tag:reverbnation.com,2007:blog-392857 2010-11-28T14:16:08-05:00 Po'Girl http://www.reverbnation.com/images/logos/reverbnation100x65white.gif tag:reverbnation.com,2007:blog-392857.post-1287877 2010-11-28T14:16:08-05:00 2010-11-28T14:16:08-05:00 Hello Lovely Friends,<br/><br/>We’ve just finished our last tour of 2010. Thank you all for coming out to the shows, being such fantastic engaged audiences, and for the ongoing inspiration. We couldn’t follow our bliss without you…We're looking forward to a longer break than we've had in years and to seeing you all again in the New Year.<br/><br/>In the mean time we're excited to announce that during this Po' Girl respite Alli and Mikey will be on tour with our beloved JT Nero for the release of the second Nero album, Mountains/Forests. Many of you have seen JT Nero, lead singer and songwriter of JT and the Clouds touring with us over the last year. Now Alli and Mikey get to go on tour with him!<br/><br/>“mountains/forests” is delicious set of small tragic-comedies, recorded over two days in a North Wisconsin cabin with contributions from Po'Girl and the Clouds. It’s a real singers record, center pieced by JT’s harmony work with Po’ Girl’s Allison Russell and Michelle McGrath, late of The Capital Sun Rays.<br/><br/>Ask JT Nero, and he’ll claim that he learned doo wop songs and spirituals from Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal on the back of the Harlem Globetrotter bus in the late 70’s, and that his father played for the Washington Generals, who traveled with the Globetrotters, losing nightly while serving as comic punching bags. JT will also tell you that his beliefs about the absurdity of life and the inevitability of loss were formed in these years.<br/><br/>Ask others, and they will describe - however it came to be - the sense of loss, absurdity and beauty in Nero’s music. Critics describe it as "slinky, vulnerable and reverent of the Memphis soul of yore," and Nero himself as "on the verge of breaking big-time." (Chicago Tribune) Or, a "show stealer with his amazing R&B voice and off-hand stage commentary." (Festivalpreview.com - Kate Wolf 2010 review) As a singer, he's " a superb crooner and an equally powerful soul singer, able to belt out a lyric or etch it with the delicacy of Venetian glass, whilst evoking Curtis Mayfield one moment and Sly Stone the next." (All Music Guide) Nero delivers "Greenwich Village-style busker soul, caught between two generations of tragic Buckleys" (Chicago Reader), and, put another way, "soul-music injected variations on the pop-folk, singer-songwriter theme." (Santa Barbara News-Press)<br/><br/>Ask us and we'll tell you that we love this album, that we put our all into the recording, and that JT, Alli, and Mikey are thrilled to be bringing it to you this Dec and January...the dates are up on our shows page.<br/><br/>see you all soon,<br/><br/>love<br/><br/>po'girl https://www.reverbnation.com/rss/blog_comments1287877 tag:reverbnation.com,2007:blog-392857.post-166651 2009-03-10T17:44:39-04:00 2009-03-10T17:44:39-04:00 hello folks,<br/><br/>so much has gone on since the last time we had a moment to write. of course it has been straight touring, other than the three weeks we parted ways this past spring. awna went back to treasure island where her people are from, miss alli tore a strip out of texas, writing some beautiful new songs, and benny toured all over the west with the shiftless rounders, building a ukulele while blindfolded. we hit the road again in may heading back to our beloved chico,ca, to visit our loved ones lori and steve. we got to visit a few sweet places including our dear felton,ca and albuquerque, nm before heading to yosemite for the strawberry music festival. incredible. truly. hearty , hearty festival goers!—sogginess be damned!<br/><br/>the folks there were fantastic, inspiring, and so very welcoming to us.it was great to get to finally hang out with the belleville outfit and del castillo, our new festival friends, two wonderful bands from austin, texas. which exotice ( for canadians) locale was our "bound for or bust" shortly thereafter for the recording of our new album "deer in the night". we stayed in austin for the whole month of june, courtesy of fabulous hostess, great friend, and great promoter peggie jones, she of "sings like hell" concert series fame –the best music you never heard coming to you straight from the historic lobero theatre, santa barbara,ca. we played a weekly gig at local austin hub momo's, to keep our hand in, and we found our perfect recording scenario fit at screen door studios. screen door is the brainchild and serene reality of brian standefer, bukka allen and robbie gersoe…not only are they incredible musicians and wonderfully professional, but, by the time we wrapped the sessions, they felt like family to us! we also got to bring down our dearest friends and musical cohorts jt and the clouds from chicago to add a little of their colour-as well as our new favourite percussion man michael jerome from la-his production assistance was invaluable –and he lets the good times roll!<br/><br/>we've currently just finished up a two and and half month tour of north america—spanning from the western highlands of canada( yay salmon arm roots and blues! yay linda tillery and the cultural heritage choir, yay porter davis and vieux farka toure!), to the plains and deserts of the usa ( yay fred eaglesmith and band, charlie hunter and roots on the narrow gauge! adopt us puh-lease!), to the eastern canadian shield ( canadian thanksgiving with alli's wonderful extended family in peterborough,on—a first for the american boys—our benny and best friend jt nero of jt and the clouds who joined us for those dates—not to mention a sojourn at luther wright's lake ontario side palace and the best happy organic chicken dinner ever at kingston's soon to be parents celeb's rueben degroot and asia matthews' first home), to the mid-atlantic, eastern coast of the usa( yay benny's family and friends!), to the yes we can midwest ( rang in the american election night in lawrence, ks with matt and judy –two of the nicest people on earth, and cried and laughed and ate gluten free veggie pasta together—we will never forget where we were when this particular piece of history was made!) , winding up in colourful colorado--grueling but precious! tour catch phrases : " oh no not another learning experience! and " oh the beauty!" our new baby "deer in the night" is set to be released in north america in april of 2009, and in the uk/europe in may of 2009 – we will have advance copies to slap into the converted's hot little hands at our upcoming live shows! so please check out our show dates and join the love fest!<br/>take care and see ya soon,<br/><br/>po'girl https://www.reverbnation.com/rss/blog_comments166651