Pak Poe
Singer Songwriter

Veteran singer-songwriter Pak Poe brings his emotionally and politically
charged music to Saturday Nite Live on March 27. Born to a Korean father
and a Japanese mother in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1955, Pak started his
musical career playing drums in his older brothers band. In 1979 he made
his debut as a solo artist using his Japanese name, Yugo Hirose, with an
album on the Warner Pioneer label. On a visit to South Korea the
following year he changed his name to Pak Poe and formed the band Pak
Poe & Kiri Kyogen.

Living in San Francisco from 1983 until 1992, Pak formed the bands Ogie
Yocha and Psychedelic Samurai and I. He also played with such musicians
as Jerry Garcia, Pete Seeger, Narada Michael Walden, David Lindley and
Country Joe McDonald. Back in Japan, he joined the sadly overlooked
Tokyo Bibimbap Club band, which broke up after releasing just one album.

Since then Pak has performed solo as well as with his backing band. His
song "Shoui gunjin no uta" (Wounded Soldier) was used as the closing
theme of the documentary movie "Ore no kokoro wa maketenai," which
described the ordeal of a Korean "comfort woman." In 2009 Pak released a
30th-anniversary album, "Hashi ~ Mirai" (Bridge ~ to the Future), as
well as a documentary film, simply titled "Pak Poe."

Pak, who sings in Japanese, Korean and English, has one of the most
distinctive and passionate voices on the Japanese music scene. He isn't
afraid to deal with controversial topics such as nuclear energy, comfort
women and Japanese-Korean relations in his music, which makes him
something of a rarity in the safely bland Japanese entertainment world.
Come to SNL on March 27 to get a dose of righteous folk-rock from Pak Poe.

The Entertainment Committee

Coming up:
April 3: Peter Montgomery, Jazz Guitar
April 10: Anna Quinn, Pops Vocalist
April 17: Sugar Quartet, Instrumental Jazz
April 24: The Moonshots