Tip of a tulip stamen with many grains of pollen

Closeup image of a cactus flower and its stamens

Scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis).

European honey bee carrying pollen in a pollen basket back to the hive

Pollen sticking to a bee. Insects involuntarily transporting pollen from flower to flower play an important role in many plants' reproductive cycles.

Marmalade hoverfly, pollen on its face and legs, sucking nectar from a rockrose.

California Honey Bees Immersed in Yellow Beavertail Cactus Flower Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. When pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone (i.e., when pollination has occurred), it germinates and produces a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule (or female gametophyte). Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail.

The structure and formation of pollen[link]

Pollen itself is not the male gamete.^[1] Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive) cell containing two nuclei: a tube nucleus (that produces the pollen tube) and a generative nucleus (that divides to form the two sperm cells). The group of cells is surrounded by a cellulose-rich cell wall called the intine, and a resistant outer wall composed largely of sporopollenin called the exine.

Pollen is produced in the 'microsporangium' (contained in the anther of an angiosperm flower, male cone of a coniferous plant, or male cone of other seed plants). Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes (most often spherical), sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90-100 µm.^[2] The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archeology, and forensics.

In angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of sporogenous cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of sterile cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells. In a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell (microsporocyte), after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the development of the pollen grain walls begins. The callose wall is broken down by an enzyme called callase and the freed pollen grains grow in size and develop their characteristic shape and form a resistant outer wall called the exine and an inner wall called the intine. The exine is what is preserved in the fossil record.

The pollen wall protects the sperm nucleus while the pollen grain is moving from the anther to the stigma; it protects the vital genetic material from drying out and solar radiation. The pollen grain surface is covered with waxes and proteins, which are held in place by structures called sculpture elements on the surface of the grain. The outer pollen wall, which prevents the pollen grain from shrinking and crushing the genetic material during desiccation, is composed of two layers. These two layers are the tectum and the foot layer, which is just above the intine. The tectum and foot layer are separated by a region called the columella, which is composed of strengthening rods. The outer wall is constructed with a resistant biopolymer called sporopollenin. The pollen tube passes through the wall by way of structures called apertures.^[3]

Pollen apertures are any modification of the wall of the pollen grain. These modifications include thinning, ridges and pores, they serve as an exit for the pollen contents and allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. The elongated apertues/ furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular: colpus) which along with pores, are a major criterion for the identification of classes of pollen .^[4]

Pollen grains may have furrows, the orientation of which (relative to the original tetrad of microspores) classify the pollen as colpate or sulcate. The number of furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate), and other groups having one sulcus.^[5][6]

Except in the case of some submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen-grain has a double wall, a thin delicate wall of unaltered cellulose (the endospore or intine) and a tough outer cuticularized exospore or exine. The exine often bears spines or warts, or is variously sculptured, and the character of the markings is often of value for identifying genus, species, or even cultivar or individual. In some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain often begins before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells.

Pollination[link]

The transfer of pollen grains to the female reproductive structure (pistil in angiosperms) is called pollination. This transfer can be mediated by the wind, in which case the plant is described as anemophilous (literally wind-loving). Anemophilous plants typically produce great quantities of very lightweight pollen grains, sometimes with air-sacs. Non-flowering seed plants (e.g. pine trees) are characteristically anemophilous. Anemophilous flowering plants generally have inconspicuous flowers. Entomophilous (literally insect-loving) plants produce pollen that is relatively heavy, sticky and protein-rich, for dispersal by insect pollinators attracted to their flowers. Many insects and some mites are specialized to feed on pollen, and are called palynivores.

In non-flowering seed plants, pollen germinates in the pollen chamber, located beneath and inside the micropyle. A pollen tube is produced, which grows into the nucellus to provide nutrients for the developing sperm cells. Sperm cells of Pinophyta and Gnetophyta are without flagella, and are carried by the pollen tube, while those of Cycadophyta and Ginkgophyta have many flagella.

When placed on the stigma of a flowering plant, under favorable circumstances, a pollen grain puts forth a pollen tube which grows down the tissue of the style to the ovary, and makes its way along the placenta, guided by projections or hairs, to the micropyle of an ovule. The nucleus of the tube cell has meanwhile passed into the tube, as does also the generative nucleus which divides (if it hasn't already) to form two sperm cells. The sperm cells are carried to their destination in the tip of the pollen-tube.

