When critics liken you to Edith Piaf, Elton John, Aretha Franklin and Modest Mussorgsky, it’s a good sign you’re truly one-of-a-kind. So it is with musical explorer Allison Crowe who, since creating her own record label in 2001, uniquely inhabits the world of song – continually adding breadth and depth to a richly expressive repertoire for piano, vocals, guitar and bodhran.

Crowe’s “supernaturally agile and exquisite voice” is complemented ideally by her international touring band: Céline Greb (cello, vocal harmonies); Sarah White (mandolin, vocal harmonies); and Dave Baird (bass). Longtime friend, musician and photographer Billie Woods contributes guitar and vocal harmonies to the band’s recordings. The combo’s gorgeously thrilling hybrid of Canadiana, Celtic, jazz, roots, folk, soul and original rock bridges vital originals with fresh interpretations of classics by Annie Lennox and Gary O'Driscoll.

Alongside multi-genre concert and recording projects over this past year the Nanaimo-born, Newfoundland-based artist’s active as music curator and arranger for acclaimed stage productions of: Atlantic Canada’s folk and popular song; the collaborative works of Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill; and choral renderings of traditional Christmas carols.

A singular artistry and virtuosity make Allison Crowe performances legendary - and fun. In the Scottish Highlands she brought down the house on a bill with Carol Ann Duffy, Britain’s Poet Laureate, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the Master of the Queen's Music. In Hollywood Superman movie director Zack Snyder is outspoken in his respect and admiration. Touring with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet audiences responded with spontaneous standing ovations.

"The most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life,” says longtime American public broadcaster Ross Hocker. “Allison has a special gift that is so very rare in musicians today. She is true to her mind, heart and spirit. She also has a most wonderful humor which envelops her audience."

"Soulful. Alive. Joyous. Grievous. Real, true, music is what I want to make," sums up Allison Crowe.

"Heirs + Grievances is the debut of Allison Crowe and Band (and the 20th release on Crowe's label, Rubenesque Records Ltd.)

The physical CD is a double-album - pairing a studio set of 13 exciting tunes and honestly potent performances with a live concert set from Allison and Band – “Introducing”. It’s a magnificently enjoyable set of songs from Allison Crowe and her extraordinary band of musicians. Enjoy!!

REVIEWS:

"Heirs + Grievances is a gorgeous, full circle showcase of Allison’s growth as a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her extraordinary voice is unrestrained and beautifully accompanied by her bandmates." ~ Muruch

“I don’t believe Crowe ever sings a song without an absolute personal commitment... This is an album that should and could develop a greater audience for Crowe beyond those who already adore her.” ~ Some Diurnal Aural Awe

“In the past, Crowe has devoted herself to trad folk, contemporary rock, Christmas songs and music of Leonard Cohen, all of which have merged into these two discs to create a portrait of an idealist — with the addition of her between-songs talk on the live recording revealing a bubbly personality.” ~ Tom Harrison, The Province

“I have not heard of anyone who sings with the vulnerability or childhood innocence and the piercing intensity of Edith Piaf the way she does, well at least not in this lifetime,” says writer/editor Baxter Labatos, founder of “The Celtic Music Fan”, in a review of Allison Crowe and Band’s debut. “It is quite amazing how she can do so many things with her voice. She’s a woman with a guitar who belts out like Aretha Franklin, a bodhran player with soul in her heart and, yes, a pianist with the grace of a classical performer.”

Of “Introducing / Heirs+Grievances”, the double-disc, the percipient international blogger sums up: “The powerful voice and intrumental prowess will delight fans and new converts of Allison Crowe’s artistic genius.” Enjoy the full review @ celticmusicfan.wordpress.com/2016/10/05/why-music-why-breathing-the-allison-crowe-band-cd

Credits

Allison Crowe: Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Fiddle + Bodhran Billie Woods: Guitar + Vocal Harmonies Céline Greb: Cello + Vocal Harmonies Dave Baird: Double Bass + Bass

“Heirs + Grievances” Engineer/Mixer: Larry Anschell (Turtle Recording Studios)

