Allison Crowe

Secrets... of stage and screen

2012-01-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

The world of Allison Crowe is a curious one to depict right now.

Allison's regular forums for expression, touring and recording, are currently joined by at least four new productions... about which nothing can be said!

It's true that over the next 12 - 18 months, these projects, regional, national and international in scope, will enable us to enjoy Allison on stage and screen, as part of music, theatre, dance and more.

Not entirely secret is Allison's role as one of the Music Directors of Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador's staging of "Sexy and Dangerous" - Saturday, February 11 at the Arts and Culture Centre, Corner Brook, NL. TNL's cabaret is set in the speakeasies of '30s era Chicago. As well as helping create the production numbers, Allison Crowe will perform some tunes (and should you be in Canada's Atlantic region and able to be part of the revelry - visit TNL's homesite for more info).

As for the rest of the great fun, due to burst like supernovas over the 2012+ calendar - it can best be described by borrowing a song-title - these are "Secrets (That Aren't My Own)" - heard here, below, in performance from "Live at Wood Hall":

BBC's Hallelujah doc examines Leonard Cohen's unique mix of spirit and flesh

2012-01-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

In late 2003, Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" was mostly known as a male-sung ballad. Allison Crowe unleashed a vitally different interpretation on "Tidings" - her '03 EP that proved so popular it's re-released the next year as a full-length CD.

Five years later, pretty much to the day, BBC Radio 2 in the UK broadcast an one-hour documentary on the song, which, by this time, was being covered almost continually. Host of "The Fourth, the Fifth, the Minor Fall" is Guy Garvey of the band Elbow.

The BBC crew caught up with Allison Crowe at View Two Gallery in Liverpool, England - where she was visiting as a guest for Beatles Week. The space was empty as an echo chamber, and special thanks go to producer Richard McIlroy who captured the audio in the moment - shared with his rapt two year-old.

Cohen's "Hallelujah" has now been covered more than 200 times, and each performer, and audience, finds their own meaning and inspiration. For visceral Allison Crowe, as she explains in this interview excerpt from the full documentary, it's about body and soul.

"The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall" - Allison Crowe w. BBC's Guy Garvey on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" by Allison Crowe

Also heard in this segment, chatting with Guy Garvey, are singer Kathryn Williams, The Bishop of Croydon - Nicholas Baines, and Cohen-collector and scholar Jim Devlin.

The BBC prefaced its broadcast on All Saint's Day, November 1, 2008:

"Warning: Listening to this sampling of artists, critics, and other commentators talk about their perspectives on Hallelujah may put ones preconceived notions about the song at risk."

Hallelujah by Allison Crowe

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - musical tribute

2012-01-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - and, in celebration+ of the great orator and campaigner for peace and human rights, here's two takes by Allison Crowe on Patty Griffin's song inspired by Dr. King's final speech, "I've Been To The Mountaintop".

Here's "Up to the Mountain" on guitar:

The video is by Corner Brook, NL-based artist Phil Robbins - part of his "Faces: Broadway" installation.

And here's "Up to the Mountain" on piano:

This video is by the "Out of the Fog" crew, makers of the epic St. John's, Newfoundland production.

Stubby's House of Christmas, (geographically-placed in Greenville, North Carolina), flags Allison Crowe's recording of "Up to the Mountain" alongside a range of songs in a full and engaging tribute to Martin Luther King entitled: "Some New Music for MLK Day". Fittingly, movingly, Stubby's concludes by sharing MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech:

The Recital

2012-01-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome the New Year on Allison Crowe's "7 Thumbs Up" blog with The Recital :)

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

Allison Crowe & Adam Brake - New Year's Eve 2011 - New Year's 2012. Hau ‘oli Makahiki Hou!!

Peace. Love. Happiness. Good health. To you and yours in 2012 from Allison and the A-team :)

"It's Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Allison Crowe"

2011-12-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

Travelling by boat right now - with internet access as variable as the seas. So, until the return to land ho, here's a ho, ho, ho - festive post from "1 Heck of a Guy" - Santa's favourite blog written by a psychiatrist that is rife with Leonard Cohen-based hilarity, a love story, essays on broomcorn, and proposals for a county seal featuring Dick Tracy: "It's Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Allison Crowe".

You can have your cake and eat it twice

2011-11-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

On November 16 Allison Crowe celebrates her 30th birthday. In anticipation of the occasion, Alley posts on her 7 Thumbs Up blog. The birthday cake recipe and pics, she promises, will follow (the party)!!

Allison Crowe don't make promises that she don't keep. And, when it comes to cake, that goes for double. So, now, as promised, let Allison be your guide to strawberry fields where everything is real... and tasty @ http://7thumbsup.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/chocolate-covered-strawberry-shortcake

Allison Crowe Brings Tidings 2011 from St. John's to Victoria

2011-11-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

It's coming on the season to celebrate with one of the great voices in popular music.

Expect plenty of rocking holiday cheer, laced with overtones of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and more when Allison Crowe delivers "Tidings". The 2011 edition of Crowe's annual holiday favourite begins in St. John's, NL, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway, and wraps in Victoria, BC, the western terminus.

The internationally-acclaimed musician, born on Vancouver Island, and home in Newfoundland for years now, stirs together traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites with an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul. "Be prepared to be amazed," chimes ChristmasReviews.com Longtime NPR broadcaster Ross Hocker calls Allison Crowe's show, "The most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life."

Italian radio calls Allison Crowe "Una voce incredibile per una forza della natura."

As a performing artist, Crowe is akin, in ways, to the late, great, Swedish power-house soprano, Birgit Nilsson, about whom it's said "No record or CD could quite prepare a listener for the real thing, live in the opera house".

Tidings is Allison Crowe's melding of the sacred and secular in "songs of the season" and spirit. Some of the music is familiar repertoire, delivered in singular style. Some is not like anything customarily heard in a holiday-time concert.

Tidings viscerally surveys a musical terrain of carols - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, In the Bleak Midwinter, What Child Is This, First Noel, Silent Night, O Holy Night - performed with rare artistry and passion, and emotive arrangements, alongside the modern canon of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Lennon/McCartney+, and Allison Crowe's original songs, (including the just-composed "Arthur", and the epic "Disease"), that draw on themes of faith, hope, sorrow, joy, redemption, transcendence and more from life's well.