Pollen as a carrier of ecological information in plants[link]

A Russian theoretical biologist has suggested that the quantity of pollen reaching a pistillate flower can transmit ecological information and also regulate evolutionary plasticity in cross-pollinating plants. Plentiful pollen indicates optimum environmental conditions (for example a plant that is situated at the center of its natural range, in ideal growing conditions, with a large number of male plants nearby, and favorable weather conditions), whereas a small amount of pollen indicates extreme conditions (at the borders of its range, with a deficiency of male plants, and adverse weather conditions). Geodakian believes that the quantity of pollen reaching a pistillate flower defines the sex ratio, dispersion and sexual dimorphism of a plant population. High pollen quantity leads to a reduction of these characteristics and stabilization of a population. Small quantity leads to their increase and destabilization of a population.^[7]

Dependence of the secondary sex ratio on the amount of fertilizing pollen was confirmed on four dioecious plant species from three families — Rumex acetosa (Polygonaceae),^[8][9] Melandrium album (Cariophyllaceae),^[10][11] Cannabis sativa^[12] and Humulus japonicus (Cannabinaceae).^[13] (see summary of all these data in review article).^[14]

Dependence of offspring phenotype variety on amount of pollen was observed by Ter-Avanesyan in 1949. All three studied species of plants (cotton plant, black-eyed pea, and wheat) showed dependence in the direction forecast by the theory — fertilization with a small amount of pollen resulted in an increase in the diversity of the offspring. Ter-Avanesian writes that as a result of a limited pollination “instead of homogenous sorts we get populations”.^[15][16]

Pollen in the fossil record[link]

Pollen's sporopollenin outer sheath affords it some resistance to the rigours of the fossilisation process that destroy weaker objects; it is also produced in huge quantities. As such, there is an extensive fossil record of pollen grains, often disassociated from their parent plant. The discipline of palynology is devoted to the study of pollen, which can be used both for biostratigraphy and to gain information about the abundance and variety of plants alive — which can itself yield important information about paleoclimates. Pollen is first found in the fossil record in the late Devonian period^{[verification needed]} and increases in abundance until the present day.

Apple pollen under microscopy

Hay fever[link]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (September 2010)

Allergy to pollen is called hay fever. Generally pollens that cause allergies are those of anemophilous plants (pollen is dispersed by air currents.) Such plants produce large quantities of lightweight pollen (because wind dispersal is random and the likelihood of one pollen grain landing on another flower is small) which can be carried for great distances and are easily inhaled, bringing it into contact with the sensitive nasal passages.

In the US, people often mistakenly blame the conspicuous goldenrod flower for allergies. Since this plant is entomophilous (its pollen is dispersed by animals), its heavy, sticky pollen does not become independently airborne. Most late summer and fall pollen allergies are probably caused by ragweed, a widespread anemophilous plant.

Arizona was once regarded as a haven for people with pollen allergies, although several ragweed species grow in the desert. However, as suburbs grew and people began establishing irrigated lawns and gardens, more irritating species of ragweed gained a foothold and Arizona lost its claim of freedom from hay fever.

Anemophilous spring blooming plants such as oak, birch, hickory, pecan, and early summer grasses may also induce pollen allergies. Most cultivated plants with showy flowers are entomophilous and do not cause pollen allergies. In the US, oak pollen starts to cause problems for sufferers in February and is gone by the end of April.^[17]

The percentage of people in the United States affected by hay fever varies between 10% and 20%, and such allergy has proven to be the most frequent allergic response in the nation. There are certain evidential suggestions pointing out hay fever and similar allergies to be of hereditary origin. Individuals who suffer from eczema or are asthmatic tend to be more susceptible to developing long-term hay fever.^[18]

The most efficient way to handle a pollen allergy is by preventing contact with the material. Individuals carrying the ailment may at first believe that they have a simple summer cold, but hay fever becomes more evident when the apparent cold does not disappear. The confirmation of hay fever can be obtained after examination by a general physician.^[19]

