No Shame is a special edition album released under the name of “Sofiaâ€. Don’t fear, this is still Po’ Girl at their best, just an under-the-radar side project to provide fans with a little something extra.
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.
After adding the impossibly talented tickler/maker of all stringed things - Benny Sidelinger - to their number last year, Po' Girl has been touring relentlessly over North America, Europe, and beyond. Many of the trappings of the trademark Po' Girl sound are still there – the echoes of speakeasy jazz, the western lament, the accordion-strapped ghosts of European folk --- but it's all delivered with a soulful clarity and depth only hinted at on previous records.
It seems almost silly – and not very interesting – to trot out a long, endlessly hyphenated list of the many influences coursing through Po Girl's music. Suffice to say it's 21st Century roots music, urban roots – never derivative, not faithfully aping a beloved tradition. Teixeira and Russell don't re-hash the old forms, they reshape and reinvigorate them for new ears.
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