Recap: American Diamond Recordings Showcase @ World Cafe Live 11/20
It’s a rare occasion that I venture to west Philly these days. It’s as good a place as any but from the heart of south Philly it sort of feels like traveling to a foreign land. I’d been hearing rumors about American Diamond Recordings for awhile, so I figured I may as well make the trek over to the World Cafe and see what this ADR showcase had to offer. Overall it was a pretty god damn good show, the World Cafe is always a great place to sit back and catch some good music and the bill was stacked.
Ron Gallo ADR founder / Toy Soldiers front man emceed the proceedings and also sprinkled in a few of his own songs between sets, which was a nice touch. Brooklyn’s own Leland Sundries opened up the night with a nice solo set of folky, finger style tunes followed by Scranton, PA locals Heavy Blonde. I’d heard some good things about these guys and I can’t say I was disappointed. They’ve got a bouncy, jazzy, folk rock thing going on, it’s a little sweet and a little edgy at the same time. I dig it. Their EP is free, you should probably go get it. Also it has a picture of a werewolf on the cover so you can’t go wrong there.
The Levee Drivers took the stage next and to be honest they really knocked it out of the park. I’d seen them before but it was awhile ago and they were doing a stripped down acoustic set. I was pretty impressed then but this time around I was totally blow away. These guys are fucking raw. They’ve got some real filthy, driving, Americana chops and they don’t take prisoners. Do yourself a favor and check them out.
The Bernhardt Family Band wrapped things up, unfortunately I had to work in the morning (I can’t stay out getting tanked on weeknights all the these day), so I missed them…. but if ADR is getting behind them chances are they deliver. In closing, I think American Diamond is exactly what the Philly scene needs right now. There’s a lot of good music happening here but I think Philly tends to get glossed over even from within the city. Why you ask? Maybe Philly gets overshadowed by New York, maybe people just like cheese-steaks more than local music… I don’t know, I don’t have all the answers. What I do know is the folks over at American Diamond Records are onto something so keep an eye out for them.
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