First staged in 2003, Tidings is an exciting experience shared by music-lovers around the world. This holiday season, Allison Crowe, with some very special musical guests, brings Tidings to:

St. John's, NL - D.F. Cook Recital Hall - November 25

Corner Brook, NL - First United Church - December 2

Nanaimo, BC - St. Andrew's United Church - December 10 - Featuring: Christopher Wood; Raymond Salgado; Kiana Smith; Kaleigh Hargrove; Taylor Manns; Emily Blake & Guests to aid The Mind's Eye + Woodlands SS Band and Basketball programs

Vancouver, BC - St. Jame's Hall - December 11 - Featuring guest artist: Juniper Watters

Campbell River, BC - St. Peter's Anglican Church - Dec. 15 - Featuring: The Campbell River Childrens Choir with Director Barbara Prowse to aid Campbell River Hospice Society & CR Food Bank

Victoria, BC - Fairfield United Church - Dec. 17 (NB a shift from original date of Dec. 9) - Featuring guest artists: Haley Walker; & Billie Woods to aid Artemis Place, (girls' educational and life-skills), and HepCBC

On Thursday, December 22, you can join Allison Crowe in her birth-place of Nanaimo, B.C. for the "Light Up a Life" Sing-along - part of the campaign for Haven Society organized by the Old City Quarter Merchants.

Full details of the "Tidings" concerts and sing-along will be posted @ allisoncrowe.com

Halloween Skeletons and Spirits from Allison Crowe & Dr H Guy

2011-10-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

The Mysterious Dr H Guy beckons from the shadows... on All Hallow's Eve. It's The Great Pun'kin mix of Allison Crowe's "Skeletons and Spirits".

Boo-galoo!!

A Brush of Hope 2011 ~ October 20 - 30

2011-10-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Each year The Kidney Foundation of Canada mounts an unique fundraiser for kidney research - "A Brush of Hope". Canadians from many walks of life pick up paint and brushes to create one-of-a-kind works which are then auctioned on eBay.

Allison Crowe is part of this tradition, and this year she joins: fellow Canuck musicians Leonard Cohen, Susan Aglurkark, Alex Lifeson (of Rush), Hawksley Workman; comedians Mike Myers and Elvira Kurt; representing the political spectrum, MPs Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands - and Federal Green Party Leader), Justin Trudeau (Papineau), and New Brunswick Premier David Alward; alongside figure-skater, Kurt Browning, NHLer John Tavares, and a score of others lending an artistic hand to the cause.

This image links directly to Allison's painting:

You can visit the entire "A Brush of Hope" gallery - here

For the next 10 days, until October 30, the Foundation’s eBay gallery displays more than 100 paintings - all proceeds from the sale of which benefit kidney research in Canada.

p.s. The 2011 eBay auction for "A Brush of Hope" is a wrap!! Congratulations and thanks to the successful bidder who purchased Allison's painting this year!! Thanks, too, to everyone, who's supported the auction, bidding on Allison's painting, and all the other artworks - this time out, and in prior years!! The Kidney Foundation of Canada reports that almost $24,000 has been raised for the cause of kidney research!!

Hooray!! :)

Coverville 809: The Eurythmics Cover Story

2011-10-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

For lovers of Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart - Brian Ibbott, conductor of Coverville, delivers "The Eurythmics Cover Story". One hour of musical treats from The Rubinoos, Martha Wainwright, The Watson Twins and more... including Annie herself. Allison Crowe represents with "Why" - I believe it's the favourite version of "Spiral" producer and string arranger Kayla Schmah. Time to download and listen!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-10-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Just came upon another thougtful post from boyhowdy on his Cover Lay Down blog - this one celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with a bounty of Canadiana music - including Allison Crowe's cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You". Have a good one, eh!

Allison Crowe Lands on MarsBands

2011-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

The universal appeal of Allison Crowe now includes Mars - the founder of MarsBands.com - which launches its web station today with this entertaining interview. On this well-read planet it's reigning cats and dog. ack! ack!

More exploration of MarsBands turns up this fun profile - which describes Allison Crowe as "the best thing to come out of Canada since hockey." High praise, indeed :)

Loafidelity

2011-09-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Even when Allison Crowe is loafing, it's a creative act. Allison's rising to the new season, with Autumn wishes - a pic, recipe and a poem - for us all @ Fall? Bread.

Free! Music! Contest 2011 Winners and Music

2011-09-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Free! Music! Contest 2011, run by Musikpiraten e.V., and for which Jamendo was among sponsors, announces its winners and releases a cornucopia of tracks displaying the rich creativity of the remixer community. Allison Crowe, one of the world’s musical ambassadors of Creative Commons licensing, is Musical Patron of this year’s “FreeMixter” event. A 19 track sampler can be downloaded free at Bandcamp. And, at remix portal ccmixter.org enjoy remixes of tracks from Allison, Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park), DJ Vadim, the Beastie Boys and many more.

Chimes of Freedom Flashing

2011-09-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

The UK's Point Based Visa System continues to be mis-applied to artists and academics visiting for a short term, even a single concert/event. This problem is highlighted in a new podcast by Rocca Gutteridge, produced by Clare Carswell @ Without Borders Allison Crowe's song "Immersed" is included with this show. A complementary blog posting is @ Why Is Britain Treating Artists Like Criminals?

Canada - "Tributo a Allison Crowe"

2011-09-06T21:08:00.001-07:00

And, now, from Rita Mercedes Chio in Argentina - a tribute to Allison Crowe, and Allison's homeland, Canada. The song is "Going Home Tonight" - with the gorgeous scoring and production by Kayla Schmah on Allison's album "Spiral".

"Cuerpo de Mujer" + "What About You + Imagenes Exclusivas

2011-09-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

From Rita Mercedes Chio in Argentina comes this new creation - uniting words of Chile's Pablo Neruda, "imáges muy especiales", and musica of Allison Crowe. The poem is "Cuerpo de Mujer" (Body of a Woman), published in Neruda's 1924 collection, "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". The music is "What About You" - the version from Allison's "Live at Wood Hall" set.

Bauerfeind – zdf.kultur features Allison Crowe and remixers

2011-08-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Christian Hufgard (Musikpiraten e.V.) sends word on a program broadcast by German tv channel zdf.kultur. He notes:

“German tv produced a spot about remixing/mashups and the FreeMixter. Allison Crowe as its patron has been featured – and a couple of remixes:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1408600/Bauerfeind-am-14.-August-2011 (Starting at 08:17)”

Bauerfeind am 14. August 2011
Von angesagten Nerds, digitalen Gutmenschen auf Soforthilfe-Suche, Samples und Kopien mit Recht und der wunderbaren Joy Denalane. Schaun wir mal, dann sehn wir schon!

