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For Immediate Release

Written by: Susan Alderman, 260-481-6165

Media Contact: John Minton, Susie Suraci

Possum Trot Orchestra Has Strong Ties to IPFW

(Fort Wayne, Jan. 6, 2006) -- John Minton has been a professor of folklore at IPFW for 15 years and a musician and writer for many more. He released his first album of Americana songs in October 2003. Susie Suraci is an information specialist in the admissions office; her husband, Rob, works at ITT. They were known as the Flying Suraci, and had also released their own CD. The three often crossed paths, sometimes sitting in with each other’s groups. Then in 2004 John asked Rob to play bass in the Possum Trot Orchestra, and Susie joined in as vocalist in 2005. And on October 31, 2005, they released the group’s self-titled debut CD.

The disc contains fourteen songs, all of which were written by John or Susie. Jeremy Searle of Americana UK, Liverpool, reviewed the album last month at www.americana-uk.com, giving it a 9 out of 10 rating. He calls the album, “Contemporary Americana roots at its finest…It’s not merely a very good album, it’s one of the defining albums of contemporary Americana roots. There are plenty of people who can play, plenty who can write, plenty that try to borrow from and simultaneously update the tradition, but there are few, if any, who manage with such success as the Possum Trots…This is a light and mellow album that conceals depths the likes of which more overt and strident works can only dream.”

Locally, the Orchestra has a busy performance schedule, including Jan. 10 at Columbia Street West on the Landing, Jan. 14 at Borders Books and Music on Coldwater Road, and Jan. 20 at the Firefly Coffeehouse on North Anthony. The trio will also be featured on the February edition of IPFW Up Close on College Cable Access Channel 56. Their CD can be purchased locally at Borders and the Wooden Nickel on North Anthony, or by going to http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/possumtrot.

For more information, call Minton at 260-481-6758 or Suraci at 260-745-6034.

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