Canadian folk group Po' Girl heads south to share its roots music with OKC

h as music, our northern neighbors have, on occasion, handed us our hats and showed how it's done. Beyond Canada's musical contributions of Rush, Celine Dion or even Neil Young, there is the renowned acoustic assembly Po' Girl who will perform March 9 at The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley. Tickets are $15

 

In true folk fashion, the combo engulfed members of other well-known Americana acts. It might take a Pete Frame musical family tree to figure out who's played with whom in all of these aggregations, but the most important thing now is that Po' Girl will perform Sunday night at The Blue Door.

 

The two constants in Po' Girl are Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira, who originally came together in the folk-fertile Vancouver roots-music scene. One of the group's celebrated members, Trish Klein, retired from the road and returned to art school, and Benny Sidelinger joined in 2006.

 

Po' Girl shares a lot of the familiar folk sounds, but through three discs, the group has demonstrated a tour van full of versatility, branching out in several directions, including jazz. Its latest, 2007's "Home to You," is a road album of travel tales, weariness, homesickness, the wonder of nature, and even a de rigueur Bush bash in the form of an odd guest rap by Vancouver blues hip-hopper C.R. Avery. Throughout, "Home to You" mostly looks backwards in its themes and use of language, but the instrumentation varies wildly and the band proves itself unafraid of electric guitars, keyboards or even the clarinet. "? Tory Troutman

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