The Beatles, Danger Mouse, Jay-Z, Allison (a clip of her “Hallelujah” video appears at about 11:43), and sounds of remixers Jeris, Salvatore-J, Incoherent Mumble Train and more.

Wunderbar! Danke Christian, ZDF and to all involved! Enjoy

Arthur / Up to the Mountain – Allison Crowe Releases Double-A-Side Today

2011-07-27T02:55:00.000-07:00

Today, the amazing Allison Crowe releases a double-A-side single – two new song recordings available world-wide for enjoyment in audio and video formats:

“Arthur” - Playing her vintage upright-grand piano, at home in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada, Allison Crowe sings of love weighed through life and time.

“Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)” - Already a lover of American singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, Allison Crowe’s introduction to this Griffin tune came from Canadian rock and soul musician Bob Benvenuti when the two Canucks performed at a Christmas "Tidings" concert together. Crowe brings it on home with guitar and vocals - performing as her own Jordanaires for back-up.

Rubenesque Records Ltd., Canada’s most independently successful music label, celebrates its tenth anniversary with this characteristically passionate performance pairing.

Here, above, is “Arthur” - as it’s heard on the new release.

NB The single version of "Up to the Mountain" is on guitar. We're fortunate to also have this video of a piano performance - Allison live-in-the-studio - "Out of the Fog" in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

Warmest thanks to the team behind this popular news and arts magazine - Michael Fisher, Television Producer, Bruce Lane, camera - and all the OotF crew at Rogers television.

Sounds Like Canada

2011-07-26T00:30:00.001-07:00

To quote Brad Pitt - "technology rocks!"

It does when you come across a fun interview and can share it... Here's Allison Crowe, performing on Canada's national public radio, CBC, and chatting with "Sounds Like Canada" host Shelagh Rogers. This show marks the first-ever performance by Allison of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" - just before her first-ever European concert tour!

Spiral remixes

2011-07-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dig the creativity of remixers! Allison Crowe's "Spiral" is re-imagined by Jeris, salvatore_j, Incoherent Mumble Train, unreal_dm, CSoul, and Alex @ ccMixter Rock, blues, grunge, jazz, bass, drums, pop, techno, dance, industrial, electronica...

Allison's musical patron for "Free! Music! Contest 2011 - FreeMixter"

Tonight Will Be Fine

2011-07-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe covers Leonard Cohen's "Tonight Will Be Fine". Plus, an impressionistic ride through a trio of European countries...

Music Everywhere

2011-07-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Exciting times - even in the rain! We aim to have Allison Crowe's double-A-side single available digitally before the end of this month. More news on this two song recording - "Arthur" / "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" coming in the next few days. Here's a look at the single cover art - photo by Allison!

Next month, August 23, marks the tenth anniversary of Allison's label, Rubenesque Records Ltd. Along with virtual cake and balloons, we'll make it a special celebration together :)

Fourth of July reflections

2011-07-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

boyhowdy at the Cover Lay Down blog presents a genuinely thoughtful reflection and celebration of America for this July 4 weekend. And, he includes, in a terrific song selection, Allison Crowe's cover of "Independence Day" by Ani DiFranco.

The post's final note: "Happy Birthday, America. Long may your contradictions endear us to you. May you never lose hope. And may we never stop singing."

Free! Music! Contest Salutes Creativity and Evolution

2011-07-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Canada Day, “north of the 49th”, and Independence Day in America, marks the international launch of “Free! Music! Contest 2011”. Organizer Musikpiraten e.V., explains this year’s focus is on “free” as in “freedom” rather than in “free beer”. Considering the strong European flavour to the community involved, though, it’s win-win however you brew it.

"FreeMixter" is the motto of this event and, as that suggests, emphasis is on enabling remixes – via ccMixter, the remix portal where many artists, including such high-profile creators as the Beastie Boys, Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park), and DJ Vadim, release tracks that others can use to make new music.

Allison Crowe’s posted the vocal and piano tracks for "Spiral" to ccMixter, saying:

"Creative Commons is, in my opinion, the best way to license your music!

You can choose what you're most comfortable with, without someone choosing it for you - in a sense rendering it the most personalized, realistic and human way to do things - sharing art, and joining artists, all together from all around the world. That's what it's all about!

All the best with this year's Free! Music! Contest :) Can't wait to hear what happens!"

Allison Crowe is delighted and honoured to be designated Musical Patron for this year’s celebration of creativity – following previous F!M!C Patron, author, journalist and Boing Boing blogger Cory Doctorow, a prominent advocate of Creative Commons licensing, an increasingly welcome alternative to traditional copyright.

Artists, academics, everyone, in today’s evolving environment, can tune in, and turn on to the greater flexibility and compatibility with digital realities afforded by Creative Commons aka CC licensing.

Here’s to “The Power of Open”. Prost!

A Case of You - Oh Canada Day...

2011-06-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Steppin' lightly (just like, just like a ballerina) into this July 1 - Canada Day weekend. Here's a most Canadian song, born of a relationship between two artists - Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. "Love is touching souls. Well surely you touched mine..." Here's Allison Crowe's recording of "A Case of You" (from her "This Little Bird" album/CD) - live as can be...

New Double-A-Side-Single, and Album Plans

2011-06-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

Acclaimed musician is ready with new recordings and fresh direction

Musician Allison Crowe, one of the world’s great songwriters and live performers, releases a double-A side digital single this Summer featuring a piano-based original song “Arthur” and an interpretation of Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)” on guitar.

The bicoastal Canadian artist is in pre-production of her eighth album - advancing a series of critically and commercially successful recordings. Her label, Rubenesque Records Ltd., is celebrating ten years of establishment-free creation.

In a recent interview with Helen Jayne Reid of CornerBrooker.com Crowe reveals some of the creative impetus to her next full-length release. She cites the heavier, industrial, production sound heard in “from the choirgirl hotel”-era Tori Amos, and the recordings of Nine Inch Nails. NIN’s Trent Reznor is also exemplary as a creator not bound by the corporate calculation of popular music today.

Recognizing the truth of John Lennon’s lyric, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”, Allison Crowe is giving a window of 12 – 18 months to solve intricate production puzzles with the current album collection of ten songs and a poem, "Snow".

While in pre-production this Summer, Crowe performs a single live show – as part of TNL's Gros Morne Theatre Festival concert series in Cow Head, near her Atlantic home of Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

Allison Crowe’s double-A-side single, “Arthur” and “Up to the Mountain” is set for release next month (July, 2011 – on iTunes et al).

"Wiener dogs, school treats and a slice of cheesecake"

2011-06-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's Wien-Wien-Wien!!!