“Introducing” Engineer/Mixer: Brad Graham (Turtle) Concert Tech: Robert Nelson

All songs originally composed by Allison Crowe except: Chelsea Hotel No.2 – Leonard Cohen, Ron Cornelius (Sony/ATV Songs LLC) Foggy Shores of Home – Gary O’Driscoll (Chapeau Rouge Music) Why – Annie Lennox (La Lennoxa Music Co. Ltd.) Tarry Trousers + Now I’m 64 – Traditional, arranged by Allison Crowe

Fotos: Billie Woods (front), Adrian du Plessis (back) + Allison Crowe (inside) Art Design & Graphics: Céline Sawchuk

Released May 22, 2016

Tidings brings together traditional carols, and not-so-traditional songs, all interpreted, redefined even, through the vocal and piano artistry of Allison Crowe.

It's a much-loved collection tagged "the Yule-tide find of the year" by one music critic. "Her voice celebrates the music with a bluesy rock-gospel intensity; her controlled vibrato, silken rasp, and powerful projection rivet your attention. This is no casual background music... be prepared to be amazed," says another reviewer.

The album of is popular year-round - not just during the Christmas season when it's a natural. It's truly "music for the season and all time".

Tidings is recorded, live-off-the-floor, on Winter's eve in Canada by Engineer & Producer Larry Anschell, (Pearl Jam, Sarah McLachlan, k-os), who captures the magic at his Turtle Recording studio by the shore in White Rock, BC, Canada.

Peace on Earth ~ goodwill toward all.

Released November 11, 2004

Live at Wood Hall is an exciting journey through Allison Crowe's concert repertoire, recorded with a simple clarity in the converted chapel of Victoria (B.C.)'s Conservatory of Music. Alongside more than an album's worth of original songs of love and hope, social and political conscience, and real beauty, Allison covers cherished favourites - including Ani DiFranco ("Independence Day"), Counting Crows ("A Murder of One"), Tori Amos ("Playboy Mommy"), Janis Joplin ("Me and Bobby McGee"), and John Lennon ("Imagine"). Colours in the artist's musical palette range from roots & blues, through folk, pop/rock, jazz and Broadway. There's even a traditional Irish aire, "Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms)", sung acappella. Once again, Larry Anschell (Turtle Studios) captures the music on tape and Alix Whitmire designs the beautiful artwork/CD cover. " 'Music, man, that's where it's at'/ it is a religious line/ outside, the chimes rung/ an they/ are still ringin'."

Released July 1, 2005

Allison Crowe recorded this solo, singer-songwriter, album in 2004. First setting up a home studio, Allison engineered and assisted with production (alongside Rainer Willeke of Canadian r'n'b combo, Soul Station). Allison performs all vocals (lead and harmonies), plays piano, guitar, keyboards and added percussive 'thumps' to the collection.

secrets contains a mix of tunes from Allison's "band days" (some of which are radically redefined), freshly-penned songs, and a couple of choice picks from other artists: Counting Crows' brooding "Raining in Baltimore" ~ the first song Allison performed when she launched her career as a singer-songwriter; and "Joan of Arc", a shining exemplar of Leonard Cohen's poetic brilliance.

Guest artists contributing to secrets are: Del Crowe (guitar); Jo Lundstrom (accordion); Eric Reiswig (Uilleann pipes); and Rainer Willeke (tambourine).

Released May 5, 2004

"This Little Bird" contains everything to love about the music of Allison Crowe. Adding titles of engineer and producer to her vocal, piano and guitar credits, Crowe is joined on most of the album's tracks by an ideal rhythm section ~ Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion). Nine new originals map emotional and spiritual territory with fresh sounds, encompassing: the elegiac "Phoenix"; the ramble tamble "Alive and Breathing"; gorgeous songs of love and hope, "Effortless" and "There Is"; the jaunty dark humor of "Skeletons and Spirits"; the redemptive grace of "Now"; the raucous celebration of the title track; a joy of simplicity in "Circular Reasoning"; and "Silence", a song that stirs with gypsy romance.

