Allison Crowe's Spring Show in Corner Brook w. special guest Linda Bursey May 13, 2009

Allison Crowe brings her band on home to Corner Brook for a Spring concert at the Corner Brook Arts & Culture Centre. On Wednesday, May 13, the internationally-acclaimed musician (voice/piano/guitar) will be joined on-stage by Billie Woods (guitar), Dave Baird (bass) and Laurent Boucher (percussion). Expect those overtones of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, jazz and Broadway for which the exciting entertainer Crowe is much-loved - along with new sounds from her quartet.

Linda Bursey of FreedomArts BellyDance opens this night with a journey through the music and dance of the Middle East. This unique performance of East meets West will feature evocative pieces that carry the senses from mysterious Egypt to the energy and rhythm of the Middle Eastern drum. Bursey, highly dedicated to her art and community, has just been accepted by audition into a professional course at Arabesque - Canada's top Middle Eastern dance school.

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 to make it onto 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 alongside 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 Canadian 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 All Music Guide, describes Crowe as an "astonishingly gifted artist" with "a dynamic stage presence – she is at once commanding and enrapturing." He adds: "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."

"Her unique stylings, incredible range of delivery, songwriting chops and knack for interpreting cover tunes sets her apart from her peers". The review notes that the "sensational" Allison Crowe "resides out of Newfoundland, though her music is universal and timeless".

AMG/Westcoaster.ca's Mureika is reporting on a sound heard coast-to-coast and 'round the world live, on the internet and mp3 players everywhere, on Rogers, ATV, and CHUM television, the BBC, CBC, CFBX radio and more. "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). Veteran WGTE/NPR (USA) host Ross Hocker calls a performance by Crowe "the most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life".

Crowe's friend, poet Benedict Hynes observes that her "Hallelujah" video on YouTube has been viewed by 3.4 million people - more than six times the population of her home province. 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 running. He says: "Allison is a force to be reckoned with in Corner Brook and Newfoundland. The fact that she chooses to live here is nothing short of astonishing and I believe it's because her talent and drive transcends all borders. She sings and her voice tells me I'm not in Newfoundland - I'm in Allison's heart. 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."

Allison Crowe is home this month for shows in St. John's and Corner Brook before she embarks on her next international concert tour - a string of dates that take her quartet to Edinburgh, London, Aachen, Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and other European cultural capitals this May and June.

Tickets for Allison Crowe's Spring show w. special guest Linda Bursey are $20 General and $15 Students & Seniors – available a the CB A&CC Box Office (709-637-2580). Show time is 8 p.m.

For online info visit: www.allisoncrowe.com + www.freedomartsbellydance.com + cornerbrook.artsandculturecentre.ca/boxoffice.asp

Official Website: http://www.allisoncrowe.com