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Biography

The Possum Trot Orchestra (PTO) is a Fort Wayne, Indiana roots music ensemble with a decade of performing and a half-dozen critically acclaimed albums to their credit. PTO was officially founded in 2003 by the late Charlie Gilbert (banjo), Dave Kartholl (mandolin & bass), and John Minton (guitar & other stuff). To be more exact, PTO was officially christened in 2003, since this original trio had been playing together since 2001 under the self-explanatory billing "Charlie, Dave & John." The original PTO debuted on record in 2004, backing John on his album GOING BACK TO VICKSBURG. Today, the band's permanent membership consists of Dave Kartholl, John Minton, and drummer Jon Hartman, who joined in 2007. Others who have performed with PTO on a semi-official basis over the years include Sean Hoffman, Kevin Moran, Rob & Susie Suraci, Paul Kioebge, Larry McFadden, and Mike Williams. Besides playing hundreds of gigs regionally, PTO has released three albums under its own name -- THE POSSUM TROT ORCHESTRA (2005), HARBOR ROAD (2006) and NIGHT CROW (2008) -- and backed Minton on his solo releases GOING BACK TO VICKSBURG (2004) and THE HILLS ARE IN BLOOM (2011), all available from CDBaby.