allisoncrowe’s blog

Canada's Allison Crowe, on piano and vocals, lays down another song track with Dave Baird on bass and Laurent Boucher on percussion. ("This Little Bird", on the album of the same name, a song that playfully celebrates freedom, makes me think of other such innocent fun as The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night".)

While she puts together her next album, I'm riffing through a batch of photos of Allison just stumbled upon, and picking up other cultural footnotes.

Conan OBrien, American comedian and late-night television host, now a free bird, gave a moving farewell in signing off 'The Tonight Show'. After thanking his fans for coming together to make a sad situation joyous and inspirational, 'Coco' addressed his audience, directing these words particularly to young people watching:

"All I ask is one thing... Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you. It's just true."

This calls for more... cowbell.

Allison Crowe's trio perform "Darling Be Home Soon", a song penned by the great American songwriter and musician John Sebastian - and which was a hit for The Lovin' Spoonful in 1967 and performed solo at Woodstock in '69.

These days Sebastian, composer of numerous classic songs - beautiful and playful - is still busy, making jug band music. "It seems to make him feel just fine..."

Crowe, who engineered and recorded this track for her album, "This Little Bird", is accompanied here by Dave Baird on bass and Laurent Boucher on percussion.

The b/w photo of Allison Crowe and her darling is by Billie Woods.

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Here's a review of this performance - from the erudite and entertaining blog, 1 Heck of a Guy:

Must-hear Allison Crowe Cover Of John Sebastian's Darling Be Home Soon

I happened onto this video of Allison Crowe, the Canadian singer-songwriter and icon-in-training, performing her uniquely gorgeous version of "Darling Be Home Soon," a classic pop – in the best sense of “pop” – tune and couldn’t go to sleep without posting it first.

Written by John Sebastian (as were ” “Do You Believe in Magic”, “Summer in the City”, “Daydream,” “Nashville Cats,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind,” “Six O’Clock,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” and “Younger Girl”), "Darling Be Home Soon" was popularized by The Lovin' Spoonful, Sebastian’s band, in 1967. I hereby proudly confess to being a long-time admirer (since before 1967) of Mr. Sebastian and The Lovin' Spoonful.1

Crowe’s luscious, sometimes almost lascivious vocalizations match up surprisingly well with the delightfulness, a Sebastian trademark (nobody does delightful like John Sebastian), that pervades "Darling Be Home Soon" to produce an irresistibly enjoyable, profoundly satisfying performance.

"These Words", this song from Allison Crowe, debuted on the 300th episode of
Accident Hash - part of the fifth anniversary celebrations for the pioneering and much-loved music podcast of Boston's new media maven C.C. Chapman.

To mark the occasion, Ewan Spence, Edinburgh-based blogger, podcaster of comedy, music (including the TPN Rock podcast) and more, rallied the online community of musicians, CC's family,
friends and fans, known as "Homefrys", and brought together content for a special show this month (January 2010).

"These Words" is among a collection of songs that Allison has gathered together for release this New Year. This single track will be followed by the release of her seventh album/CD, "Spiral", in early 2010.

The image accompanying the music in this video is a detail from Gaston Bussiere's painting - Joan of Arc - Jeanne d'Arc.

Gesëende Kersfees (Afrikaans) ~ Een Plesierige Kerfees (Afrikander) ~ Rehus-Beal-Ledeats (African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja) ~ Gezur Krislinjden (Albanian) ~ Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah (Arabic) ~ Feliz Navidad (Argentine) ~ Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand (Armenian) ~ Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun (Azeri) ~ Selamat Hari Natal (Bahasa Malaysia) ~ Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! (Basque) ~ Shuvo Naba Barsha (Bengali) ~ Vesele Vanoce (Bohemian) ~ Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo (Brazilian) ~ Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat (Breton) ~ Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo (Bulgarian) ~ Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou! (Catalan) ~ Feliz Navidad (Chile) ~ Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun (Chinese - Cantonese) ~ Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan (Chinese - Mandarin) ~ Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito (Choctaw) ~ Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo (Colombia) ~ Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth (Cornish) ~ Pace e salute (Corsian) ~ Rot Yikji Dol La Roo (Crazanian) ~ Mitho Makosi Kesikansi (Cree) ~ Sretan Bozic (Croatian) ~ Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok (Czech) ~ Glædelig Jul (Danish)
~ Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak (Duri) ~ Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast (Dutch)