Treatment[link]

Antihistamines are effective at treating mild cases of hay fever, this type of non-prescribed drugs includes loratadine, cetirizine and chlorphenamine. They do not prevent the discharge of histamine, but it has been proven that they do prevent a part of the chain reaction activated by this biogenic amine, which considerably lowers hay fever symptoms. A side effect of antihistamines is somnolence, and it is therefore recommended not to take these drugs while driving an automobile or during the consumption of alcoholic beverages. However, the side effects of these medications can vary from person to person.^[20]

Decongestants can be administered in different ways such as tablets and nasal sprays. Decongestants such as pseudoephedrine, xylometazoline and drixoral can be acquired as over-the-counter medications. Since oral decongestant drugs raise blood pressure levels, individuals with hypertension are advised to avoid them. The oral decongestant type can aggravate the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, making the process of urinating more complicated.^[21]

Nutrition[link]

Most major classes of predatory and parasitic arthropods contain species that eat pollen, despite the common perception that bees are the primary pollen-consuming arthropod group. Many other Hymenoptera other than bees consume pollen as adults, though only a small number feed on pollen as larvae (including some ant larvae). Spiders are normally considered carnivores but pollen is an important source of food for several species, particularly for spiderlings which catch pollen on their webs. It is not clear how spiderlings manage to eat pollen however, since their mouths are not large enough to consume pollen grains.^{[citation needed]} Some predatory mites also feed on pollen, with some species being able to subsist solely on pollen, such as Euseius tularensis, which feeds on the pollen of dozens of plant species. Members of some beetle families such as Mordellidae and Melyridae feed almost exclusively on pollen as adults, while various lineages within larger families such as Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, Cerambycidae, and Scarabaeidae are pollen specialists even though most members of their families are not (e.g., only 36 of 40000 species of ground beetles, which are typically predatory, have been shown to eat pollen -- but this is thought to be a severe underestimate as the feeding habits are only known for 1000 species). Similarly, Ladybird beetles mainly eat insects, but many species also eat pollen, as either part or all of their diet. Hemiptera are mostly herbivores or omnivores but pollen feeding is known (and has only been well studied in the Anthocoridae). Many adult flies, especially Syrphidae, feed on pollen, and three UK syrphid species feed strictly on pollen (syrphids, like all flies, cannot eat pollen directly due to the structure of their mouthparts, but can consume pollen contents that are dissolved in a fluid).^[22] Some species of fungus, including Fomes fomentarius, are able to break down grains of pollen as a secondary nutrition source which is particularly high in nitrogen.^[23]

Although bats, butterflies and hummingbirds are not pollen eaters per se, their consumption of nectar in flowers is an important aspect of the pollination process.

In humans[link]

A variety of producers have started selling bee pollen for human consumption, often marketed as a food (rather than a dietary supplement). The largest constituent is carbohydrates, with protein content ranging from 7 to 35 percent depending on the plant species collected by bees.^[24]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not found any harmful effects of pollen consumption, except from the usual allergies. However, FDA does not allow pollen marketers in the United States to make health claims about their produce, as no scientific basis for these has ever been proven. Furthermore, there are possible dangers not only from allergic reactions but also from contaminants such as pesticides and from fungi and bacteria growth related to poor storage procedures. A manufacturers's claim that pollen collecting helps the bee colonies is also controversial.^[25]

Forensic palynology[link]

An SEM micrograph of Redbud pollen. Scanning Electron Microscopes are major instruments in palynology.

In forensic biology, pollen can tell a lot about where a person or object has been, because regions of the world, or even more particular locations such a certain set of bushes, will have a distinctive collection of pollen species.^[26] Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a particular object picked up the pollen.^[27] Pollen has been used to trace activity at mass graves in Bosnia,^[28] catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush during a crime,^[29] and has even been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable tracking them.^[30]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pollen

• European Pollen Database
• Evolution of sex
• Pollen count
• Pollen source
• Pollen calendar
• Polyphenol antioxidant

