The Possum Trot Orchestra by The Possum Trot Orchestra

There's enough depth to it to repay many listenings ...[and] a distinctive sound and a point of view that is appealingly its own.

JEROME CLARK, Rambles.NET: A Cultural Arts Magazine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, February 2006

www.rambles.net

The Possum Trot Orchestra (Southern Can CDs) is het debuut van het trio dat op onnadrukkelijke en relaxte wijze eer betoont aan de rijke Amerikaanse folkgeschiedenis. Ze doen dat via een popbenadering en met merendeels akoestische instrumenten en met vooral met prachtige harmoniezang. Het geeft de softrock van The Possums een heerlijke mellow touch. (The Possum Trot Orchestra (Southern Can CDs) is the debut of a trio whose laid-back, relaxed manner does honor to the rich American folk tradition. They accomplish this with a pop approach, with mostly acoustic instruments, and especially with beautiful harmony singing. It all gives the softrock of The Possums a lovely mellow touch.)

WIEBREN RIJKEBOER, AltCountryNL, Groninger, The Netherlands, January 2006

www.altcountry.nl

A wonderfully mellow album that takes you through all phases of American music as `Music from Big Pink' did over 30 years ago.... This album is unlikely to disappoint anyone who has an appreciation of Americana music of the highest quality.

ROOTSMUSIC.co.uk, London, December 2005

www.rootsmusic.co.uk

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SO WHO'S PLAYING POSSUM? The Possum Trot Orchestra is an American roots music collective from Fort Wayne, Indiana consisting of SUSIE SURACI (vocals & guitar), JOHN MINTON (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, accordion, keyboards & lap steel) and ROB SURACI (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards & drums & percussion). Their self-titled debut features fourteen originals from Susie and John. Stylistically, the tracks span the American tradition, from folk, country and bluegrass to blues, gospel and rock, with touches of pop, swing, ragtime--even reggae.

SUSAN TAYLOR SURACI (sir-RAH-chee) migrated to Indiana from Maryland. A regionally renowned singer and songwriter, she is also an accomplished painter whose recent honors include a 2004-2005 grant from the Indiana Arts Commission. Susie's husband Rob is a Washington, DC native who has worked as a recording engineer in New York City and elsewhere. Besides playing guitars (and just about anything else he touches), he currently builds them commercially. Kindled in his hometown of Houston, Texas, John's musical activities also now spill over into his day job as a professor of folklore at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he teaches courses on American folk and popular music. He has published widely on the subject with academic journals and presses.

HAVING PLAYED TOGETHER INFORMALLY FOR YEARS, SUSIE, JOHN and ROB came together as the Possum Trot Orchestra in 2004, performing at coffeehouses, clubs, and festivals. For live appearances they're often joined by two featured instrumentalists--Charlie Gilbert (banjo) and Dave Kartholl (mandolin)--from another of the area's premier acoustic acts, Gilbert & Co Bluegrass. In addition, the Possums contributed to John's 2004 release, GOING BACK TO VICKSBURG (Southern Can CDs SCCD 2223--also available from cdbaby). (As THE FLYING SURACI, Susie and Rob also previously released THEN AND NOW, Hot Laba CD 001, 2001.) Now the Possums have recorded their first group effort, titled simply THE POSSUM TROT ORCHESTRA. They hope you enjoy it. If you love American roots music, they think that you will.

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Susie Suraci writes mature pop-rock songs with a stirring 70s vibe, and John Minton croons modern Americana songs that could easily belong to a timeless generation. But both use a variety of traditional folk instruments to round out their songs, and both create songs heavily steeped in cheerful melancholy and bright regret.... The inspiration each gives the other is a bonus for fans of music that will stand the test of time.

JASON HOFFMAN, Whatzup: Heartland Art, Entertainment & Recreation, Columbia City, Indiana, January 19, 2006

Flavor of the month.... De muziek van The Possums is gebaseerd op Amerikaanse traditie in een variatie aan stijlen maar straalt een ongelooflijke frisheid uit! (Flavor of the month.... The music of The Possums is based on American tradition in a variety of styles but radiates an incredible freshness!)

