Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

s, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

in 1984, initially as a solo project. In 1985 Orrall formed the first line-up of PDP to perform its first concert; at the

Honolulu Academy of Arts The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...

. The band embarked on a yearlong street performance

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

tour across North America. They eventually settled down in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums. In 1992, the band relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and they began to incorporate orchestral arrangements and elements of electronic,

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

, and soul music into their acoustic rock style. The membership of Poi Dog Pondering has evolved from album to album, with Frank Orrall being a constant player since the inception of the band.

Hawaii / Street performing years; members

During the Hawaii years (1985–1986), the band had the following lineup: *Frank Orrall – Guitar, vocals, marimba, penny whistle *

Abra Moore Abra Moore (born June 8, 1969) is an American folk-styled rock singer-songwriter. Moore was a founding member of the Hawaiian rock band Poi Dog Pondering, but left to pursue a solo career after the group's move to Texas in the late 1980s. Her 199 ...

– Guitar, vocals, accordion *Sean Coffey – Drums *John "el John" Nelson – Percussion *Kalea Chapman – Guitar, vocals *Jean Francois Berneron – Photographer, cook, vocals, recorder *Cliff Kamida – Guitar, harmonica *Ted Cho – Mandolin, guitar *Joe Espinda – Guitar, recording engineer *Matt Miller - Bass, vocals

Austin years; members

During the Austin years (1987–1992), the band had the following lineup: *Frank Orrall – guitar, tin flute, drums, vocals *Ted Cho – electric guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, bass *Dave Max Crawford – organ, trumpet,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

*Darren Hess – drum kit (1991–1992) *Bruce Hughes – bass, vocals, guitar *John Nelson –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...

tom-toms A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...

, background vocals (1989–1992) *Dick Ross – drum kit (1987–1990) *Adam Sultan – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals *

Susan Voelz Susan Voelz (born Susana Maria Voelz) is an American musician. A Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, violinist, and composer. She is a member of the alternative rock band, Poi Dog Pondering. She has also worked with a long list of famous musician ...

– violin, guitar, vocals Additionally, the records featured literally dozens of musicians credited as "Satellite Poi Members". Most prominent amongst these satellite members were vocalists

and

Malford Milligan Malford Milligan (born March 29, 1959) is an American singer. He sings soul, blues and gospel songs and also writes music. He has won 8 Austin Music Awards for Best Vocalist. Career Storyville In 1994 Milligan became the singer for Storyville ...

, sound artist

Ellen Fullman Ellen Fullman (born 1957) is an American composer, instrument builder, and performer. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is known for her 70-foot (21-meter) Long String instrument, tu ...

, drummer Sean Coffey and (on their third album) turntable operator Ashton " DJ Cassanova" Irons. Beginning with that third album, 1992's ''

Volo Volo ''Volo Volo'' is an album by the American worldbeat band Poi Dog Pondering. It was released in 1992 via Columbia Records. The album was a commercial disappointment, with only 50,000 copies sold by the fall of 1993. Columbia dropped the band; to ...

'', the band began to experiment with new musical styles, including fully incorporating DJ Cassanova into the line-up. Orrall's emerging interest in dance and

led the band to relocate to Chicago in 1992, where it developed a loyal local following and was named best band by ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'' magazine in 1997 & "Best Pop and Rock Act" in the 2009 Chicago Readers Poll.

Early Chicago years; members

From 1993 to 1999, the band recorded the albums "Pomegranate" & "Natural Thing" and performed live with the following members in the lineup: *Frank Orrall – guitar, vocals *Dave Max Crawford – keyboards, clavinet *Paul Mertens – sax, clarinet, flute *

– violin *

Dag Juhlin Dag, or variant forms, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''DAG'' (American TV series), 2000–2001 * ''Dag'' (Norwegian TV series), 2010–2015 * ''DAG'' (newspaper), a former free Dutch newspaper * DAG (band), an American funk band * D ...

– guitar *Eddie Carlson – Bass *Brent Olds – bass *Tom Ray – Bass *Nick Kitsos – Drums *

Steve Goulding Steve Goulding (born 1954) is an English drummer, who has played as a member of Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Associates, Poi Dog Pondering, The Waco Brothers, Sally Timms and the Drifting Cowgirls and The Mekons. He also played the drums ...