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pollen and Spore Identification Literature
• Pollen micrographs at SEM and confocal microscope
• The flight of a pollen cloud
• PalDat (database comprising palynological data from a variety of plant families)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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Michael Pollan
Pollan speaking at Yale University
Born	(1955-02-06) 6 February 1955 (age 57) Long Island, New York, United States
Occupation	Author, Journalist, Professor
Spouse	Judith Belzer (m. 1987) «start: (1987)»"Marriage: Judith Belzer to Michael Pollan" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Michael_Pollan)
Website
michaelpollan.com

Michael Pollan (born February 6, 1955)^{[citation needed]} is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.^[1] A 2006 New York Times book review describes him as a "liberal foodie intellectual."^[2]

Early years[link]

Pollan was born on Long Island, New York to author and financial consultant Stephen Pollan and columnist Corky Pollan.^[3] Pollan received a B.A. in English from Bennington College in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1981.^[4]

Career[link]

Books[link]

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes—from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a series of intermediate stages, ultimately into a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry, that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006 The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project in 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009-10. An excerpt of the book was published in Mother Jones.^[5]

Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critique of modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modern agribusiness focuses on what he describes as the overuse of corn for purposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of corn oil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factory farming and gives his assessment of organic food production and what it's like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules (i.e., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Department of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) of what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system that has wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well-being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia, which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in the documentary film King Corn (2007).

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, specifically of humankind's evolutionary relationship with four plants — apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes — from the dual perspectives of humans and the plants. He uses case examples that fit the archetype of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of these botanical species are selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects the desire for sweetness, the tulip beauty, the marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. Pollan then unravels the narrative of his own experience with each of the plants, which he intertwines with a well-researched exploration into their social history. Each section presents a unique element of human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls it. These range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, to the alarming and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes.

Pollan speaking at TED in 2007

Pollan's book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released on January 1, 2008, explores the relationship with what he terms nutritionism and the Western diet, with a focus on late 20th century food advice given by the science community. Pollan holds that consumption of fat and dietary cholesterol do not lead to a higher rate of coronary disease, and that the reductive analysis of food into nutrient components is a flawed paradigm. He questions the view that the point of eating is to promote health, pointing out that this attitude is not universal and that cultures that perceive food as having purposes of pleasure, identity, and sociality may end up with better health. He explains this seeming paradox by vetting, and then validating, the notion that nutritionism and, therefore, the whole Western framework through which we intellectualize the value of food is more a religious and faddish devotion to the mythology of simple solutions than a convincing and reliable conclusion of incontrovertible scientific research. Pollan spends the rest of his book explicating his first three phrases: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He contends that most of what Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food, and that a practical tip is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

In 2009, his most recent book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This short work is a condensed version of his previous efforts, intended to provide a simple framework for healthy and sustainable diet. It is divided into three sections, further explicating Pollan's principles of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." It includes his rules (i.e., "let others sample your food" and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead").

Pollan has contributed to Greater Good, a social psychology magazine published by the Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical eating and social psychology.

In his 1998 book A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, Pollan methodically traced the design and construction of the out-building where he writes. The 2008 re-release of this book was re-titled A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams.

Other work[link]

Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of five books: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature A Gardener's Education (1991).

His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry, and he has written a number of articles on trends in American agriculture. He has received the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006) and the Norton Book of Nature Writing (1990).

Pollan co-starred in the documentary, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a consultant. In 2010 Pollan was interviewed for the film Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?, a feature length documentary about honey bees and colony collapse disorder.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Pollan is married to landscape painter Judith Belzer; the couple met while attending Bennington College. They have a son, Isaac.^[7][8] Pollan's sister is actress Tracy Pollan, the wife of Michael J. Fox.