Merry Christmas (English) ~ Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo! (Eskimo - inupik) ~ Gajan Kristnaskon (Esperanto) ~ Ruumsaid juulup|hi (Estonian) ~ Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar! (Faeroese) ~ Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad (Farsi) ~ Hyvaa joulua (Finnish) ~ Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar (Flemish) ~ Joyeux Noel (French) ~ Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier! (Frisian) ~ Bo Nada (Galician) ~ Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! (Gaelic) ~ Froehliche Weihnachten (German) ~ Kala Christouyenna! (Greek) ~ Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara! (Hausa) ~ Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
(Hawaiian) ~ Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova (Hebrew) ~ Shub Naya Baras (Hindi) ~ Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket (Hungarian) ~ Gledileg Jol (Icelandic) ~ Selamat Hari Natal (Indonesian) ~ Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah (Iraqi) ~
Nollaig Shona Dhuit or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat (Irish) ~ Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay (Iroquois) ~ Buone Feste Natalizie (Italian) ~ Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto (Japanese) ~ Mithag Crithagsigathmithags (Jiberish) ~ Sung Tan Chuk Ha (Korean) ~ Natale hilare et Annum Faustum! (Latin) ~ Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu! (Latvian) ~ Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto (Lausitzian) ~ Priecigus
Ziemassvetkus (Lettish) ~ Linksmu Kaledu (Lithuanian) ~ Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar (Low Saxon) ~ Sreken Bozhik (Macedonian) ~ Il-Milied It-tajjeb (Maltese) ~ Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa (Manx) ~ Meri
Kirihimete (Maori) ~ Shub Naya Varsh (Marathi) ~ Merry Keshmish (Navajo) ~ God Jul or Gledelig Ju (Norwegian) ~ Pulit nadal e bona annado (Occitan) ~ Bon Pasco (Papiamento) ~ Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu (Papua New Guinea) ~ En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr! (Pennsylvania German) ~ Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo (Peru) ~ Maligayan Pasko! (Philippines) ~ Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie (Polish)

Feliz Natal (Portuguese) ~ Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha (Pushto) ~ Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua (Rapa-Nui - Easter Island) ~ Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn (Rhetian) ~ Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn! (Romanche - sursilvan dialect) ~ Sarbatori vesele (Rumanian) ~ Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom (Russian) ~ Buorrit Juovllat (Sami) ~ La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou (Samoan) ~ Bonu
nadale e prosperu annu nou (Sardinian) ~ Hristos se rodi (Serbian) ~ Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce (Slovakian) ~ Nollaig chridheil huibh (Scots Gaelic) ~ Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina (Serb-Croatian) ~ Hristos se rodi (Serbian) ~ Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa (Singhalese) ~ Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok (Slovak) ~ Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto (Slovene) ~ Feliz Navidad (Spanish) ~ God Jul and - Och - Ett Gott Nytt År (Swedish) ~ Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon (Tagalog) ~ Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (Tami) ~ Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech! (Trukeese - Micronesian) ~ Sawadee Pee Mai (Thai) ~ Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun (Turkish) ~ Srozhdestvom Kristovym (Ukrainian) ~ Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (Urdu) ~ Chung Mung Giang Sinh (Vietnamese) ~ Nadolig Llawen (Welsh) ~ Cestitamo Bozic (Yugoslavian) ~ E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!
(Yoruba)

Music being the universal language...

Entertainment website Muruch announces its top 25 albums of the decade - on a list that ranges from The Dresden Dolls to Muse, the eclectic blog places Allison Crowe's "Live at Wood Hall" in the number 8 position, commenting:

"Oh that voice! Still gives me chills. I've posted about Allison Crowe so many times over the years that I consider her Muruch's musical mascot. As I said in my 2007 review"there's really no way to convey through mere words how much the music on Allison Crowe's Live At Wood Hall moves me". Forget Susan Boyle, Allison sang the definitive cover of 'I Dreamed a Dream'." ( http://www.muruch.com/2009/12/muruchs-best-of-the-decade-albums.html )

It's been a year in which Crowe elevated her artistry beyond levels consistently seen in rock music for decades. A decade of international touring and online presence combined with inventive and inspired writing and recording and peerless live shows has translated into making the bi-coastal Canadian one of the world's most popular, successful, and truly, independent musicians.

Crowe's achievement could only be reached free of the status quo, side-stepping the mainstreaming rackets of, both, corporate record labels and institutionalized funding agencies. It's a revolution, not just in her home country, but, on a global scale.

A review from the latest concert on her "Tidings" tour, which wraps this weekend in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, exemplifies peoples' response to Allison Crowe's singular nature as one of the most moving singer-songwriters and interpreters of any generation.

Eric McLean, band leader of the Nanaimo Blues All Stars, (and President of the Old City Quarter Association), wrote of Crowe's December '09 concert in that city: "I have seen and met, hordes of great performers over the years, from Clapton, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, Sara, Little Feat, to Grappelli, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, etc, etc, etc, and I honestly believe that (Allison Crowe is) in the same league." McLean sums up the feeling of many, saying: "I really felt that I was in the presence of something great."

Allison Crowe's seventh CD, "Spiral", is due to be released in early 2010.