Acclaimed not only as an exciting songwriter and live performer, but, also, as a supreme song interpreter, for her freshly definitive takes, Allison Crowe delivers a trio of remarkable covers on "This Little Bird" - giving her singular voice to "A Case of You" (Joni Mitchell's knowing paen to heart and homeland), "Darling Be Home Soon" (John Sebastian's lovin' spoonful of longing) and "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" (Ronnie Shannon's soulful song best-known as Aretha Franklin's break-out tune in 1967).

Released October 9, 2006

Little Light is a popular singer-songwriter collection from Allison Crowe. Created from Newfoundland to British Columbia, it opens with a rustically shimmering version of "Northern Lights" - a song Allison performed 'specially for the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival in Durness, Scotland. "Angels" is recorded live by Scott Littlejohn at St. Andrew's United Church, Christmas-time, in Allison's birthplace, Nanaimo, Canada. She's backed here by bassist Dave Baird and percussionist Laurent Boucher.

"Disease", a song of social conscience, has, through years of live performance, become epic - channeling Beethoven, grunge and more. Here 't'is captured in its raging glory by Larry Anschell (on International Women's Day 2008, the same night celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Anschell's Turtle Recording Studios. Larry "Turtle" Anschell, Engineer and Producer, with Brad Graham Co-Engineer). Title track "Little Light" is among a set of guitar songs that reveal a different sort of Allison Crowe's writerly reflections in music. "Happy People", like such earlier songs as Crowe's own, "Skeletons and Spirits", a bright melody coats more acid observations. Strong and gentle poetics of "Hold Back" warm us by a fire kindled in the '70s by Joni Mitchell. "Choose to Be" bridges the piano sound of Allison's "This Little Bird" songs with her new tunes. Bob Dylan's ramblin' shoes lead to a less restless farewell, as the album closes with "Wedding Song" - Crowe's sweetest, rootsiest, love song to date.

The interpretations in this collection are: "Time After Time" - originally a hit for that most unusual girl, Cyndi Lauper - Allison, a child of the '80s gives her impassioned take, live (Scott LittleJohn recording this, the same night as "Angels"); "Running for Home", is a cover of the Matthew Good Band, and one of the songs Allison has performed since her teens; and, by way of the Righteous Babe, Ani DiFranco, comes Allison's vocal-guitar nod to the great peace-loving bard, Phil Ochs - "When I'm Gone". "Can't be singing louder than the guns when I'm gone, so I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here."

Released May 2, 2008

♫ Follow the yellow-brick road of song, cinematic in scope, visceral in nature, thinking, feeling, courageous and fun - rock, pop, folk, soul, roots.

♫ Allison Crowe’s music is that feast where, says the poet Rimbaud, “all hearts open and all wines flow.”

Over a decade of reviews, the word most often used to describe the voice of Allison Crowe is “gorgeous”. The word that testifies more than any other to her musical performance is “amazing”. This month, the much-loved and acclaimed singer-songwriter releases “Spiral”, her seventh album/CD. It is both of these things. And plenty more.

U.S.-based entertainment blog ‘Muruch’ earlier this year named it as an album most highly anticipated, and, now, UK music blog ‘We Write Lists’ includes "Spiral" as one of "The Twelve Most Exciting Albums of 2010", remarking: "Crowe's speciality is startlingly beautiful piano-based songs that sort of make you wonder why you bother with anything else."

(Joining Crowe on the list are new recordings from: Fleet Foxes, Fyfe Dangerfield, Girls Aloud, Goldfrapp, Gorillaz, Joanna Newsom, Marina and the Diamonds, Massive Attack, MGMT, Music Go Music and She and Him.)

For Allison Crowe, a peerless live performer, and a singer-songwriter of the thrilling calibre known in the 1960s, Spiral is the seventh release from her label, Rubenesque Records, in as many years. Musical production wrapped on Valentine's Day.

Spiral contains eight of Crowe’s original songs, ranging from the tender and playful country/roots of “Dearly”, to the upbeat pop of “Double-Edged Swords”, ’cross the loving “Oceans”, and darker terrain of “I Don’t Know” and the hard rocking title track. Raw, natural, emotion is embraced passionately with elegiac beauty and melody in these, and such joy-filled tunes as “Going Home Tonight” and “No Matter the Battle”. With the live track, “Wake Up”, Crowe, again, renders the personal universal, and the global, human.