– drums *Leddie Garcia – Percussion *Arlene Newson – backing vocals *Kornell Hargrove – backing vocals *Robert Cornelius – backing vocals Satellite Members *Brigid Murphy – Alto Saxophone *Jason More – Berimbau *Lloyd Brodnax King – Alto Flute *Katherine Pisaro – Oboe

Mid Chicago years; members

From 1999 to 2013, (and for the album releases "In Seed Comes Fruit", "7" and "Audio Love Letter") the band had the following members in the lineup: *Frank Orrall – vocals, guitar, piano, synth. vibes, drums, samples, sequencing *

– violin, vocals *Paul Mertens – flute, sax, clarinet *Leddie Garcia – congas, bongos, ganzas, bells, shakers, various percussion *Kornell Hargrove – vocals *Ron Hall – bass *Rick Gehrenbeck – rhodes electric piano, clavinet, organ, synthesizers *Charlette Wortham – vocals *

Alison Chesley Alison Chesley (born January 4, 1960), known also by her stage name Helen Money, is a Chicago-based cellist and composer. Chesley was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where she ...

– cello *Carla Prather – vocals *Tim Gant – piano, synthesizers *John "El John" Nelson – Percussion, drums *Earl A. Talbot – Drums *Dan Leali – Drums

Current Poi Dog Pondering Line-up; members

*Frank Orrall – vocals, guitar, piano, synth. vibes, drums, samples, sequencing *

– violin, vocals *Dave Max Crawford – organ, piano, trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn, electric piano urlitzer clavinet, synthesizer, theremin *John Nelson – congas, bongos, drums, various percussion *Ted Cho – Guitar, Mandolin *

– guitar *Kornell Hargrove – vocals *Ron Hall – bass *Rick Gehrenbeck – rhodes electric piano, clavinet, organ, synthesizers *Charlette Wortham – vocals *Robert Cornelius – vocals *Carla Prather – vocals *Ryan Murphy – Drums *Paul Mertens – flute, sax, clarinet

Discography

Early 4 track cassette albums

*''Poi Dog Pondering PDP X 1'' (1984) *''Poi Dog Pondering Soliloqui PDP X 2'' (1985) *''8 Songs by Poi Dog Pondering PDP X 3'' (1985) *''Poi Dog Pondering Thawing Spring PDP X 5'' (1986) *''Poi Dog Pondering Dig PDP X 4'' (1986) *''Hawaii to Texas'' (live 1987) *''Vision Farming Hula Circus'' (live 1987)

Studio albums

*''Poi Dog Pondering'' (1989) *''Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea'' (1990) *''

'' (1992) *''Pomegranate'' (1995) *''Natural Thing'' (1999) *''In Seed Comes Fruit'' (2003) *''7'' (2008) *''Audio Love Letter'' (2011) *''Everybody's Got a Star'' (2015) *''Remnants of Summer'' (2018)

Other releases

*''Fruitless (EP)'' (1990) *''Vague Gropings in the Slip Stream (Palm Fabric Orchestra)'' (1994) *''Electrique Plummagram (Re-Mix Album)'' (1996) *''That's the Way Love Is (Re-Mix EP)'' (1999) *''Intermittent Transmissions from the SlipStream (Palm Fabric Orchestra)'' (2018)

Live albums

*''Liquid White Light'' (1997) *''Soul Sonic Orchestra'' (2000) *''Live at Metro Chicago'' (4-CD set, paired with DVD release, Dec 21, 2012)

Compilations

*''Sweeping Up the Cutting Room Floor'' (2001) *''The Best of Poi Dog Pondering (The Austin Years)'' (2005) *''Song Seeds of 7 (Demos and Outtakes)'' (2018) *''Four on the Floor - Dance Floor Rarities and Remixes: 1994-2018'' (2018) *''Sweeping Up the Cutting Room Floor - Volume 2'' (2018)

DVD releases

*''Audio Visivo'' (2004) *''Live at Metro Chicago'' (2 DVD set, paired with CD release, Dec 21, 2012)

References

External links

Official site
* Their page on

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Poi Dog Pondering group page on FaceBookPoi Dog Pondering MySpace page
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Illinois Musical groups from Chicago Musical groups from Hawaii Musical groups established in 1984 1984 establishments in Hawaii Columbia Records artists