On the road to creating a new album, musician/singer-songwriter Allison Crowe teams up with a longtime friend in orchestrator, arranger and producer Kayla Schmah.

Crowe, at home in, both, Nanaimo, British Columbia and Corner Brook, Newfoundland, (on Canada's Pacific and Atlantic coasts), and L.A.-based film composer Schmah first met, a decade ago, on Salt Spring Island, BC (where, it happens, this video was shot).

The pair are making art together today. "Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." Here be a pre-album version of "Going Home Tonight", a song on Crowe's upcoming CD, "Spiral".

Fab arts and entertainment blog Muruch kindly debuts the mp3/audio @ http://www.muruch.com/2009/11/allison-crowe-new-mp3.html

A song in the key of Hallowe'en, a favourite holiday for musician Allison Crowe. Playing piano since age five and singing, almost as long, Crowe, inspired by Ani DiFranco and Loreena McKennitt, materialized her own record label in 2003. She's now brewing her seventh album/CD, "Spiral".

You could say Crowe is very ghoul-oriented.

"Allison Chains" (voice, piano) is linked to this track for eternity, with Dave "The Damned" Baird (bass), and Laurent "The Butcher" Boucher (percussion). This version is heard on "This Little Bird", a CD for which Billie "The Wicca" Woods shot the cover. (Woods' many portraits are fit to be hung in gallowries worldwide.)

Keeping an eye on all things newt, let us toast those musicians from the Netherlands to America, 'cross Canada, en France and beyond - who've covered this song, including: Dhenzy, Victoria Venom, Lucresa, the friend of "dudelookslikealady2", Natouchka38, Briauna Marijuana, and Eilish (estarhart).

From the brain of Logan Anschell comes just the right interjection - for those about to enjoy this musical treat. It's the same thing, he whispers, a skeleton says to a vampire at dinner time:

"Bone appétit!"

May this raise your spirits ( 

Allison Crowe and her traveling band – Billie Woods (guitar), Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion) – are back in Canada following a triumphant tour of continental Europe.

 Playing to full-houses and multiple encores in Aachen, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Prague and Vienna was especially gratifying for the troupe – after a start in the UK that could have derailed less able and determined musicians.

Instead, an encounter with new anti-terrorist/illegal immigration rules has helped fuel the vibrant reform movement in the UK. With public and media support from stern to bow on the island of Great Britain, the news was featured by BBC Radio, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian/Observer, The Scotsman, The Northern Times, The Press & Journal, and many more outlets. The Times of London warned: “Immigration rules threaten to destroy Britain's arts reputation”.

Cultural events described as canceled or in jeopardy as a result of the new laws include: concerts by supreme Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov; African jazz band Les Amazones de Guinée; the English National Opera's production of Così Fan Tutte to be directed by Abbas Kiarostami, the great Iranian film-maker; and events involving a range of participants from Argentinian tango-dancers, to neuroscientists, university lecturers, Chinese artists and touring church choirs.

On June 3, the UK civil liberties group, Manifesto Club, hosted the first “Cabaret Without Borders” in London, England. Allison Crowe spoke to attendees of this packed event via telephone hook-up, minutes before her band's performance in Frankfurt. The 'Visiting Artists and Academics Petition' ~ found @ http://www.petitiononline.com/MCvisit/petition.html ~ was launched earlier this year by the Manifesto Club with the endorsement of dozens of the UK's most prominent artists and educators, including: sculptor Antony Gormley; director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne; and the artistic director of the Royal National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner.

Home in Canada, the bicoastal musician and her transnational band, next devote the Summer to writing, playing and recording before Fall '09 Canadian tour dates, Winter 2009 “Tidings” concerts, and, a return to Europe in Spring 2010.

It's been a few years since Nick Hornby, in a New York Times op-ed piece, "Rock of Ages", spoke of "that high-low fork in the road" asking: "Who has the nerve to pick up where Dickens or John Ford left off? ...who wants to make art that is committed and authentic and intelligent, but that sets out to include, rather than exclude?"

An answer is Allison Crowe, creator of such recordings as "Disease", "Skeletons and Spirits" and "Wedding Song" and interpretations of popular music from Leonard Cohen to Pearl Jam and the Loving Spoonful.

This week the Chicago Tribune newspaper named the "5 best versions of Cohen's 'Hallelujah' " and counter-culture blog MIX listed the top "non-shills" in the music business. Allison Crowe is the only artist on both lists. Being ranked alongside Leonard Cohen, John Cale, Jeff Buckley and kd lang for her transcendent, single/first-take, recording of "Hallelujah", and lining up with Ani DiFranco, Janis Ian, Trent Reznor, Radiohead and others for her integrity, is emblematic of Crowe's singular success.