Uniquely known not just as one of the most exciting songwriters of a new generation, Crowe is also one of our finest interpreters of popular song. Spiral’s mix of light and shadow includes a trio of fresh covers – revisiting music of Annie Lennox (“Why”), Leonard Cohen (“Chelsea Hotel No. 2”), and Hunters and Collectors’ Antipodean anthem, “Throw Your Arms Around Me”.

On this song collection, the bi-coastal Canadian, (she calls Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Nanaimo, British Columbia, home), is joined by ideally-skilled and sympathetic west-coast musicians Billie Woods (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Dave Baird (bass, backing vocals), Laurent Boucher (percussion), Brendan Millbank (cello) and Larry Anschell (electric guitar, and, also, Engineer/Producer at Turtle Studios in White Rock, B.C.)

Kayla Schmah, Los Angeles-based, Canadian-born, composer and film scorer, orchestrates and produces the album with, yes, “gorgeous” musical textures, and cinematic ideas artfully brought to life. Concert capturings by Engineers B.R.N. (aka Condor) and John MacMillan complete this diverse mix of music made in Corner Brook, Nanaimo, as well as Chilliwack, White Rock, Denman Island and Salt Spring Island, Canada, Vienna, Austria, and Hollywood, USA.

The visual art of Spiral matches its aural beauty - with cover paintings by Netherlands-based Tara Thelen, photographs by Canada's Billie Rocha-Woods, and California's Dan Goldwasser, fontage from Brazil’s Billy Argel and graphic design by Florida's Alix Whitmire.

Released March 17, 2010

The first track on this disc was recorded live-off-the-floor, in April 2003, by Rick Erickson of Seacoast Sound in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The six songs that follow "Lisa's Song" were recorded live-off-the-floor one afternoon on analog tape by Engineer and Producer Larry Anschell, at his Turtle Recording studio in White Rock, B.C.

Allison Crowe and bandmates, Dave Baird (bass), Kevin Clevette (drums), stopped into Turtle while on their way to perform in Seattle, Washington, USA for "Jammers" - fans of Pearl Jam converging from all across America and the world. The essential truth of the trio's July 2001 session is captured in these live, raw, grooves.

Please visit Lisa's Page (@ http://allisoncrowe.com/lisaspage.html ) to learn about Lisa Marie Young, the inspiration for the title song.

(NB two, earlier, EPs still in circulation, do not contain "Lisa's Song" ~ these recordings are titled 6 Songs, and, also, 6 Songs+)

Released May 25, 2003

On “Newfoundland Vinyl”, her 11th album for Rubenesque Records, Allison Crowe commits her voice and musicianship to traditional songs and covers tunes popularized by vinyl-era Atlantic Canada legends such as Joan Morrissey, Harry Hibbs, Dick Nolan, Eddie Coffey and Eddie Eastman. Add in tunes associated with The Dorymen, Stan Rogers plus modern troubadors Gary O’Driscoll and Ron Hynes for a moving and joyous showcase.

"What a voice, what a voice, what a voice!" remarks veteran music reviewer Muruch posting on the ‘No Depression’ blog. “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. And Allison’s voice is so strong and spectacular,” writes the West Virginia-based folk afficionado. “It has the timeless beauty of a classic folk album.”

“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 East Coast Kitchen Party.

"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," notes Allison Crowe.

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 fun 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.

REVIEWS - Allison Crowe’s “Newfoundland Vinyl” LP:

"Allison Crowe Creates a Remarkable Recording with Newfoundland Vinyl" says East Coast Kitchen Party. “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,” continues 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.”

"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... It has the timeless beauty of a classic folk album." ~ Muruch / No Depression

”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. ~ Tom Harrison, The Province

"There is something about this album that makes the songs become the soundtrack of your life. The grace and subtlety in the instrumental and vocal arrangements make this a one-of-a-kind must-have album for 2013."

Released June 25, 2013