk rock.  "I can't Be What You Want Me To Be" is the best of the full-band songs with the grinding rock, Mat's heart on his sleeve, over Strouse's oohs and ahhs.  "Box of Pine", which had debuted first for Burke's Cover Club Session is impressive with the full arrangement, so he can be glad he didn't succumb to dark thoughts while stuck at a truck stop on tour years ago.  The live set on Friday stands to match with a "Mat Burke and friends" lineup planned.


August John Lutz II (front) and Ben Plotnick (rear) of Levee Drivers - Photo by Elizabeth Thorpe
Mat Burke won't be the only one unveiling new tunes.  The Rivals have been teasing new singles to fans, while August John Lutz II's band Levee Drivers is sooooooo close to putting out their new album.   Closing out the nights are the brothers Murphy of Penrose. 

Penrose - Photo by Elizabeth Thorpe







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Release Q&A - Sonja Sofya answers some questions for "Patterns We Know"

By
The buzz has been all about Sonja Sofya and her new album The Patterns We Know .  Tonight Sonja Sofya and band take to the stage at Boot & Saddle in South Philly along with a great line-up featuring Arc Divers and the dove and the wolf. Right off the top we have some great reasons to expect great things from this album, such as produced by Ross Bellenoit at Turtle Studios and excellent musicianship by guitarist/producer Ross Bellenoit, bassist Jonathan Colman , and drummers Matt Scarano and Jonas Oesterle . But we at Root Down In The Shadow wanted to dig further and see what Sonja had to say about the album. Here's 3 questions we had for the songstress Sonja Sofya: RDITS: What was the impetus to make a full length record and why did you pick the people you worked with? At a certain point, playing and writing as much as I was, it felt like the logical next step, but I waited for a while, trying to find the "perfect" time to go into the stud...
1 comment
Read more

Root Down Is A Sometime Thing...

By
From the desk of Root Down: Greetings Friends!  It's been a bit, how've ya been? What's new? I've been gone for some time and I feel that I owe everyone an explanation of where I've been.   Honestly, I haven't gone anywhere. Since I've last posted, I've still been frequenting my favorite record store, been hitting up local shows, hosted a few house shows, traveling for special shows, and making music a large part of my life.  What I haven't been doing is losing countless hours fretting over knowing every new artist, tweeting, and losing sleep editing articles that spend less time getting read than I spent writing.  I can definitively tell you that I'm DONE attempting to make Root Down In The Shadow "a thing" in the music world.   I don't need Twitter followers, a lively blog, or anyone else's validation to share my love for music. It doesn't help my enjoyment of music to follow a shit-ton of bands on eve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Premier Single : Birds Over Arkansas "Forgotten Lights"

By
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 - ...
1 comment
Read more