She launched her own record label, Rubenesque Records Ltd., in 2003 and approaches music very differently to the industry standard of recent decades. The wholly independent vocalist and multi-instrumentalist shows you don't need to "play the game". You simply need to make great music. And you need to mean it.

"In a world of copycats and wannabes in the singer-songwriter field, Crowe is a true original and is playing in a league of her own", writes Tom Mureika. In this latest concert review penned for Westcoaster.ca, Mureika, a writer for AllMusicGuide, describes Crowe as an "astonishingly gifted artist" with "a dynamic stage presence - she is at once commanding and enrapturing." Saying: "Crowe is easily the most talented singer-songwriter to burst on the scene in quite some time... There were even times when her compositions came across like a modern day Carole King." Mureika concludes: "Her unique stylings, incredible range of delivery, songwriting chops and knack for interpreting cover tunes sets her apart from her peers".

AMG/Westcoaster.ca's Mureika is reporting on a sound heard coast-to-coast in Canada, where Crowe resides on, both, Atlantic and Pacific shores, and 'round the world live, on the internet and mp3 players everywhere, on Rogers, ATV, and CHUM television, the BBC, CBC radio and more.

From Canadian college radio station CFBX, where Crowe's newest of six CDs/albums, "Little Light" was top of general and specialty charts for weeks running this Spring, (since replaced on the Roots chart by the latest from Neko Case, 'Middle Cyclone'), to audiences numbering in the millions worldwide for her videos on YouTube, and song tracks on such social networking platforms as Jamendo and Last.fm to mainstream outlets iTunes and Amazon, Crowe's appeal bridges the iconoclastic and the populist.

UK audiences heard from Allison Crowe when she was a sensation at the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival in Durness, Scotland (crowned the "UK's Best New Festival' in early 2008). Crowe's performance in the Scottish Highlands, on-stage between Carol Ann Duffy, appointed Britain's Poet Laureate just this month, and Master of The Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, is the stuff of legend.

Recently, two prominent tributes to Leonard Cohen have featured her song contributions. During a triumphal Beatles Week 2008 concert series, BBC Radio 2 interviewed and recorded Allison Crowe in Liverpool performing "Hallelujah" for its documentary, "The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall", that explores the many facets of this Leonard Cohen creation. Hosted by Guy Garvey of Elbow, other participants include musicians Imogen Heap and Kathryn Williams alongside producers John Lissauer and Andy Wallace.

MOJO magazine's December '08 issue paid tribute to Cohen with a celebration of his "deep and moving music". Of Allison Crowe's contribution of "Joan of Arc" to its 'All Star Tribute", (featuring Judy Collins, Nick Cave, Martha Wainwright and others), a cover-mount CD titled "Cohen Covered", MOJO says: "Once famously described by the Vancouver Courier as possessing a style akin to 'Elton John meets Edith Piaf', the Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe is renowned for her ability to blend control and melodrama. Certainly she does so on this spirited cover of Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate classic, a track which also powerfully showcases her considerable talent as a fine interpreter of song."

Jeffrey Pitcher, Artistic Director of Theatre Newfoundland Labrador has worked with Crowe on TNL's "Sexy and Dangerous" production in Corner Brook for two years. He says: "No matter where she is in this world, that voice, that conviction, it crosses all borders. She's one of those rare artists that fits into any culture, any community because she is who she is – an incredible talent."

"Ever wonder what it would have been like to listen to a gifted singer/songwriter from Saskatchewan in a small, intimate hall before she became Joni Mitchell? Don't fret the missed opportunity. There's no need to turn back the clock. Check out Allison Crowe," says Robert Reid in The Record (Canada). Longtime WGTE/NPR (USA) host Ross Hocker calls a performance by Crowe "the most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life".

Allison Crowe (voice/piano/guitar) and her band-mates, Billie Woods (guitar), Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion), embark now on tour - a string of dates that launch in her Atlantic home, Newfoundland this Saturday, May 9, at Bianca's, in St. John's, NL and Wednesday, May 13 at the Arts and Culture Centre, Corner Brook, NL - and take the quartet to a range of European cultural capitals:

23.05.09 - The LOT, Edinburgh, Scotland
25.05.09 - The Halo, London, England
28.05.09 - Aula Carolina, Aachen, Germany
29.05.09 - Jazzbar Vogler, Munich, Germany
03.06.09 - Jazzlokal Mampf, Frankfurt, Germany
06.06.09 - venue/city tba
09.06.09 - Osterkirche, Berlin, Germany
11.06.09 - Divadlo Dobeska, Prague, Czech Republic
13.06.09 - Tunnel-Vienna-Live, Wien, Austria

For music and more info visit: www.allisoncrowe.com