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
<http://www.allisoncrowe.com>

That's the word on Allison and the band's activities - should you not
receive it by email list.

Between the crazy weather, computers, and gearing up for a quartet
rather than a solo artist, this year already feels full! Here's to warm
seasons ahead, and playtime for thee and me.

Happy Mother's Day!!

cheers, Adrian



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