Today, an extravaganza on Allison Crowe's "7 Thumbs Up" blog. It's the second birthday of Link, Allison's daschund pal. Today's post leads off with "Wiener-shaped Dog Cookies", (or is that "Dog-shaped Wiener Cookies"...), and flows into "Man-Woman-and-Everything-Else-Friend Churros and Chocolate Sauce", for lovers and friends, and "Savoury Cheesecake" for all creatures, great and small.

Meus amigos com Wedding Song

2011-06-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Also from South America - 62-year-old Oswaldo Monteiro of Brazil's tribute using Allison Crowe's "Wedding Song". Roughly translated: "The video was made in honor of the couples friends and family at Valentine's Day. Assemble wedding photos and recent photos (in both cases, I had available) of these couples. The video also shows an excerpt of the poem 'Conselho De Um Velho Apaixonado', by Carlos Drummond de Andrade."

Little Light - cover colored by moomki

2011-06-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Argentina-based visual artist moomki colorizes the b/w album/CD of Allison Crowe's "Little Light". In this very cool video, you can see the transformation of the cover imagery - which arises from a photo by Billie Woods, taken when Allison was visiting Pender Island, Canada for a concert. The music is "There Is" - the version from "This Little Bird".

Why v2

2011-06-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

And, so, "Spiral" closes with this cover of the Eurythmics (Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart) song "Why". Allison Crowe - voice, guitar, engineer & Kayla Schmah - orchestrator, string arranger, producer. "This is how I feel..."

silence (82 seconds of) + Throw Your Arms Around Me v2

2011-06-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

BBC Radio's 'Desert Island Discs' speaks with Maurice Hopper, of Exeter, UK. As a peace observer, he carried eight pieces of music to the Middle East. Transferring music from CD to computer some spaces in between got lost. "It emphasized the huge importance of silence in musical performances," he says. This track is a "silence" break before encore, "producer's cut", versions on "Spiral".

+

On this, a second version of the Hunters & Collectors' anthem Throw Your Arms Around Me on Allison Crowe's "Spiral" album, producer Kayla Schmah's mix enriches the encore - bringing Allison's vocals to the fore - after they'd been immersed in the pub-style-group-sing-along that wraps the first. Building up to one more, final, gorgeous, song production...

Newest Last.fm Hall of Fame Singer-Songwriter Nod

2011-06-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

In March 2011, Allison Crowe was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Singer Songwriter group on Last.fm (the world's largest online music catalogue and recommendation site). Today, more recognition - Allison joins Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell, Patty Griffin, Carole King, Tori Amos and a mix of artists in the Female Singer-Songwriter Hall of Fame - creators of dance/electronica, Americana, folk, soul+ music.

No Matter the Battle

2011-06-11T20:09:00.001-07:00

"I still hold secrets", Allison Crowe declares at the outset of "No Matter the Battle". But, it's a different journey from that which inspired her debut full-length album five years earlier. Allison and the full band, including strings/orchestration from Kayla Schmah, close out this set on her "Spiral" album exultantly.

Going Home Tonight

2011-06-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

The first songs bringing Allison Crowe, (voice, piano, composer, engineer) and Kayla Schmah, (orchestrator, string arranger, producer), together on "Spiral" were "Why" and "Going Home Tonight". It's an inspired and gorgeous combination from the start.

This vid...

rolls from Pretzel Motors, shop of Axel Dollheiser, Allison's friend, driver, and oft-times road manager, to the home of Rubenesque Records, Allison's label - on Salt Spring Island, Canada.

Why

2011-06-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Paris Voice declares Allison Crowe "One of the best interpreters to come along since Joe Cocker." And, in 40+ years since Cocker made his name, no artist combines such interpretative powers with original song-writing talent in one amazing voice. Crowe brings new emotional colours to the Eurythmics (Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart) pop classic "Why" - joined by Kayla Schmah's simply beautiful string arrangement.

Relay for Life

2011-06-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe and team-mates, Lil Alexander, Louise Brake, Debbie Callahan, Mary Cashin, Sharon Fifield, Janine Gillis, Veronica Hunt, Judy Scott, and Captain Joanne Fiander, collectively known as the "Freedom Fighters", were part of the "Relay for Life" that happened this weekend in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. They raised over $1000 for cancer research, alongside numerous other teams all passing the torch in this same great cause.

You can enjoy images of the event, shot by Allison and her bf, noted thespian, Adam Brake, at CornerBrooker.com

Throw Your Arms Around Me

2011-06-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

"Throw Your Arms Around Me" on a sing-along-Sunday, in the sunshine - or anything. Australia's "Hunters & Collectors" created this anthem, and, here, Canada's Allison Crowe (voice, piano, engineer), the band, Billie Woods (acoustic guitar, bgs), Dave Baird (bass, bgs), Laurent Boucher (percussion), engineer Larry Anschell and producer Kayla Schmah bring the love from down under to all over.

Spiral

2011-06-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe and the same musical team that came together for the gentle "Oceans" dive into rocky territory with the album title song, "Spiral". The character of Allison’s 100+ year-old upright grand piano is also a key element.

I Don't Know

2011-06-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

"I Don't Know": another rediscovery for Allison Crowe's "Spiral" is this song, which prior to this album/CD release had been performed only once - on Denman Island, Canada, in 2006. Audio archivist John MacMillan preserved the song and it's an ideal fit for Allison's passionate vocals and piano wedded to Kayla Schmah's urgently beautiful string arrangements and orchestration.

Coffee Afternoon With Allison Crowe - in CornerBrooker.com

2011-05-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

A current interview/article by quintessential jill-of-all-trades, Helen Jayne Reid, appearing in news and culture blog CornerBrooker.com, traces the beginning of Allison Crowe's recording history to the present - and, over coffee, looks at where she's going next.

Oceans

2011-05-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

"Oceans" arises from Allison Crowe's life - at home on, both, the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Canada. Joining Allison on this open-hearted musical voyage is her "Spiral" crew - including Larry Anschell on electric guitar, as well as engineering. Sail on...

Wake Up

2011-05-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

"Wake Up": Performed just twice over the years, one of those concert dates - at the Chilliwack Arts Centre, British Columbia (near dear friend and tour merch monkey, Reena Kudhail) - was captured by audio archivists John MacMillan and Condor (a new, proud, Papa!) Kayla Schmah, "Spiral" producer, arranged strings for the song, and it's rejoined Allison's repertoire - to much appreciation :)

Chelsea Hotel No. 2

2011-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe's take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" so redefined an approach to the song it was plenty controversial. Once that dam burst, and hundreds of covers poured forth, Crowe's version took its place as a much-loved, classic, interpretation. On her newest album, joined by cellist Brendan Millbank, she performs "Chelsea Hotel No.2", penned by Cohen and Ron Cornelius. Kayla Schmah is string arranger/producer.

