johnny brenda’s

The last time I caught up with Brooklyn-based indie folk rockers Big Thief was in 2016, when they were opening for Nada Surf at World Café Live, so their headlining show last Saturday, October 2nd, the second of two sold-out nights at the 1,300-capacity Union Transfer, was something quite...

“It’s all totally autobiographical, down to transcripts of conversations,” says Samia about her music.  She goes on to add, “People hear my songs and ask me if those stories are real and I’m like, ‘Yeah!’”  This summer the 24-year-old singer/songwriter released Scout, a four-song EP (on Grand Jury) and...

“A lot of bands that are in our bracket have a checklist, like what venues they have to play or whatever but, for me, just being able to put out a second record was a big highlight for me,” says Isabel Olive, perhaps better known as Latinx indie folk...

Although we’re not even two weeks into the year, it’s hard to be more anxiously curious about anything in music in 2020 than our favorite hyper-heady postmodern dance-punks, YACHT, being nominated for a Grammy… a twist that was more shocking than charming, but certainly both to plentiful degrees… The...

Welsh alt rockers The Joy Formidable have been longtime friends of PHILTHY, from their days of super sweaty gigs at Johnny Brenda’s, to ginormous shows at Union Transfer, and their recent stops at Underground Arts, but this weekend the band will be playing likely their most intimate Philadelphia gigs...

Although the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection did host a number of noteworthy shows this actual Halloween, most notably Angel Olsen at Franklin Music Hall and Chelsea Wolfe at Union Transfer, I suspect that the city’s best Halloween celebration of 2019 will take place tonight at Johnny...

Postmodern Americana singer/songwriter Odetta Hartman describes her sound as an amalgam of, “cowboy soul, future folk, superstitious songs, sound experiments,” driven by “back-porch banjos, detuned violins, foley field recordings, tuning forks.”  Although her sound and presence are notably quirky, her musical chops are undeniable.  Odetta Hartman is...

Australian folk rockers The Paper Kites have been good friends of PHILTHY since all the way back in 2013, when they made their first trek through America (including a stop at Johnny Brenda’s).  They’ve since returned to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection nearly countless times, playing...

Although Jay-Z-Palooza is headed for the Franklin Parkway this weekend, I can assure you that, if exceptionally mediocre mainstream hip-hop isn’t your thing, the best bill to hit Philly this week will be at Johnny Brenda’s this Wednesday, August 28th.  Our favorite Fishtown ballroom and watering hole will be...