Ponoka

Ponoka is a small farming community in Alberta, Canada, where the largest six-day rodeo of the country is held every year during the first week of July. Not too much goes on for the rest of the year. Ponoka is also the place where singer/songwriter Rick de Gier grew up, and now, seventeen years after moving back to his native Holland, the name by which he debuts on the Dutch label Volkoren, with the appropriately titled album ‘Hindsight’. Is it one big chunk of nostalgia? Not quite. ‘Hindsight’ is a fresh indie record that mixes typical singer/songwriter elements and laid-back lo-fi with unpolished rock and poppy electronics, seasoned with intimate lyrics. If you’re looking for references, think Lemonheads, Pavement, Sparklehorse, Eels. ‘Hindsight’ was recorded in René de Vries’ (This Beautiful Mess) studio in the heart of Amsterdam, and produced by Minco Eggersman (at the close of every day). Quite a step forward after the scruffy home recordings Rick had been toiling on for the past years in a tiny room in Zaandam. Lacking a band, he was assisted in the studio by Minco on drums, René on all manner of instruments, and singer Alice ten Brinke (ex-Kryptonite Garden). In the meantime Ponoka has become an actual band, with no less than six spirited members. Besides Rick on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Pim van de Werken (Silence is Sexy) plays bass, Theo Nap (ex-Kryptonite Garden) plays guitar, Lucas Nap plays drums, Laurens Palsgraaf plays keyboards, and Alice ten Brinke sings. Their second album, Built To Fly was released on May 4th, 2009. The music is somewhat darker, but the album still received very good reviews, like five stars form the Dutch Volkskrant. Take it from the folks at www.ponoka.org: ‘We are convinced that you will love Ponoka!’ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.