Po' Girl is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 group whose style derives from folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

. The style of music they perform is called "urban roots."

The band evolved from a series of jam sessions, in 2000, between Trish Klein of The Be Good Tanyas

The Be Good Tanyas

The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian traditional music group, whose influences included folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they performed can be referred to as alt-country or Americana.-Career:...

 and Allison Russell, then of Fear of Drinking. The two met up again in 2003 and named themselves Po' Girl.

They released their self-titled debut album in 2003. In 2004, they recorded and released their second album, Vagabond Lullabies with the help of friend musicians who included Diona Davies (multi-instrumentalist and singer), CR Avery (hip hopper), Roey Shemesh on bass and John Raham and Shelley Okepnak on drums. In 2007 came their third album, Home to You. 2006 saw the release of their B Side record, with tracks including guest appearances by Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...

, Luther Wright

Luther Wright

Luther A. Wright Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player, in the center position.-Basketball career:...

, Shaun Brodie, Jason Mercer and Ana Egge

Ana Egge

Ana Egge is an American folk singer/songwriter. She sings, plays guitar, mandolin, bottleneck slide guitar and piano during her live performances. Egge released her 7th record, Bad Blood on August 23, 2011...

 (which can only be purchased off-stage).

Once based in Vancouver Po' Girl are now back in the Eastern cities of Toronto and Montreal. The band lineup is now Allison Russell (singer/multi-instrumentalist), Awna Teixeira (singer/multi-instrumentalist), Benny Sidelinger (multi-instrumentalist) and Mikey "Lightning" August.

Deer in the Night was released in May 2009. Also in summer 2009, they released their first live album consisting of recordings in venues from their favourite states.

Their latest studio album Follow Your Bliss is finished and available at live shows, it is planned to for general release in fall 2010.

Po' Girl's music has been compared with that of The Band

The Band

The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

, Hazel Dickens

Hazel Dickens

Hazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...

, Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...

, Natalie Merchant

Natalie Merchant

Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...

, Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten was an American blues and folk musician, singer, and songwriter.A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed her own original style. Her approach involved using a right-handed guitar , not re-strung for left-handed playing, essentially, holding a right-handed...

 and Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...

. It showcases melodies from instruments as diverse as banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

, harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

, dobro

Dobro

Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...

, accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

, gutbucket bass.

Discography

• Po' Girl
  Po' Girl (album)
  Po'Girl is the self titled debut album by the Canadian group Po' Girl. It was released June 10, 2003. It was released in the United States on August 28, on HighTone Records, and in Europe on January 26, 2004 on Cadiz Music. Po' Girl on this album was Trish Klein and Allison Russell.-Track...
  
  (2003)
• Vagabond Lullabies (2004)
• B-side recordings (2006)
• Home to You (2007)
• Deer in the Night (2009)
• Follow Your Bliss (2010)

External links

• Po' Girl's Official Web site
• Po' Girl's MySpace
• "http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Po-Girl" CBC Radio 3
  CBC Radio 3
  CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
  
  Profile