After our lengthy hiatus from "public" life, it's soooo much fun to
be back doing concerts, and making recordings that WE can make
happen when, where and how we and you like ( :

Too much about the music industry today is not about music, or soul
or people. And it feels that way!

So, Yay! to the real meaning of making music. And, here's to
connecting with all of you over the days and months ahead - via
mp3s, CDs, online chats and at live concerts. We are definitely
going to do our best to travel to Ohio as part of our 2004 touring.
Thanks Brooklyn for the venue tips. And, anywhere we can possibly
get to - we will, given time ( :

This past weekend, Salt Spring Island, one of North America's
premiere arts communities, and the recreational home to such
Hollywood stars as Al Pacino and Robin Williams, played host to the
latest concert by Allison and the band. SO far, the trio has
returned to live performance in western Canadian communities
(preparatory to the next national+ tour in 2004). Below is the
portion of a just published newspaper review that pertains to Alley,
Dave and Kevin's concert performance. (The full review, plus plenty
of other regional and national press coverage can be found at
Alley's home-site @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com ):

...

An awestruck audience was wowed by the soaring winged vocals and
dynamic thundering piano work of Allison Crowe at an ArtSpring
concert Saturday.

...

During the intermission audience members were left wondering whether
Crowe might have unwisely raised the bar a little too high with such
a potent mix of performers during the warm-up set.

Fortunately, the confident resonance of Crowe's singing in her
opening song, Hallelujah, cast all doubts aside. Lesser buildings
would have collapsed under the emotive onslaught of her voice.

Accompanied by Dave Baird on stand-up bass and Kevin Clevette on
drums, Crowe mixed gems of her own songwriting with covers of
Leonard Cohen, Keith Richards and Janis Joplin to create an eclectic
combination of musical styles that highlighted her dynamic range.

The 21-year-old Nanaimo-based singer songwriter thinks of Salt
Spring as a second hometown after she performed one of her first
major gigs as an opener for Tara MacLean at ArtSpring three years
ago, said Crowe's manager and event organizer Adrian du Plessis.

"I love Salt Spring, it's so nice. Serenity now," Crowe giggled.

While the singer maintained bubbly banter between songs, her rich
writing and radiant voice lifted listeners to the rafters with
lyrical love songs like Montreal and the feverish pitch of the break-
up survivor piece Hooray.

A solo of Jewel's Who Will Save Your Soul left the audience stunned
with the delightful ecstasy of Crowe's sustained singing.

Her voice seared brain synapses with raw power and then lapped ice-
cream smooth for soft breathy seductions.

The microphone died just before Crowe launched into Pearl Jam's
Jeremy but the soundman didn't even seem to notice a loss of quality
since her unadorned voice still filled the theatre so majestically.

It was challenging to take notes for a review. O sat slack-jawed
through songs such as Misdirected (Disease), Be Yourself and Alive
and Breathing, without writing a word. I didn't want to strip my
attention away from the pure experience of the moment to keep notes.

To be honest, I didn't want to share. I greedily gobbled up every
note of her performance. And I refused to listen to any other music
for the remainder of the weekend so I could savour the last little
morsels of the memory.

Fortunately, I won't have to wait too long for another Crowe
performance. Once the recent experience has dimmed, I will still
have her new CD, Lisa's Song, ready to pop open for a fresh blast of
her roof-raising rhythm and grunge blues.