It's a new decade and international sensation, urban roots minstrel band Po'Girl is getting proactive. Alli Russell, Awna Teixeira, Benny Sidelinger, and Mikey 'Lightning' August are taking the new show on the road in Canada and the USA throughout February and March for their 'No Shame Tour', making stops at Hugh's Room (March 10) as well as Guelph, Peterborough, Wakefield, Montreal, Halifax and points between!

Po'Girl will be raising money to benefit Little Warriors in Canada and the National Children's Alliance in the USA. Funds raised are earmarked for education and prevention of child sexual abuse, and assistance for victim-survivors.

Russell herself is the survivor of ten years of sexual abuse at the hands of her adopted father. She wrote the song 'No Shame' when she found out that he had been released from prison. Po'Girl recorded the song on their critically acclaimed album, 'Deer in the Night', in 2009, which was featured on the Vinyl Cafe that year -- host Stuart McLean wrote a beautiful piece about 'No Shame' and Alli's history-- the reception from listeners was overwhelming.

Says Russell, 'Stuart's piece and the response to it gave me the idea that perhaps I could be more actively using my past misfortune and our music to increase awareness and dialogue about the endemic issue of child abuse. Whatever I can do to prevent what happened to me from happening to others, that's what I have to do. It's my responsibility as a survivor. Not everyone is so lucky.

About Po'Girl
The beauty and mystery of Po'Girl’s music – a sound that has beguiled fans the world over - springs from the dynamic, improbable, mesmerizing bond shared by its two principal singers and writers – Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira. Hailing from Montreal and Toronto respectively, both women left untenable home situations at fourteen, found music instead of bad ends, and lived to sing the tales. The interplay between these two stunning performers is truly something to behold – and after honing it relentlessly in 13 countries in the last 12 months, the gals have created a true testament to their bond and to their tremendous growth as writers and performers.

Po’Girl showcases a wide array of instruments, from gutbucket bass, accordion, clarinet, banjo, dobro, guitar, to electric bass, glockenspiel, piano, harmonica, bicycle bells, drums -- and they all frequently trade off instruments with each song. Their fluid and joyous musicality is one of the group's most endearing and irresistible features.

Suffice to say Po'Girl makes 21st Century roots music, urban roots – never derivative, not faithfully aping a beloved tradition. Russell, Teixeira, Sidelinger, and August don't re-hash the old forms, they reshape and reinvigorate them for new ears. Like genuine gypsies, they wander and play. Always restless, more often than not bone-tired, they write their flashes of sadness, their loss, their good love, their faint dreams of home into songs that matter deeply to them. Like any good art, they are little acts of self-rescue. And who couldn't use a little rescuing these days?

They'll soon be heading to Europe for a two month tour of the Netherlands, the UK, and Ireland after the 'No Shame Tour'. Catch them while you can!
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“Folk-festival sensations, thrilling audiences with their homespun musicianship and back-porch harmonies.”
-- Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment

'With enough sultry ambiance to be at home in either cocktail lounge or New Orleans street corner, Po’ Girl features a simple, polished production of wistful, plaintively slurred vocals over a sparse yet warm jazz-folk accompaniment of guitar, stand-up bass, harmonica, banjo and clarinet...”
-- Rolling Stone

“Po' Girl has the same womanly (not girlish, mind you) croo of the 1920s and '30s blues mamas - yet their music isn't of another era.”
-- No Depression

'This is a sweet little gem showcasing some of the finest acoustic musicians Canada currently has to offer.”
-- BBC

www.pogirl.net