Double-Edged Swords

2011-05-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe switches up with "Double-Edged Swords" - riding the rails geographically and emotionally. On board with Allison, the band, and producer Kayla Schmah is long-time musical partner, Turtle Studio's Larry Anschell, engineering the instrumental tracks. There's no 'sleeper' on this trip...

Dearly

2011-05-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

"Spiral" is Allison Crowe's newest album - w. gorgeous cover paintings by Netherlands-based Tara Thelen + graphic design by Florida's Alix Whitmire. Billie Woods contributes photographs & acoustic guitar, alongside a rhythm section of Dave Baird and Laurent Boucher. Arranging, orchestrating and producing in full cinematic splendour is Kayla Schmah, of L.A. by-way-of-Salt Spring Island.

Curtains rise on "Dearly"...

Wedding Song

2011-05-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

One of the rootsier songs in Allison Crowe's richly varied repertoire is the closer to her "Little Light" album/CD. "Wedding Song" - the title says it.

A slide show of Allison images, by the ab fab photog/musician Billie Woods, shot in an apartment in Vienna, Austria, the pair share while on tour, is on YouTube:

When I'm Gone

2011-05-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

"When I'm Gone", penned by the great topical singer-songwriter, Phil Ochs, is interpreted here by Allison Crowe:

Allison's slide-show video is on YouTube:

This year saw the release of a biopic - "Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune" - and there's an ever-growing number of Ochs vids on YouTube+

Not to be missed is this lovely video, "Home Reflections", set to audio of Allison's recording of the elegiac song:

It's created by Scottish musician and photographer Shona McMillan - who quotes her Mum's favourite saying: "I pass this way but once, any good that I can do - Let Me - for I may not pass this way again."

Running for Home

2011-05-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

In her teen years, Allison Crowe alternated between band shows and, solo, singer-songwriter, gigs. "Running for Home", words by Matthew Good & Music by Matt Good + Dave Genn, fit both settings. On "Little Light", Crowe, independent and vital, presents her intimate take on this song by Good, an iconoclastic Canadian rocker.

Choose to Be

2011-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

"Choose to Be" nearly was part of Allison Crowe's "This Little Bird" album, but the recording, engineered and produced by Allison, became one of the piano songs on her next CD, "Little Light". Bridging the serious intensity of "early" performances with the playful buoyancy of some later tracks, in it Allison does choose to be... happy :)

Hold Back

2011-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

Again, turning life into lyrics, reflecting all shades of emotion and experience in song, Allison Crowe lays her cards out in this lovely guitar ballad - "Hold Back".

Happy People

2011-05-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

"Happy People": In her characteristically candid way, Allison Crowe shines a little light on the darker side of feelings not always revealed.

Friend and big fan in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Sweden, autostopowicz70, has a slide-show accompany the song on YouTube:

Little Light

2011-05-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

"Little Light" - the title song: "Walk backwards to see, if you can start where you were before/ break the locks to see, if there was ever really a door/ set fire to yourself, to see if there is anything to burn/ keep making mistakes, to see if there is anything to learn..."

Time After Time

2011-05-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe, a child of the '80s, performs one of her favourites of that era in concert - a cover of Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman's "Time After Time". Allison performs the song live, in concert, and Scott Littlejohn of Nanaimo, B.C. records the moment.

Here's a "Time After Time" home-movie song-video, companion to the "Angels" vid. Happy weekend!!

Disease (08/03/08)

2011-05-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

An international review declares "the energy of 'Disease' can easily provide electricity to a small country for a decade." Here is Allison Crowe captured live by Turtle Recording's Larry Anschell and Brad Graham. "Once more shifting genres, moods, and techniques, 'Disease'," says 1 Heck of a Guy, "is a passionate look into the dark side of human connectedness manifest in a song played with operatic ferocity."

Angels

2011-05-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

"Angels" - first of a quartet of concert/live recordings on Allison Crowe's "Little Light". Allison's joined on-stage by the rhythm section of Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion).

The song video is a home-movie of the playful singer-songwriter at home in Nanaimo, British Columbia one Winter:

Northern Lights

2011-05-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Next of Allison Crowe's albums is "Little Light", a 2008 release which is the most guitar-oriented song collection among her CDs. Opening up is the rustically shimmering "Northern Lights". Again Allison transmutes real life in this love song - inspired by sighting the Aurora Borealis. Lorette C. Luzajic, Toronto-based artist and culture-writer, calls it "the prettiest song that Sarah McLachlan never wrote."

Images of the Aurora Borealis - by adventurer and photographer David Cartier, captured mostly in the Yukon territory of Canada's North - accompany Allison Crowe's "Northern Lights" song in this video - combining to help bring home the wonder of it all :)

This Little Bird

2011-05-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

"This Little Bird" adds the final straw to Allison Crowe's album/CD of the same name. Fitting today as Allison is back in her nest in "a corner in the East" - following a series of concerts that add to the legend. Allison, piano and voice, is again accompanied by Dave Baird, bass, and Laurent Boucher, percussion, featuring... cowbell!

Hallelujah ~ a flake of Fairview life w. Allison Crowe

2011-05-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

On her tour swing of Canada's Atlantic and Maritime region, Allison Crowe visits Fairview Heights School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This bootleg clip may not have the highest production values - but, it does reveal the highest of human values :)

Leonard Cohen's song, "Hallelujah" :)

Secrets (That Aren't My Own) ~ Victòria Quingles interpreta

2011-05-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe is joyed to hear her own songs interpreted! It's a wonderful thing as music reaches around the world and is shared. Here, young Spanish artist Victòria Quingles performs "Secrets (That Aren't My Own)" at Fundació ACA, de Búger - in Mallorca, Spain last week. It's a moving interpretation - and a video post to help celebrate this course of global creativity - the mother of invention. Happy Mother's Day!!

I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)

2011-05-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe interprets Ronnie Shannon's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" - a breakout hit for Aretha Franklin in 1967. Allison "nails it just as good as the Queen of Soul herself. Her piano playing is equally exquisite," says Bob Muller, curator of cover songs @ JoniMitchell.com 1 Heck of a Guy's Allan Showalter calls Allison's "the most provocative and seductive (forgive me, Aretha) take I've heard".