THEO OLDENBURG, Alt Country Cooking, Radio Winschoten, The Netherlands, December 2005

www.realrootscafe.com/altcountrycooking.html

In the days before [the Possum Trot Orchestra] proved itself to be so powerful and winning, the Minton/Suraci combo probably didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Minton specializes in stylish refurbishments of old-timey music and the Flying Suraci was a folk-pop outfit that sometimes came across as a considerably less drowsy Cowboy Junkies. But the proof is in the pudding, if a disc made of layered polycarbonate, aluminum and acrylic resin can be described as a pudding. Of course it can’t. Because Minton and the Suracis are consummate musicians and songwriters coming from different ends of the musical spectrum, the first CD is like a tour of about a century’s worth of popular music. At various moments, it evokes Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Fairport Convention, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Joan Armatrading and others.... The whole thing is almost improbably tasty.... I would say “Run, don’t walk to your local record store and buy a copy,” if running didn’t seem so pokey in this context.

STEVE PENHOLLOW, The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Sunday, January 15, 2006

Folk blijkt weliswaar bij herhaling het voornaamste bestanddaal van hun [the Possums'] smakelijk roots-stampotje, maar ook country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, rock, pop, swing, ragtime, ja zelfs reggae passeren stuk voor stuk allemaal de revue. En dat levert een hoogst interessante hybride op. (Folk is the main ingredient in their [the Possums'] tasty roots-stew, but country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, rock, pop, swing, ragtime, yes even reggae all pass in review one after the other. And that produces a most interesting hybrid.)

BENNY METTEN, Ctrl Alt Country, Hasselt, Belgium, December 2005

www.ctrlaltcountry.be

here's a trio with a lot of energy taking us back to our american roots (well you don't have to be american to enjoy this, in fact if your toe isn't tapping, someone should check your pulse!)

ZOE MONTANA, radioioAcoustic, Jacksonville, Florida, November 2005

www.radioio.com

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THE POSSUM TROT ORCHESTRA

SUSIE SURACI

JOHN MINTON

ROB SURACI

THE DISTANT SHORE (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, banjo & mandolin * SUSIE vocals * ROB electric basses & bodhran

HOMEBODY (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitars * ROB vocal, electric bass, electric guitar & drums * JOHN acoustic guitar, accordion & lap steel

JUST A LITTLE FARTHER (STARS WILL LIGHT OUR WAY) (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocal, acoustic & electric guitars & banjo * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * ROB electric bass, drums, cabasa & tambourine

LANA MAE (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocals, acoustic guitars, banjo & piano * SUSIE vocals * ROB vocal, electric bass & drum throne

MIXED BLESSING (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * JOHN acoustic guitar & accordion * ROB electric bass & drums

IT'S ALRIGHT (I'M GONNA LIVE ANYHOW UNTIL I DIE) (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocals, acoustic guitars & lap steel * ROB vocals, electric guitars, electric bass, drums & cowbell * SUSIE vocals

FEVER IN MY VEINS (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * ROB vocal, electric bass, drums & triangle * JOHN acoustic & electric guitars & mandolin

STEPHEN C. FOSTER'S BLUES (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocal, acoustic guitar & accordion * ROB electric bass

OVER YOU (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * JOHN acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin & accordion * ROB electric bass

BEEN ON THE JOB TOO LONG (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocal, acoustic guitar, lap steel & handclaps * SUSIE vocals & handclaps * ROB vocal, electric bass, drums & handclaps

WANT ME (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * ROB electric bass, piano, electric guitar & drums * JOHN acoustic guitar, accordion, mandolin & triangle

THE BALTIMORE CAPER (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocal, acoustic guitars, organ, accordion & theremin * ROB vocal, upright bass, log drum & drums * SUSIE vocal

COME STRAIGHT HOME (Susie Suraci * Slim Dot Music/ASCAP) * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitars * ROB vocal, electric guitars, electric bass & drums * JOHN acoustic twelve-string guitar & banjo

SOMETIMES IN THE COUNTRY (John Minton * Monkey Knuckles Music/ASCAP) * JOHN vocal & acoustic guitar * SUSIE vocals & acoustic guitar * ROB vocal, electric basses & drums

RECORDED SUMMER 2005 AT TEMPEL RECORDING STUDIO, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA (except for the electric guitars on IT'S ALRIGHT, recorded by ROB at the Suraci lake cottage)

RECORDED, MIXED & MASTERED BY TOM TEMPEL

PRODUCED BY JOHN MINTON

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