About Me...Allison
updated 06/04
Facts
My Christian Faith
Music
School
Tests
Facts
Favorite book(s):
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery
Favorite expressionist: Jenny Holzer
Favorite Music: Gillian Welch (pic) Less is more. On Gillian's 1998 album, she and David Rawlings are the only two players on most of the songs. Producer T Bone Burnett joins them on piano on one song ("Whiskey Girl"). Plus, the way these two play live is extremely incredible.
Leslie/Sam Phillips Leslie (Sam) Phillips
CCM pop/rock queen of the eighties. Though she claims she only wrote propaganda for the CCM industry, favorites like "Strength of My Life" and "By My Spirit" are some of the best praise & worship songs ever written.
Mark Heard From the first time I heard "Strong Hand of Love", I was hooked. Besides, his background vocalists include Julie Miller and Sam Phillips. Nothing is better than to hear Sam sing with Mark.
Chris Eaton (pic)
Gary Chapman I saw him in concert by himself once, for free. I also saw him host Sam's Place live and play with a couple of other artists on the bill. He is incredible live and very gracious.
Lucinda Williams "Right in Time", "I Lost It", and "He Never Got Enough Love" are just three of the outrageously wonderful songs that Lucinda Williams recorded. When I heard Ramblin', I thought the way she did Delta blues was it. Then she does traditional folk like no one else, then she does contemporary folk like no one else.
Julie Miller Blue Pony is a classic. After buying Orphans and Angels, I couldn't stop collecting her albums whenever I saw them for sale. She's wonderful because of her innocent vocals and honest outlook on life.
Suzanne Vega (pic) She fits the stereotype of artists I like best: She's not a folk singer, but that's the best way to categorize her.
Townes van Zandt Though he's gone, this Texas singer-songwriter is amazingly incredible with words and music.
Bob Dylan
I picked up a random biography about him and was hooked for days. It was really long and I had stuff to do, but I was mesmerized. What an incredible songwriter. For the record, I love Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" better than the Byrds' version.
Aimee Mann: I bought her Bachelor #2 album around 2000 and I just "got" it. Now, I'm into all her old stuff, including her 'Til Tuesday stuff. It's nice to hear some intelligent music.
Allison Moorer (pic, see addt'l link), Gram Parsons, LeeAnn Womack,
Tori Amos,
Sheena Easton,
Fiona Apple
Travis - Fran Healy's ability to write such silly, then serious songs is just great. I discovered them July 2001 in London and wondered if they were too good to be true. They rock so much that it's crazy. Bands this good are few and far between.
Tina Arena - Brilliant Australian singer. Beautiful songs and experimental pop that is so edgy, American radio stations will never play her (except the covers done by Jo Dee Messina, LeAnn Rimes, etc.) Rufus Wainwright Constantly switching from piano to guitar, this very talented artist also has the voice of an angel. Although his songs are brilliant, he also pulls off covers of songs by artists like Leonard Cohen and the Beatles very well. The Vines Craig Nicholls is amazingly brilliant and so prolific that it scares me! He rocks. Finally---Eva Cassidy who died 11/2/96 is the most incredible singer. I can't believe a singer so wonderful exists. She sounds like Aretha and sings standards, pop, folk, and gospel. Very mesmerizing.
My Christian Faith
The most important thing in my life is Jesus Christ, who saved me from my sins and keeps me going on a straight path, free from serious problems (although I still am tempted just like the rest of us). When I was five, it sort-of hit me all of a sudden that I needed Jesus. I was with a friend in at a Catholic school's playground and asked God to change my
heart right there. People -- even Christians can let you down or condemn you, so that's why it's important to solely trust and put your faith in Jesus.
Sometimes it seems like God doesn't hear us, but He has a certain plan for our lives and will not let us down.
Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
Isaiah 43:2
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you
shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."
Joel 3:16b
"...The Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the
children of Israel."
2 Thessalonians 3:3
"But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the
evil one."
Music
I pretty much just listened to my parents' stuff-you know:
praise & worship, classical. They also had some secular
rock, but I wasn't much into that. I didn't have a radio
back then, but what impacted my passion for music was when
my parents started playing a Christian radio station every
night when I was going to bed. The volume was pretty loud
and I listened to it when I realized that a lot of the
stuff was pretty good. I fell in love with "Jesus Will
Still Be There" by Point of Grace and decided to buy my
first album. The album was Point of Grace's debut.
So from there I bought Margaret Becker's Soul album
three months later. It was on the "rock" side and was a
little too much for me. But I continued buying albums here
and there, when my taste in music started to change.
So now:
I have approximately 300 albums.
I have been songwriting
since I was thirteen, and have written about 500 songs.
Of course, it was Carolyn Arends who introduced me to folk music. She was brilliant and I thought,'oh, folk music is good.' Then I got into more dangerous and fulfilling Christian folk music like Mark Heard and from there on discovered people like Gillian Welch and Aimee Mann.
School
I'm attended Belmont
University, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree (Business Administration). Summer 2001 I went on a program with school to London. See pictures: here.