Philly Sings Philly 2011 at The Fire
Story and all Photographs by StSteven @ PhilipsPhoto.com
Tuesday nights in November have been a special time for the local music scene. Young contemporary Philly songwriters, singers, and musicians have been honoring other Philly songwriters while entertaining audiences by performing their songs. Each week these musicians perform at The Fire as part of Brad Hinton’s Philly Sings Philly project. I attended three of the five performances, and I have to say, I was impressed.
What made this event so special? First, the feeling of community among the participants was very strong with lots of respect shown through the song choices, the effort going into the arrangements, and the enthusiasm in performance.
Second, the general atmosphere at The Fire was great: music in the back; alcohol and conversation in the front; and smoking, video, and autumn air outside.
Third, the quality of the playing and singing. These guys were good. I’m not going to mention specifics as I was unable to attend all the nights, but pretty much all of the performances were really good, and some of them were spectacular.
Week two was ladies night, and there was a talented array of female singers to entertain. Genres were varied, ranging from Rock to Folk to Hip Hop, but most of the music was “singer-songwriter folk style” with really good musicians backing up the singers. Eras were also varied. Although most of the music was contemporary, many artists reached back for Philly songs from the past. Was that Chubby Checker I heard?
Scheduled acts for the 5 night program included:
- Hoots & Hellmouth
- The Spinning Leaves
- Scot Sax
- Suzie Brown
- Ron Gallo
- Ryan Tennis & the Clubhouse Band
- A Fistful of Sugar
- Kiley Ryan
- Ev Rose
- Sisters3
- Ginger Coyle
- Gretchen Lohse
- Mia Johnson
- Brittany Ann
- Swinging Foxes
- Lauryn Peacock
- Emily Bate
- Sonja Sofya
- Griz
- Johnny Miles
- Marc Silver
- Wallace Brothers
- Brian Flanagan Band
- David Sweeny Liberation Orchestra
- The Thin Dimes
- MAK
- Ryan Williams & the Ridiculous Fantastic
- Andrew Lipke
- Hezekiah Jones
- Bob Beach
- Reverend TJ McGlinchey
- Dani Mari
- Up the Chain
- Joshua Park
- Allison Polans
- Bucket Brigade
- Ben Arnold
- Kuf Knotz
- Cresson St. Vibration
- Ross Bellenoit
- Steph Hayes
- Joe D’Amico Band
- Dawn Hiatt
- Kevin Killen
- Daniel of the Moonlight.
This event was such a success, I am sure it will be repeated next year, so keep an eye out for Philly Sings Philly 2012 next fall.
