Allison Crowe (born November 16, 1981) is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada who now lives in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. Crowe records on her own record label, Rubenesque Records Ltd. (formed in 2003 and marketed by Festival Distribution). Her first full-length albums, Secrets and Tidings, were released in 2004, when Crowe was 22. Allison Crowe: Live at Wood Hall, a double concert album, was released in July 2005. A DVD featuring live-in-the-studio performances of Tidings songs was created for her fan club in November 2005. Crowe, of Irish and Manx descent, grew up surrounded by jazz, classical and rock music, and discovered additional influences on her own such as Ani DiFranco, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos and Counting Crows. She plays music of all these genres, making her difficult to categorize: in Amazon.com’s free downloads, she has simultaneously been in the top three on the Rock Singer-Songwriters, Hymns, Blues, Jazz, Broadway and British & Celtic Folk charts. "Drawing from classical, jazz, pop and gospel sources, the young singer has created singular, inspiring music both in the studio and in the concert hall.” (Joseph Blake, Victoria Times Colonist, March 24, 2005).
Crowe’s most mentioned characteristics are her remarkable live performance ability and her distinctive voice, the force of which has been compared to that of Mahalia Jackson. "With the soul of Janis Joplin and the tenderness of fellow Canuck Sarah McLachlan, Crowe rocks with her own unique brand of roots charm." (David McPherson, Exclaim!, October 5, 2004). She accompanies herself on the piano, on which she has been classically trained. Her physical, percussive, piano style has been likened to that of R&B and rock and roll pioneers such as Fats Domino. She is largely a solo performer, though she has been part of bands as well, notably in a trio format as the Allison Crowe Band (2000 to 2003). Her passionate, visceral style has been referred to as “Elton John meets Édith Piaf” (Clodagh O’Connell, Vancouver Courier, May 23, 2001).
Crowe mostly performs her own songs, which she has been quoted as saying vary among rock, jazz and folk, with lyrics that have been compared to those of Tori Amos and Patti Smith. "Whether I'm Wrong", an original song of social conscience penned in early 2003, has been featured by the UNESCO-endorsed New Songs for Peace initiative. She is also acclaimed for her interpretations of songs by a wide variety of composers, from Jerome Kern to Pearl Jam, including Lennon-McCartney and fellow Canadians Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Her cover of Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was named Record of the Week by Record of the Day (UK) in August 2004 and again in November 2005.
Crowe has toured across Canada and in the northeastern United States as headliner. Two one-hour television specials have been broadcast across Canada, with her Allison Crowe: Tidings special telecast each December since 2003.
In late 2005 she performed for the first time in western Europe, with concerts in Dublin, London, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.
In 2006, Allison Crowe plans to release a new studio album, This Little Bird, which she began recording in February 2006 in her new home of Corner Brook. She'll also tour more extensively in Europe and across North America.
