Lift-off @ Gros Morne Theatre Fest

Musician Allison Crowe’s now settled into Gros Morne, one of the world’s most naturally beautiful locations, readying with cast and crew for the sixth annual production of “Newfoundland Vinyl” – a rollicking part of the Gros Morne Theatre Festival. Conceived by Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador Artistic Director Jeff Pitcher, the show’s directed by Crowe and this year opens on June 23. 

In anticipation of this Summer’s selection of songs+, here’s the sounds of music from the early years of “Vinyl”: http://music.allisoncrowe.com/album/newfoundland-vinyl

GMTF’s season launches tonight with a presentation of Marie Jones' “Fly Me to the Moon”. Lift-off is 8:30 pm in The Warehouse Theatre, Cow Head. For TNL’s full calendar of theatre and concerts to come - orbit http://www.theatrenewfoundland.com 

Newfoundland Vinyl in the MOCM

The Museum of Canadian Music is kindly featuring Allison Crowe’s “Newfoundland Vinyl” LP @
http://citizenfreak.com/titles/324683-crowe-allison-newfoundland-vinyl



The MOCM, curated and maintained by its founder Robert Williston and a core team, explains the mission of “the website is about the artists, the music, and the country of Canada that has produced such an enormous quantity of excellent off-the-radar titles that so many collectors worldwide are onto; but the general public has still not really caught onto - yet... the music on this site should satisfy the more refined connoisseur of Canadian music, especially when spinning vinyl is not so convenient for a world on the go...”

Williston’s amassed the “largest private collection of Canadian music artifacts on earth” – and is making this cultural treasure – over 90,000 individual artifacts and roughly one million Canadian songs collected – public via the MOCM site.

The museum’s domain - Citizenfreak.com – “honors a hometown Calgary band, the 49th Parallel, who recorded the cool single Citizen Freak in 1968”.

You can enjoy Allison’s music now found in the MOCM – and, this Easter weekend, hop down the rabbit-hole of Canadian music!

Easy Livin', Lovin'

A song for a Winter's night... and any time! One of the most vital popular music artists of this, or any, generation, Allison Crowe is also among the most versatile. With her release of “Newfoundland Vinyl” earlier this year, Allison delivers unvarnished roots and country to the mix.

 

Canadian country great Eddie Eastman recorded Terry Skinner’s song, “Easy” first in 1979. Here’s Allison’s new take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U_GDkkfCa4

 

 

Gery Deugaw, Owner/Archivist of the treasure-trove that is “GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador” @ http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nfld - notes: “After all the years of travelling the Trans-Canada, Eddie Eastman was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour in 2010. Allison Crowe performs this song with the easy sound it needs to be successfully reprised in the 21st century.”

        

East Coast Kitchen Party Spins Newfoundland Vinyl

East Coast Kitchen Party serves up a stack of Atlantic Canada’s Arts, Entertainment and lifestyle news. At plate now is the site’s review of “Newfoundland Vinyl”, the new hale and hearty song collection from Allison Crowe – an LP that finds its name and inspiration in TNL’s hit musical show that’s delighted audiences these past two Summers at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival.

“It seems simple, but it really is a classic treatment of the classic songs that are performed by Crowe. She has renewed with stylish vigor traditional songs that deserve new life and interpretations,” says ECKP. “This record was made for sitting back in the big chair while relishing a favourite drink. Maybe Screech. It will probably bring a tear to the eye of a few. It’s that good.”

Feast on the full review, stream ECKP radio and more @
http://www.eastcoastkitchenparty.net/Music_Newfoundland_Vinyl.php

"I saw rock and roll future..."

Tom Harrison, dean of Canadian rock music critics, writes for The Province newspaper - the most widely-read daily in the province of British Columbia.

It's a long holiday weekend across Canada - and, due to a quirk in the world of online/print media, we're able to read what's published next Tuesday in the paper - and, therein his weekly Garage column, Harrison selects:

CD OF THE WEEK 

"Allison Crowe is bi-coastal and her latest record on her own Rubenesque label isn’t a CD. She is from Nanaimo and her manager still lives on Vancouver Island, so, the island ties are there even if she now lives most of the time in Corner Brook, Nfld. Crowe’s ninth record is weirdly typical of her in that it defies convention, stick-handles around the pop idiom, shows imagination and daring, and opts for vinyl. Her Newfoundland Vinyl balances traditional folk and more contemporary sounds that serves as well as a soundtrack to a Newfoundland festival. A marvellous singer, Crowe plays down vocal gymnastics in favour of restraint, which translates as respect. The arrangements are minimal — often no more than guitar enhanced by background vocals — with a little humour thrown in to lighten the load."

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2013/08/01/tom-harrisons-garage-for-aug-6

Alongside those fine stores in Newfoundland and on Vancouver Island previously noted, "Newfoundland Vinyl", ((limited-edition 180 gr. vinyl LP incl. digital d/l code), is now available in Vancouver, Canada at:

Highlife Records (1317 Commercial Drive); Neptoon Records (3561 Main); Red Cat Records (4332 Main); and Zulu Records (1972 - 1976 West 4th)

Muruch + Music = Win, Win

There’s 10 days still to shake the world, and enter Muruch’s marvelous musical contest for your chance to win a copy of Allison Crowe’s “Newfoundland Vinyl” LP + d/l code – the collection of songs about which the veteran, West Virginia-based, music blogger says: "It has the timeless beauty of a classic folk album." (read the full review @ http://www.muruch.com/2013/07/allison-crowe-newfoundland-vinyl.html 

It’s fun, it’s simple, and you only live once! (unless you’re James Bond… or a cat)


For the scoop, visit Muruch’s reminder post - http://www.muruch.com/2013/07/giveaway-reminder-win-allison-crowes-new-album.html - and/or the original invitation to claim your prize music - http://www.muruch.com/2013/07/giveaway-win-1-of-5-allison-crowe-vinyl-lps-digital-downloads.html

Good luck/bon chance!!

Muruch blog shares music joy many ways

Muruch's marvellous Summer flag unfurls some more with a contest/give-away of Allison Crowe's new album. Of "Newfoundland Vinyl", the West Virginia-based blog says: "It plays like a lovely, vintage collection of traditional Irish and Canadian folk ballads, lively sea chanteys and drinking songs, parlour songs and country tunes with surprising retro, girl-pop harmonies woven throughout. The album is full of dazzling melody and such a unique charm." (Enjoy the full review @ http://www.muruch.com/2013/07/allison-crowe-newfoundland-vinyl.html )

The site shares four song tracks - "Black Velvet Band", "Tiny Red Light", "Seven Old Ladies", and "Sweet Forget Me Not" - and offers you a chance to receive one of these special LP/download albums @ http://www.muruch.com/2013/07/giveaway-win-1-of-5-allison-crowe-vinyl-lps-digital-downloads.html

To hear Allison's "strong and spectacular" voice deliver these songs of Newfoundland and Labrador - and to possibly win the music collection - simply visit Muruch and post your comment :)

Superman to Super Songs: Allison Crowe Changes Tack as "Newfoundland Vinyl" Sets Sail

"Newfoundland Vinyl", the newest album of music from Allison Crowe, is out now on Rubenesque Records.

The limited edition, 180 gram vinyl, LP is available in Canada at Gary Bennett Music in Corner Brook, NL, Fascinating Rhythm (Nanaimo), Lyle's Place (Victoria), and Salt Spring Sound (Salt Spring Island), BC, Canada - and online, worldwide, in digital formats @ allisoncrowe.com, on Bandcamp, iTunes and more.

As Musical Director for TNL's production of "Newfoundland Vinyl: The Flip Side" at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival, the Canadian musician, born in Nanaimo, BC, on the Pacific, is active now in her Atlantic setting, curating and arranging songs for this Summer's GMTF cast.

It's a rich and varied collection harvested from the island region's popular music and oral traditions. The album's 10 tracks traverse parlour songs to country tunes and folk favourites, songs of land and sea that share the strength and the struggles, the joys, heartbreaks and the humour of people.

As well as being a premiere songwriter, musician and performer of original material, Crowe's recognized as one of the great modern interpreters of song - via her internationally-acclaimed and much-loved versions of songs by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, and plenty more greats - Allison Crowe's singular performances deliver familiar and much-loved songs afresh and with renewed joy.

Crowe's just returned to her home in Corner Brook, NL, after attending the World Premiere in New York City of "Man of Steel", the Zack Snyder-directed Superman epic in which she has a cameo. MoS is currently the #1 box office draw on planet Earth. (Had things not gone so wrong on Krypton, it'd surely be a smashing success there as well.) Next she rolls on to Cow Head, in Gros Morne National Park -- and says:

"I am so grateful to have been asked by Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador, two years in a row, to put together songs and musically direct for a show called 'Newfoundland Vinyl'. As part of the Gros Morne Theatre Festival, I get to work with extremely talented and fun people each Summer in a gorgeous setting - Cow Head, NL. From the vast and encyclopaedic sea of beautiful music to come from, and out of, Newfoundland and Labrador, here is a collection of some of the songs from this year's show."

The GMTF season runs May 31 through September 14 - and "Newfoundland Vinyl: The Flip Side", written and directed by Jeff Pitcher, is on the boards July 12 - August 30, 2013!

http://music.allisoncrowe.com/album/newfoundland-vinyl

http://www.theatrenewfoundland.com/gmtf.html

"Newfoundland Vinyl" - Allison Crowe's newest music release on the record rack at Lyle's Place, Victoria, BC, Canada

Here, now, is Allison Crowe's take on these songs that, over 200 years, come from, and out of, Newfoundland and Labrador - with ageless melodies and meaning:

BLACK VELVET BAND - lively traditional song recorded on both sides of the Atlantic, including a version by the legendary 'His Nibs' Harry Hibbs

EASY - penned by Terry Skinner and made a classic radio hit by country star Eddie Eastman

MEN WHO DIE FOR A LIVING - Gary O'Driscoll, award-winning songwriter and producer from Bay Bulls and NL's southern shore, wrote this potent elegy "for the miners here and gone"

CLIFFS OF BACCALIEU - Jack Withers sea-faring song has previously been sailed by such distinct voices as Anita Best, Louise Morrissey and Stan Rogers

SKIPPER BILLY'S WAKE - songwriter Ellis Coles' jaunty mix of moonshine, Screech and more was well popularized by Dick Nolan

SONNY'S DREAM - Newfoundland's "Man of 1000 Songs", Ron Hynes, created this anthem of the heart and home

TINY RED LIGHT - a traditional Newfoundland song revitalized in the vinyl era by The Dorymen (popular east-coast combo founded by John Drake and Tom Rose - a pair of lads out of Fortune Bay communities Belleoram and Bay du Nord)

THE MOBILE GOAT SONG - composed by St. John's Tom Cahill, frequent collaborator with "Newfoundland's First Lady of Song", Joan Morrissey, who released this cheerful romp on her 1973 LP "Home Brew"

SEVEN OLD LADIES - a bawdy song which musically plumbs a 1700s nursery rhyme, ("Johnny's So Long at the Fair") - and a tune also recorded by the great Joan Morrissey

SWEET FORGET ME NOT - first published in 1877, this tender tune by Bobby Newcomb was the first single, and a vinyl hit on the mainland as well, for Cape Shore's Eddie Coffey and his Coffey Mates


Songs performed, arranged, engineered and produced by Allison Crowe - home in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.