Phoenix

2011-05-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

"Phoenix", a 'deep track' on a richly diverse album. Allison Crowe's voice and piano is accompanied by sympatico rhythm duo Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion). Guitar is played by Del Crowe, Allison's Father. Songs of Innocence. Songs of Experience.

Darling Be Home Soon

2011-05-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

"Allison Crowe, the Canadian singer-songwriter and icon-in-training, performing her uniquely gorgeous version of 'Darling Be Home Soon,' a classic pop – in the best sense of 'pop' – tune" is how "1 Heck of a Guy" blogger, Allan Showalter, bills this "must-hear cover" of the John Sebastian-penned Lovin' Spoonful beauty.

Circular Reasoning

2011-05-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

"Circular Reasoning", Allison Crowe declares, is something she practices at times. And, should Allison's bassist, Dave Baird, be listening to the lyrics, this IS an abundantly happy song :) He's joined here by rhythm partner, Laurent Boucher on percussion. Is that a triangle - closing this mid-album guitar-set? Guitar engineering is by Ryan Adams.

Silence

2011-05-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe on guitar, again, for "Silence". Dave Baird on bass, Laurent Boucher, percussion. Guitar engineering, (as on "Now"), is by Newfoundland's Louis & Mike McDonald. The album's engineering, overall, and production is by Allison - who, by 2006, is running her own record label, and handling many creative roles at the same time! Simply... hear it :)

Now

2011-05-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

"Now" - When Allison Crowe first settled in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, in 2005/6, for the first year or two, she did not have an acoustic piano in her home. (Her grand piano being on Canada's other coast, in the harbour city of Nanaimo, British Columbia.) Allison has a natural interest in guitar, and this confluence manifest in an outpouring of guitar songs on her next albums, "This Little Bird" and "Little Light".

There Is

2011-05-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

"There Is" - the version on Allison Crowe's "This Little Bird" album/CD. Allison's voice and piano is complemented by Dave Baird's bass, Laurent Boucher's percussion, and, her father, Del Crowe's guitar! "There is a way, out of this, there is... " :)

Alive and Breathing

2011-04-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Ramble-tamble sounds of "Alive and Breathing" - Allison Crowe (voice, piano) accompanied by Laurent Boucher (percussion) and Dave Baird (bass and a rare performance on guitar). Another song emerging from the fertile writing period after Allison explored and ultimately rejected the mainstream record industry. (That period's, so far, lasted 8+ years! There's another fertile period of years - before that courtship.)

A Case of You

2011-04-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

"A Case of You", Joni Mitchell's song about Leonard Cohen, as performed by Allison Crowe. Say Swedish music writer Anna Maria Stjärnell: "Crowe gets to the heart of the mystical, intoxicating song. 'You're In My Blood Like Holy Wine' has rarely been a line better delivered."

Allison Crowe 2011 Tour Launch Tonight

2011-04-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe's tour launch is tonight in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada - the same city in which Leonard Cohen inaugurated his world tour in 2008! We're buoyed to find "1 Heck of a Guy", the world's most popular "blog rife with Leonard Cohen-based hilarity, essays on broomcorn, and proposals for a county seal featuring Dick Tracy that is written by a psychiatrist", kindly salutes Alley & crew setting sail!

Skeletons and Spirits

2011-04-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

In the days of 45 rpm singles, this song, "Skeletons and Spirits", could form a "double A-side" with "Effortless".

A favourite Allison Crowe tune for many, including other performers, it's also been the music to a fun range of videos - including this recent animation by Norwich, UK-based Christina Worby.

Effortless

2011-04-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe's "This Little Bird:" album opens "Effortless"-ly. Dave Baird plays bass, and Laurent Boucher is on drums, Tibetan bells and other percussion. The visual art is created by Billie Woods, photographer, and Alix Whitmire, graphics, direction and design.

On the road again

2011-04-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe is on the move! Concerts, tv performances, a special visit to a school, all the fun and more that comes with rock and rolling these coming weeks... Here's a pic Allison took from the car, setting out from her home in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada.

Dates ahead:

Friday, April 29 ~ Charlotte Street Arts Centre, Fredericton, New Brunswick - to aid "A Brush of Hope" - The Kidney Foundation of Canada
Saturday, April 30 ~ The Music Room, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Monday, May 2 ~ Fairview Heights School, Halifax, Nova Scotia - "Pizza & Piano"
Saturday, May 7 ~ D.F. Cook Recital Hall, MUN, St. John's, Newfoundland

Me and Bobby McGee

2011-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

"Me and Bobby McGee" penned by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson, closes this second concert of Allison Crowe "Live at Wood Hall". Allan Showalter, Buddha of the Broomcorn, blog-master @ http://1heckofaguy.com says, "Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson's lyrics."

(Applause/thanks)

Imagine

2011-04-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

"Imagine", composed by John Lennon, performed live by Allison Crowe. Peace.

(Applause/banter)

I Dreamed a Dream

2011-04-23T18:48:00.001-07:00

"I Dreamed a Dream" - Words & Music by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg. Culture blog Muruch calls Allison Crowe's performance the definitive version of this song from Les Miserables. "Les Miz" fans have their faves, and that's the nature of music and musicals. The passion of Allison live, heard in all she performs, is here, as Fantine...

(Applause/banter)

Secrets (live)

2011-04-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

"Secrets" live - this Good Friday, and Earth Day!!

(applause track and intro for the next song performance)

Disease + walking octopi

2011-04-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

"Disease", ever-evolving social commentary from Allison Crowe. In concert today it can be 10 minutes in performance, and you may hear Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" or Cranberries' "Zombie" in its middle. During "Tidings" season, Bohemia's "Good King Wenceslas" finds way into the song...)

Here it is on the day walking octopi are discovered - more about that on the banter track

On the same weekend Allison Crowe's concert performances are captured "Live at Wood Hall", scientist Christine L. Huffard and colleagues release a study of "Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise" along with videos of Octopus marginatus, which resembles a coconut:

and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, a clump of floating algae:

(The original vids are no longer on YouTube, stil, these short clips show the same octopi walking.)

Finally

2011-04-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

"Finally". A song co-written by Allison Crowe and Stephen Clevette. Loves past, loves present... and, true to the message of Counting Crow's Adam Duritz, one of Allison's primary songwriting inspirations, she believes to this day it is the “heart that matters more”.

(Applause/banter)

Playboy Mommy (live, solo)

2011-04-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Playboy Mommy". Says Allison Crowe: "There's a freedom of artistry listening to and learning the songs of Tori Amos. A raw, emotional, sometimes confusing, wackiness. It’s okay to pound the notes out if you’re angry, so long as you remember to delicately fondle the notes later on. You can be strange and beautiful."

