Poi Dog Pondering

In 1988, I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, El Paso. What a shithole. But it wasn't so bad, I drank a lot at the El Paso Surf Club. Met many of El Paso's lovely ladies to the dismay of my current Michigan-based girlfirend, did the whole Juarez thing, and visited a record store / head shop where I picked up the 4 song, self-titled EP from Poi Dog Pondering.

Hi Frank! I loved you immediately. The band was led by Frank Orrall, lead singer and songwriter and consisted of anywhere from 3 - 14 other people. Someday I'd like to meet Frank Orall. He seems like a really groovy cat, and in a way I've known him for almost 20 years.

Poi Dog Pondering was a band from Hawaii, that moved to Austin, and then later to Chicago. In each town, they seemed to pick up the vibe of the city and incorporate it into their music. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Initially a folky, gypsy style band with guitars, violins, and various other exotic instruments (my pal Jake played a bizzare Brazillian percussion thingie on one of their tracks), Poi Dog have made their way to being a funky rockin band complete with a hip-hop dance troupe.

This song catches them at one of my favorite spots, a transitional point where the songs became very focused, and the subject matter grew to new areas. This song also illustrates that they might be the best live band on the planet. And I, one of their largest fans, have to humbly admit to never seeing them live.

This is Big Constellation by Poi Dog Pondering from the live album Liquid White Light



The Song
Big Constellation (8.0MB MP3)

The Site
Official Site

The Album
Liquid White Light