Her eyes they shine like a diamond and her voice,
piano and guitar-playing be just as crystalline
pure in beauty. Musician Allison Crowe is a colleen
welcoming all to delight, (not to beware), when she
takes the stage this Monday, July 13 as part of
this Summer’s “Who’s Darkening Our Door”
concert series at the Gros Morne Theatre
Festival.
Allison’s back home in Newfoundland following a
triumphal concert series on Canada’s Pacific coast.
Her performances – online and onstage - bring joy
to millions of people. From her Corner Brook nest
on this lovely isle she’s toured with Canada’s
Royal Winnipeg Ballet, appears in the newest
Hollywood Superman movie blockbuster, and, each
Summer, she returns to GMTF as Musical
Director of “Newfoundland Vinyl” - the hit
show conceived by Jeff Pitcher, Theatre
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Artistic Director.
Join Allison for a rousing concert of favourites
from Joan Morrissey, Ryan’s Fancy, Buddy Wasisname
and the Other Fellers, alongside modern classics by
troubadours Gary O’Driscoll and Ron Hynes, her own
internationally-acclaimed original songs and covers
of the Beatles, Leonard Cohen and more.
Allison Crowe taps a vein of song that’s deep and
wide as it is rich. Here’s one of the near 200
recordings she’s made – her take on the traditional
“Black Velvet Band”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2C9qFAEHWI It’s
a lively song popularly recorded on both sides of
the Atlantic, including a version by the legendary
'His Nibs' Harry Hibbs - born on Bell Island.
West Virginia-based folk+ music afficionado,
Muruch, comments on an ever-present facet -
whether it's rock, jazz, classical, Celtic, blues,
folk or other genres Allison’s soul-mining: "What a
voice, what a voice, what a voice!"
“My favorite Irish song, beautifully covered for you
today: Black Velvet Band ~ Allison Crowe,” declares
Brian Ibbott, Mayor of Coverville on this - St.
Patrick’s - Day.
(Coverville, geographically situated in Colorado,
USA can be found online @ http://coverville.com )
“Black Velvet Band” is a lively song popularly
recorded on both sides of the Atlantic. This
recording is from Allison Crowe's "Newfoundland
Vinyl" LP, her 11th album release on Rubenesque
Records:
Veteran folk music afficionado/reviewer,Muruch,
based in West Virginia, in posting a review of this
new album to the "No Depression" blog remarks on a
feature in Allison's music that's always present -
whether it's rock, gospel, jazz, grunge, classical,
blues, folk, soul or other genres she's making:
"What a voice, what a voice, what a voice!"
Of this song, Muruch notes: " 'The Black Velvet
Band' " is a traditional Irish ballad about a man's
chance encounter with a girl, which leads to his
arrest and transport as a prisoner to Australia.
The Dubliners may have recorded one of the more
famous renditions of the song, but Allison's is the
most stunning version I've heard and just may
become the definitive version (as her cover of
'Hallelujah' -
http://music.allisoncrowe.com/track/hallelujah -
has) over time."
As the album title suggests, it's a song collection
inspired by, and arising from, Allison Crowe's
ongoing role as Musical Director of the hit stage
show, "Newfoundland Vinyl" - presented at Canada's
Gros Morne Theatre Festival each Summer since 2012.
This perennial GMTF favourite’s conceived by
TNL’s
Artistic Director Jeff Pitcher.