(Applause)

Pray for Rain

2011-04-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

"Pray for Rain", one of Allison Crowe's songs, (and there's a fair number that are like this), that fits a full-tilt rock band, turning amps to 11, and, as well, Allison solo and acoustic - underscoring the power and the passion of her songwriting.

Here's the applause track

Running

2011-04-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

"Running" - in concert from Allison Crowe. A lovely song requested each time Allison performs in Edinburgh :)

Here's the applause track

How Long (live)

2011-04-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

"How Long", by Allison Crowe (along with "Immersed") is in the tradition of songs that show record execs can sometimes inspire great music! (Whether intentional or not.) Joni Mitchell's more explicit with her "Free Man in Paris", but, as we've noted before, Allison's lemonade is a good squeeze. Here's the applause track

Crayon and Ink (live)

2011-04-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Launching the second night/disc of "Live at Wood Hall" is "Crayon and Ink". As with all of Allison Crowe's songs and performances, its beauty doesn't need me to reflect anything. So, I'll just move to the back of the hall, and share the music. There is a banter/applause track - it's applause only, and we can clap along...

Welcome to the weekend!

Allison Crowe’s Rock and Roll Recipe: The Magic’s in the Music

2011-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

At the start of this millennium, Allison Crowe embarked from her Pacific Ocean home, Vancouver Island, to perform a pair of concerts in Seattle, Washington, at a “Worldwide Jammer Convergence” of Pearl Jam fans. There was no roadmap for her success.

Today, Crowe is an internationally-acclaimed and much-loved singer-songwriter. Readying for another season of touring, and creation of her eighth album/song collection, she’s navigating a life in music.

Ahead of the 20th century recording industry’s entry into the digital age, Allison Crowe emerges in a new DIY generation. Decades earlier, punk, and, resonantly, pop culture revolution in the 1960s, erupted. Then, institutionalized payola and greedy elements smothered music radio. “Company men”, as John Lennon labeled them, took over – on stage as well as in the boardroom.

Rock’s bold promise to squeeze your lemons was reconstituted in this new era - a branding pitch hot-blooded as ice-tea. In 2006, John Sebastian, jug-band music-maker, writer of classic songs for The Lovin’ Spoonful, tells The New York Times: "The industry has been in the corporate noose for so long, it doesn't even have a leg jiggle left. There's no one left saying, 'Wait we want to make art'."

Rock and roll spirit, magnificent and wild as rebellion, lives on - vital tendrils reaching out through the casement. On Allison Crowe’s path, classical and jazz roots meet with teenage influences Ani DiFranco, PJ, Tori Amos and Counting Crows. Independents DiFranco, Loreena McKennitt and Janis Ian show there is a way – and it’s different for each.

Coursing freely, Crowe’s real “story” is her immense creativity – talents and gifts of writing and musicianship, (voice, piano and guitar), which she shares openly. Communicating emotion, crossing over language, sex, religion, race, age and other dividers, performing original compositions and as interpreter.

Forming Rubenesque Records Ltd. to market her recordings, since 2003 Allison Crowe has released a series of seven albums/CDs singularly remarkable in its diversity and quality of writing and performance – and delivered epiphanies amid concert fun and excitement. (Testifying are music writers the world over – find a sampling below and more @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com/pressquotes.html)

"Soulful. Alive. Joyous. Grievous. Real, true, music is what I want to make," Crowe says. Embracing the web, she and her audience have found each other - big-time.

On Last.fm, the world's largest online music catalogue and recommendation site, (where her song tracks enjoy over 100,000 listeners and nearing 700,000 plays), Allison Crowe’s been voted by some very discerning music-lovers into the "Singer-Songwriter of the Week" group's Hall of Fame – joining Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Townes van Zandt, Carole King, Neil Young, Van Morrison, other legends, and a handful of younger artists. Crowe, 29, is the only singer-songwriter under 30 selected – closest her age in this august company is Conor Oberst (32) and Sufjan Stevens (35).

On Jamendo, the planet’s premiere platform for free music and a community of Creative Commons music authors, Crowe’s original songs have been played over one million times by 200,000 regular listeners. On YouTube, the video site which serves as a top music discovery forum, Crowe’s music videos have over 10 million, (un-bought and un-rigged), listens/views. Add one-million-plus plays and downloads of original music from her own website, and the totality represents a musical connection achievable in pre-internet times only by gold-to-platinum-selling acts with label muscle flexing major financial support.

For Allison Crowe, wholly-independent, this exposure also translates into sales, as people still want physical CDs, and, so far, more than 500,000 paid downloads/streams (via iTunes – and such ‘etailers’ as CD Baby, Amazon, Emusic, among others, which serve their own music-buying bases).

Bicoastal Crowe calls Corner Brook, NL, and Nanaimo, BC, home. Outside her native land, Canada, she’s especially popular in the USA, Europe, and, increasingly, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Running her own operations, it’s an incremental process to physically traverse the globe and perform. Bonds initiated online strengthen in the flesh. It’s the stuff of legend.

A sensation in the Village Hall, Durness, Scottish Highlands, just a few years ago, Allison Crowe’s on a bill with Carol Ann Duffy, currently Britain’s Poet Laureate, and the Royal Academy of Music Players under the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Her set included Beatles' favourite “In My Life” - for members of the Lennon clan, local villagers, musicians and global celebrants come together for the "John Lennon Northern Lights Festival." Crowe’s latest European tour wrapped, this past October, in the birthplace of a nation, atop Germany’s fabled Harz Mountains. Medieval Quedlinburg, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, hosted Crowe who performed for an SRO crowd inside Blasiikirche, and an overflow audience circling outside the historic church.

Publicly, Dance Ensemble students at Lindenhurst High, New York, gambitsurya in Chennai, India, young folks ’round the world are singing and dancing to Allison’s music for their communities, for themselves. In the present semester, Christina, Polly, Jess, Jil, Tamanna, Shamima, Nilufa, and Sabina, high school and college students at disparate UK learning institutions have made Allison Crowe songs, “Skeletons and Spirits”, “This Little Bird”, and “Lisa’s Song”, course projects in Media and Video. In Hollywood, director Zack Snyder, (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch), helming the reboot of the Superman movie series, tells ArtistDirect: "Right now, I've been trying to find a really good cover of 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.' I can't find one that I really like with all five verses, so that's a problem. I was going to call someone up like Allison Crowe and be like, 'Can you record a version of this?' That's how my brain works!”

Privately, families are paying their last earthly respects to loved ones accompanied by Crowe’s musical voice. Mothers are welcoming their newborns to this sound.

Allison Crowe’s Spring Show comes to: Fredericton, NB (April 29), to aid The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s “A Brush of Hope” campaign; Halifax, NS (April 30); and St. John’s, NL (May 7).

Music and more @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com

What people say about Allison Crowe:

"Una voce incredibile per una forza della natura." ~ Reset Radio (Italy)

"There are some voices that speak (or sing) for themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it doesn’t really matter what instruments support them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley had it. Allison Crowe has it too." ~ Ray Padgett, Cover Me (USA)

"Canada's finest songwriter" ~ Stephen Thomas, We Write Lists (UK)

"Ever wonder what it would have been like to listen to a gifted singer/songwriter from Saskatchewan in a small, intimate hall before she became Joni Mitchell? Don't fret the missed opportunity. There's no need to turn back the clock. Check out Allison Crowe." ~ Robert Reid, The Record (Canada)

"Once famously described by the Vancouver Courier as possessing a style akin to 'Elton John meets Edith Piaf', the Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe is renowned for her ability to blend control and melodrama." ~ MOJO (UK)

"One of the best interpreters to come along since Joe Cocker" ~ Bob Bishop, Editor, Paris Voice (France)

"J'ai rarement été bouleversée à ce point par une voix féminine. Pure comme de la glace, puissante et même violente... qu'il est impossible de ne pas mettre son coeur en jeu en l'écoutant... faîtes place à une virtuose nom de Zeus!" ~ SplinterMuse (France)

"Ihre gestalteten Emotionen umfassen sowohl stürmische, dramatische Prozesse, Wut, Verzweiflung, aber auch spielerischen Übermut und einen unbändigen Lebenswillen. Im Kontext dazu stehen ihre zarten, hingebungsvollen Empfindungen, eine Lyrik, in denen sie die breit gefächerte Facette ihrer gesanglichen Begabung zum Klingen bringt." ~ Barbara Kirchner-Babinecz, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (Germany)

"the most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life." ~ Ross Hocker, WGTE/NPR (USA)

Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms) - live

2011-04-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

"Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms)" - a traditional Irish Aire with words by Thomas Moore is performed acapella by Allison Crowe.

Here's the banter/intro track - and, the applause closing this first night/disc of "Live at Wood Hall"

Sláinte mhaith!

A Murder of One

2011-04-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

Epic.

That describes Allison Crowe's take on this Counting Crows' song. Allison revealed to UK blog, 'We Write Lists': "Along to ‘A Murder of One’, at the top of my lungs, I wailed out my cry for independence in the time of an oppressive relationship, driving and singing in an almost meditative screaming chant 'change change change'." Here's the Banter/intro track

In Love In Vain

2011-04-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

"In Love In Vain", Words & Music by Leo Robin, Jerome Kern. Allison Crowe's intro to this jazzy, encore, song is here

Enjoy :)

Whether I'm Wrong (live)

2011-04-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

Allison Crowe's "Live at Wood Hall" concerts followed her "secrets' CD. Naturally, songs from that album are prominent in her live sets that Spring. Here's "Whether I'm Wrong", featured, on its release the year before, by UNESCO-endorsed New Songs for Peace project. In the banter/intro - Allison makes a musical promise kept the next night... Now, imagine peace :)

Bill

2011-04-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

"Bill", words by P.G. Wodehouse & music by Jerome Kern (w. Oscar Hammerstein II for "Show Boat"). Allison Crowe's intro reveals her love of musical theatre, and, particularly, Broadway. She's performed in The Laurie Beechman Theatre, a 42nd Street cabaret in New York City, and's been invited to join India.Arie, Matt Morris and other fine players in a production.

What About You (live)

2011-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

"What About You" live, does not include the Uillean pipes heard on the "secrets" version of the song, but, of course, it DOES include the Allison pipes! In the banter track Allison Crowe gives a wee explanation of the song's origin. Such genesis often remains a secret encoded in the music.

Fire

2011-04-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

Had Allison Crowe been born in a different era, she'd have set her piano alight at Monterey, or, maybe, added her colander to the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Here's "Fire", which bridges Allison's rock/grunge band roots and her solo singer-songwriter mystic. A song for Heather and you :)

Sea of a Millon Faces (live)

2011-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

"Sea of a Million Faces", live, comes with this song intro. Originally on Allison Crowe's "secrets" album, the song's an up-tempo concert favourite. The following track, after the song performance, is simply thanks/applause

Independence Day

2011-04-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ani DiFranco is inspiring to Allison Crowe for so many reasons. Here's a musical one - "Independence Day". Allison has been performing this song in concert pretty much since she took to the stage as a teenager. The passion level is ever constant. Track banter/intro for this song

Sweet Cuppem Cakes@ 7thumbsup's blog

2011-04-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

As well as making lemonade, Allison Crowe takes her zest for life - and makes cakes. Today, they are "Sweet Cuppem Cakes". There's recipes, photos, even a winking dog - just follow the Link :)

Immersed

2011-04-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

"Immersed", live. The song is a visceral exemplar of the musical alchemy by which Allison transforms leaden experiences into golden rock and roll. In other words, she makes lemonade out of lemons. Here's banter for this track. From Chennai, home to some of India's top choirs, comes gambitsurya's very individual take.

By Your Side

2011-04-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

"By Your Side" ~ this ballad from Allison Crowe is a soundtrack to lives and videos. "Live at Wood Hall" features songs as separate tracks to applause and stage banter. The idea, (mine), is to enable people to enjoy the concert/album's 23 songs on iPods+, with the banter/applause tracks optional. Turns out this is confusing in practice. Here's banter for this song.

There Is (live)

2011-04-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

"There Is" opens up Allison Crowe's double-album set, "Live at Wood Hall" - two concerts on consecutive nights at the Conservatory of Music in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to aid Artemis Place (alternative schooling and life skills for at-risk girls). Music captured by Larry Anschell of Turtle Recording. Album photos by Allison, Billie Woods, and graphic arts and design by Alix Whitmire. Show's starting...

Angel

2011-04-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

"The sounds fumbling from 'Surfacing' played out as soundtrack to a large chunk of my teenage-hood," Allison Crowe tells UK music writer Stephen Thomas ('We Write Lists' blog). Naturally, then, Allison chose a song from that Sarah McLachlan album to close her "Tidings" collection. Here it is, "Angel", ethereal and real.