Criticism[link]

Writing in the American Enterprise Institute's magazine, Blake Hurst argues that Pollan offers a shallow assessment of factory farming that does not take cost into account.^[9] Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate for arguing that food is too complex a subject to study scientifically and blaming reductionism for today's health ills, while at the same time using nutritional research to justify his own diet advice. He compares Pollan's "straight-forward" anti-scientific method based on only rhetoric to that used by health gurus of history who have peddled diet scams.^[10]

Pollan's work was also discussed and criticized by Jonathan Safran Foer in his non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer criticizes Pollan's argument regarding table-fellowship. Pollan claims that a vegetarian dinner guest causes socially reprimandable inconvenience for the host. Foer responds that in the year 2010 it is easier for hosts to accommodate vegetarians than locavores as hosts will need to do extensive research to find (expensive) non factory-farmed meat.^[11]

Animal rights advocates have ethically critiqued Pollan, writing that "most of us would be hard-pressed to find it in ourselves to slaughter an animal – or to rip off her skin, or slice open her body to remove the entrails...But our distaste toward being involved in such violent acts isn’t something that should be squelched and suppressed, as Michael Pollan or Julie Powell would have us believe. No – we should be grateful for the revulsion we feel when we imagine what happens to animals in between being born and being on our plates...Our horror is a sane reaction..."^[12]

Vasile Stanescu has criticized Pollan for arguing solely for locavorism which Stanescu argues is physically unfeasible due to a basic lack of arable land. At the same time Pollan in his earlier works rarely if ever refers to reduction of meat consumption as a viable alternative. Pollan is also criticized for hypocrisy in both his support of locavorism and in his indictment of the mistreatment of organic migrant farm workers. While Pollan supports the local food movement for sustainability, his lifestyle also includes an extensive amount of flying, driving, and transportation. While Pollan condemns the unfair treatment of Mexican farm workers on organic farms, he also supports Joel Salatin who has been criticized for xenophobia and strong anti-immigrant sentiment.^[13]

Bibliography[link]

Books

Essays

Interviews

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Pollan

• Official site
• Works by or about Michael Pollan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• (video) Michael Pollan on the Politics of Food from UC Television (UCTV)
• Michael Pollan at the Internet Movie Database
• "The omnivore's next dilemma" at TED Talks
• "In Defense of Food" at The Free Library of Philadelphia, January 10, 2008
• Skewed View from the Berkeley Hills: Why Michael Pollan and Alice Waters should quit celebrating food-price hikes by Tom Philpott, Grist, April 4, 2009.
• Food and Fossil Fuels by Melissa Moser, UNC News 21 Project, [1], June 25, 2009
• Why are Farmers Afraid of Michael Pollan? by Jim Goodman, CounterPunch, Sept 25 2009
• (video) Michael Pollan on: "Deep Agriculture," at The Long Now Foundation , May 5, 2009
• Michael Pollan on "Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual" - video report by Democracy Now!

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

Daphne Loves Derby
Kenny Choi at Rock 'n Roosevelt at UC San Diego
Background information
Origin	Kent, Washington
Genres	Indie rock, Alternative rock
Years active	2001–2008
Labels	Outlook Records (former)
Members
Kenny Choi Stu Clay David Sparks
Past members
Jason Call Jude Zadaski Spencer Abbott

Daphne Loves Derby is an American Indie rock band that formed in Kent, Washington, in 2001.^[1][2] They have released three studio albums, the third in 2007 titled Good Night, Witness Light, peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.^[3] The band was featured on Billboard's official website following the release of the album.^[4]

Background[link]

Much of their popularity comes from the website PureVolume, where they now have over 5,300,000 plays. For a time, they held the number one spot on PureVolume's Unsigned Artists page, but in 2005 they signed onto Outlook Music Universal Records. The band has been featured in the Bamboozle Left tours numerous times, as well as playing the Ernie Ball "local heroes" stage at Warped Tour. They have had several releases, including their self-titled debut album, which was released to PureVolume. On the Strength of All Convinced, was released on July 26, 2005. Their latest album, Good Night, Witness Light, was released on March 27, 2007. They are currently writing their fourth studio album. On March 3, 2011, The California Aggie online edition posted an interview with the band following a live performance. David told the interviewer that: "We actually just recorded an album and we're working with a label to hopefully release it this summer. It was a good process and we recorded the whole thing in two weeks. So right now we're still kind of stewing on the extra thing to do with it."

