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Event Description

Allison Crowe's "Tidings" Concert ~ with the Campbell River Childrens Choir and Director Barbara Prowse

Expect plenty of holiday cheer, laced with overtones of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, jazz and more, when Allison Crowe, together with guests, the Campbell River Childrens Choir with Director Barbara Prowse, bring "Tidings".

This holiday concert also brings aid to a pair of essential non-profit groups: the Campbell River Hospice Society and CR Food Bank. The mission of the Hospice Society is "to provide compassionate support and companionship to individuals facing death, their families and friends and to those grieving a loss due to death". The group's motto: "Support when you need it most". The Campbell River Food Bank fills another great need in the community. For more than two decades now, it has provided sustenance for people year-round. Though the holiday season brings joy, it can mean extra stresses for many. In today's difficult economic times the work of the Food Bank's volunteers is especially beneficial now. Donation of non-perishable foods is greatly appreciated - and any food donations will be collected at the concert! Campbell River's Ron Nicolaye is, once again, the impresario bringing together music and people for a special night of fun and fundraising.

"Music for the season and all time." Tidings stirs together traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites with an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul. "The Yuletide find of the year," says The Record. "Be prepared to be amazed," chimes ChristmasReviews.com
"Allison Crowe has a voice to fall in love with," says UK music industry journal Record of the Day. “She is from Vancouver Island in Canada, descended from Scottish, Irish and Manx stock. She's exactly the sort of artist who can make serious headway on her own label and that's just what she's doing." Longtime NPR broadcaster Ross Hocker calls Allison Crowe's show, "The most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life."

When this phenomenon 'from the islands' (Vancouver Island and Newfoundland) reached the mainland she steered a path clear of what Joni Mitchell knowingly calls the record business' "style inventions". With Ani DiFranco as a model of integrity, and Creative Commons licensing changing the "game" for resourceful musicians, Crowe created her own label. Since 2003, Rubenesque Records Ltd has released six critically and commercially successful albums: Lisa’s Song + 6 Songs; Secrets; Tidings; Live at Wood Hall; This Little Bird; and Little Light. Crowe's next album is Spiral.

"The first thing you notice about Allison Crowe is her voice. Rich and dark, it seems to come from a place most singers can only dream of accessing. Then there are the songs. Filled with raw passion and accompanied by Crowe's eloquent piano playing," writes Clodagh O'Connell (The Courier). Hers is a joyous sound: "Elton John meets Edith Piaf."

A sensation at the UK's John Lennon Northern Lights Festival, where she performed on a bill with the Queen's Master of Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and the UK's Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, "Canadian angel Alison Crowe gave one of the weekend's most magical moments," says The Scotsman. Festival Director Mike Merritt describes Crowe as "awesome" and "spine-tingling", noting her performance "put hairs on the back of your neck! She brought the house down."

A true grassroots success, Crowe is praised not only as a singularly talented songwriter - on themes personal as well as worldly - and as an exciting, visceral, performer, but, also, as a supreme interpreter of song. Her vital takes on such 21st century standards as Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Joni Mitchell's "River" are applauded as "truly transcendent" and her singular covers have achieved broad, even mainstream, popularity, featured by BBC Radio, MOJO magazine and by acclaimed Hollywood director Zack Snyder (300, The Watchmen).

Leading off this night of festive fun will be the voices of the Campbell River Children's Choir. The Chamber choir is all girls and there are boys and girls in the main choral groups. The community-based C.R. Children's Choir helps youth experience the joy of music, learn about other cultures and work with internationally acclaimed musicians at home and abroad. Over the years, the choir has performed in venues across Canada, the United States, Cuba and England. Some of the choir's singers have gone on to pursue careers as performers or, even, to have choirs of their own.

The Chamber Choir is a group of dedicated young people who attend extra rehearsals and challenge their skills with more difficult music. They will perform with, and under the guidance of, Director Barbara Prowse. Since joining in last year’s Tidings concert, the troupe has sung at the Pacific Rim Children's' Choir Festival in Hawaii and with Su Hart of the Afro Celtic Band "Baka Beyond".

Date/Time: Saturday, December 5, 2009 Doors: 7:00 p.m. Music: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: St. Peter's Anglican Church, 228 South Dogwood, Campbell River

Advance Tickets: $20 General/$15 Students & Seniors -all charges incl.
(Door: $22/$17)

Tickets: IRIS (in Campbell River and Courtenay), The Music Plant, St. Peter's Anglican Church, & Ron Nicolaye c/o 250-923-6972; & online @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com/shoptickets.html

Info: http://www.allisoncrowe.com

Contact: Ron Nicolaye c/o 250-923-6972 and/or email management@allisoncrowe.com