Poi Dog Pondering

Poi Dog Pondering
Poi Dog Pondering performing at the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival
Background information
Origin	Hawaii Austin, Texas Chicago, Illinois
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musicians
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Platetectonic Music
Associated acts	Susan Voelz Abra Moore
Website	Official site
Members	Frank Orrall Susan Voelz Paul Mertens John Nelson Ted Cho Dave Max Crawford Kornell Hargrove Dag Juhlin Ron Hall Rick Geherenbeck Charlette Wortham Robert Cornelius Carla Prather Ryan Murphy

Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group, noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Founded in Hawaii in 1984 by Frank Orrall, 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 band then embarked on a yearlong Street Performance Busking tour across North America, eventually settling in Austin, Texas in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums. In 1992, the band relocated, this time to Chicago, Illinois, where they began to incorporate Orchestral arrangements & elements of Electronic, House Music and Soul music into their Acoustic Rock style. The membership of Poi Dog Pondering has changed from album to album.

During the Hawaii years (1985–1986), the band had the following lineup:

During the Austin years (1987–1992), the band had the following lineup:

Additionally, the records featured literally dozens of musicians credited as "Satellite Poi Members". Most prominent amongst these satellite members were vocalists Abra Moore & Malford Milligan, sound artist Ellen Fullman, drummer Sean Coffey and (on their third album) turntable operator Ashton "DJ Cassanova" Irons.

Beginning with that third album, 1992's Volo Volo, 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 house music led the band to relocate to Chicago in 1992, where it developed a loyal local following and was named best band by Chicago magazine in 1997 & "Best Pop and Rock Act" in the 2009 Chicago Readers Poll.

From 1993 to 1999, the band recorded the albums "Pomegranate" & "Natural Thing" and performed live with the following members in the lineup:

Satellite Members

From 1999 to 2013, (and for the album releases: In Seed Comes Fruit, "7" & "Audio Love Letter") the band had the following Members in the lineup: