Band Bios
Allison Crowe
vocals, piano, guitar, violin, bodhran, & cello
"I love singing for people," says Allison Crowe. "It's a way to connect and share with others. Communication is crucial. Just being able to do what I do, to write and sing and perform, makes me feel not only alive, but incredibly lucky. Knowing at any moment everything could change, I don't take one second for granted."
"Allison sings with such an intensity of emotion, it's easy to see why she's often quoted as saying 'Why music? Why breathing?'," notes pioneering music blog Muruch. "That kind of artistic passion seems extremely rare these days."
Crowe's home is Corner Brook, NL. Her birthplace is Nanaimo, BC (November 16, 1981). From Canada's coasts she's taken the road less-traveled to harmonizing life as musician (voice, piano, guitar, fiddle, bodhran), composer, arranger, audio engineer & producer. From the lovely isle of Newfoundland her reach is global. Millions of people enjoy her songs and music videos – on land, sea, and in the air – everywhere from an home-computer in the Gulf Islands to a state ceremony in Tasmania.
"Allison Crowe has a voice to fall in love with," says UK music industry journal Record of the Day, "descended from Scottish, Irish and Manx stock. She's exactly the sort of artist who can make serious headway on her own label and that's just what she's doing." Across the sea, Ray Padgett (Cover Me, SPIN, Mashable) observes: "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."
"Expressing emotion is where Allison Crowe excels. Whether covering other artists... or performing her own songs... each track becomes alive and palpable," says Paris Voice. "The music is the woman," writes Erin Fletcher. "She communicates about love, death and life through her songs. Her voice is unmistakable, and in the same song she can be powerfully raw, yet hit a high note so delicately it slips through her lips and kisses your ear."
Alick Tsui Photography
Sarah White
mandolin, guitar, bouzouki+ & vocals
Nurtured by the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Sarah White sings and plays mandolin, guitar, guitar-banjo, tenor ukulele and bouzouki. When not performing music on-stage, Sarah’s hard at her longtime gig as a theatre stage manager and technician (earning her BFA. in Theatre Stagecraft from MUN’s Grenfell Campus).
With Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador (TNL), as well, she serves as Assistant Company Manager / Assistant Production Manager. Sarah and Allison first met and teamed up at TNL’s Gros Morne Theatre Festival – much music and comedy have since ensued.
Alick Tsui Photography
Keelan Purchase
accordion, guitar, harmonica, bodhran & vocals
Transplanted Newfoundlander Keelan Purchase, (he entered this world in Guelph, Ontario), has lived most of life on the lovely isle – making his home in Corner Brook, NL for these past dozen+ years. Asked by Allison at the band’s recent LSPU Hall concert about the instruments & accoutrements surrounding him, Keelan shares: “I got two boxes (accordions). I got a harmonica. I got an amp. I got a drum. I got a guitar. I’ve got capos. I’ve got a song in my heart and a dream – to be the next Frank Willis!” (the legendary “One Man Band from Newfoundland”). “Working on it ;)” he adds good-naturedly.
An actor (with a Theatre degree from MUN/Grenfell), and regular TNL / GMTF cast-member, Keelan’s button accordion magic has also enlivened the Stratford Theatre Festival’s production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” (in Stratford, ON).
Alick Tsui Photography
Dave Baird
bass & vocals
Dave Baird grew up a couple-of-doors away from Allison Crowe – and the pair have been playing together, in a wide range of combos, since high school band days. The Nanaimo, BC native, a dedicated and extraordinarily versatile acoustic and electric bassist, is a much sought-after jazz, funk, and rock player – and teacher – who’s performed with NMA Big Band, Wunderbread, and The Canadian Tenors among others.
Dave's heard on numerous of Allison Crowe’s internationally-acclaimed recordings from Lisa’s Song + 6 Songs (2001) to Introducing / Heirs + Grievances (2016) – and the upcoming album Pillars (2020). He's renowned also as a premiere birder on Vancouver island, Canada.
Alick Tsui Photography