Members[link]

Current members[link]

• Kenny Choi - Vocals/Lyrics/Rhythm Guitar
• David Sparks - Bass/Vocals
• Stu Clay - Drums

Past members[link]

• Spencer Abbott - Lead Guitar
• Jason Call - Bass/Vocals

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Daphne Loves Derby (2003)
• On the Strength of All Convinced (2005)
• Good Night, Witness Light (2007)

EPs[link]

• A Sudden Change EP (2001)
• The Wonder Years EP (2003)
• Post Post EP (2004)
• Closing Down the Pattern Department (2004)
• Calm the Jock Down (2006)
• Acoustic EP (2006)

Videography[link]

• Hammers and Hearts (2005)
• Sundays (2006)
• That's Our Hero Shot (2007)
• Stranger, You and I (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Myspace
• Purevolume
• LiveJournal Community

Laura Gibson
Polaroid of Laura Gibson
Background information
Genres	Folk
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	vocals, guitar
Associated acts	Norfolk & Western

Laura Gibson is a Portland-area folk singer and songwriter. She was raised in Coquille, Oregon.^[1]

She currently records for the independent U.S. label Hush Records.^[2] In 2008, she toured the United States as the opening act for Colin Meloy. She also added vocal harmonies to his Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke EP.^[3] In 2009 she toured the first time in Europe with Micah Rabwin and Sean Ogilvie from Musée Mécanique.

She has worked with many other musicians, including Laura Veirs, Danny Seim, and Rachel Blumberg.^[4] Gibson has also collaborated with The Portland Cello Project.

Gibson covered "Edelweiss" from The Sound Of Music for American Laundromat Records charity CD "Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies".

She is a graduate of Linfield College.

Albums[link]

• If You Come to Greet Me (2006, Hush)
• Beasts of Seasons (2009, Hush)
• La Grande (2012, Barsuk)

EPs[link]

• Amends (2004, self)
• Six White Horses: Blues & Traditionals Vol. 1 (2006, Hush)

Compilation Appearances[link]

• "Pilot Me" - Bifrost Arts' Come O Spirit (Sounds Familyre 2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Gibson

• http://opbmusic.org/performances/39-Laura-Gibson
• Laura Gibson profile from National Public Radio
• Laura Gibson profile from Daytrotter Radio
• Acoustic session in Vienna of "Where Have All Your Good Words Gone" and "Come By Storm" by playgrrround
• Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose - Bridge Carols | Folk Radio UK

This article about a United States singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Blind Pilot is an American indie folk band based in Portland, Oregon. Their debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart.

The band completed a bicycle tour in 2008,^[1] biking from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California, carrying their instruments on custom bicycle trailers they fashioned themselves. They made more than two dozen stops along the way, including Port Townsend, Seattle, Olympia, Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, Coos Bay, Arcata and Santa Cruz.

In 2009, Blind Pilot added four more touring members, Luke Ydstie (upright bass, backing vocals), Kati Claborn (banjo, dulcimer, backing vocals), Ian Krist (vibraphones), and Dave Jorgensen (keyboards, trumpet), to match the sound of their album, 3 Rounds and a Sound. The group started a new U.S. tour in March 2009, the first with the six-member lineup. They headlined in clubs across the country. The band also filled support slots for Langhorne Slim and Gomez on a handful of dates during this tour. In May 2009, the band traveled to Europe for a series of gigs opening for Counting Crows and The Hold Steady. Blind Pilot returned to the U.S. in June to join The Decemberists on the road as their opening act. They followed this run with another tour of clubs in the Northeast, Mid-West and Canada.

In May 2009, Blind Pilot performed at the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. In August 2009, the band performed at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, Illinois, and the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, California.

On December 29, 2009, the band released an iTunes only live EP. This EP featured a cover of Gillian Welch's "Look At Miss Ohio".^[2] The EP also included new versions of previously released songs, along with a new song, titled "Get It Out". The EP was mixed and recorded by Tucker Martine, who has also mixed for The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, and R.E.M.

Blind Pilot completed a tour in July 2011 that included five Colorado stops in Winter Park (SolShine Festival and Smokin Moe's), Boulder (Chautauqua w/ Josh Ritter), Telluride (Sheridan Opera House), and Aspen (Belly Up) as well as Salt Lake and Santa Fe. Their second full-length album, We Are the Tide, was released in September 2011.

Discography[link]

• 3 Rounds and a Sound (2009)
• iTunes-only EP (2009)
• We Are the Tide (2011)