Musically diverse folk-pop outfit Poi Dog Pondering has sometimes referred to itself as a “little big band,” and that tag nicely captures both the band’s sound and philosophy. With recording and touring lineups that have at times included a dozen players, and with instrumentation that includes horns, strings, electronics and worldbeat percussion, the band has managed to incorporate a wide range of Celtic, Cajun, Polynesian and African influences into its music. At the same time, the focus and feel of Poi Dog Pondering’s songs are intimate and personal — this chiefly the result of the pop sensibility of primary songwriter Frank Orrall (who, along with violinist and vocalist Susan Voelz and multi-instrumentalist Dave Max Crawford, has been the creative constant among the band’s shifting members).
The group’s first gig was in 1986 at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where a performance accompanied by film projections of lava eruptions was an early indication of the band’s ongoing interest in multimedia presentation. The group, whose early lineup included singer-songwriter Abra Moore, took its name from a Hawaiian expression for “mutt,” honed its eclectic sound gigging and busking across North America, and by 1988 had found a new home in Austin, Texas.
The band has continually expanded the range of its music while maintaining the warm, openhearted vibe of Orrall’s songwriting. Since a move to Chicago in the early '90s, house music rhythms have become a part of the Poi Dog sound (Orrall’s been an adjunct member of Thievery Corporation), and the group has developed its compositional chops in some high-profile orchestral collaborations with the Chicago Sinfonietta. In 2005 a full Poi Dog lineup began writing and recording its seventh studio album. That record, appropriately titled 7, was released in April 2008. The band describes it as “a straight up Rock and Soul record.”
Provenance: Hawaii
Latest Release: 7 (2008)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Poi Dog Pondering
