What: Whistler Tidings Concert
When: Saturday, Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Telus Whistler Conference Centre
Admission: Free
Among the many Christmas concerts set to take place over the
holiday season throughout the Sea to Sky region, there’s one that stands out
from the rest: Allison Crowe’s Whistler Tidings Concert.
Oft-compared with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and
The Beatles, it’s clear that Crowe’s sound is both strong and versatile. And at
just 27 years of age, she has plenty of time to expand her repertoire and
reach.
Despite the strong parallels drawn to Mitchell, Cohen and The
Beatles, Crowe contends that she is actually influenced by all of the music she
listens to, whether it be grunge rock, like Pearl Jam, or jazz and blues.
“If I think it’s good, I’ll like it,” she said with a laugh.
She says she can’t seem to identify with just one genre.
The bicoastal singer-songwriter had a strong musical background
and upbringing that helped foster her diverse approach and style.
“From a really young age, close family friends of mine have
always played music, so it was always sort of around me,” she explained.
Her parents also nurtured her musical talent, putting her into
lessons at the age of five. And while she always wanted to make music her
career, it wasn’t until late into high school that she decided to actively
pursue her dream.
She’s not just a pretty face and a stunning voice, Crowe also
writes all of her own music and lyrics, though the process doesn’t always come
easily. In fact, she admits that often, songwriting is most natural for her
when something horrible is going on in her own life, because she draws
inspiration from her personal experiences.
“It’s therapy, really,” she said with a laugh.
But world events and issues also occasionally feed into the
process, though Crowe is quick to point out that she isn’t constantly on a
pulpit, preaching through her music.
Her latest album,
Little Light
, is a compilation of live recordings and studio tracks that had
accumulated while she was touring.
Last year, she was invited to perform at the John Lennon
Northern Lights Festival in Durness, Scotland.
“It all started with a Beatles Fest in Halifax that I just kind
of got asked to play a few songs, and I got to meet John Lennon’s sister, which
was pretty cool. And she’s a really sweet lady, so she actually asked me to
come out this year to the Liverpool Beatles Fest,” Crowe said.
The Beatles have led to big business for this songstress
— during the Beatles Week 2008 concert series, BBC Radio 2 interviewed
Crowe and recorded her performances for an hour-long documentary, which
featured fellow artists, Imogen Heap and Kathryn Williams.
She is also featured in the December issue of the UK-based
magazine, MOJO, in a feature that pays tribute to Leonard Cohen’s “deep and
moving music, the kind of stuff we need in the run up to the holiday period.”
Crowe’s contributions of the tracks “Joan of Arc” and “All Star
Tribute” to the cover CD,
Cohen Covered
,
are cited as fine interpretations of original hits.
Now, Crowe is in the midst of her Holiday Tidings tour, which
kicked off in late November and spans from her current hometown in Corner
Brook, Newfoundland to the opposite coast, right here in Whistler.
Her soulful sound really fits the bill during the holiday
season.
“I really love that kind of music — I love soulful,
bluesey, I guess gospelly-sounding music,” she said. “Stuff with soul in it,
you know?”
The upcoming Tidings performance offers up a blend of
traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites, combined with some
classic, organic rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul, which promise to meld neatly
together for an intimate evening of feel-good music for all ages. Audience
members can expect to hear songs like “Silent Night” next to a cover of “Let It
Be.”
“It’ll be a mix of traditional Christmas songs and different
covers that I think kind of fit, from Beatles to Leonard Cohen or Rolling
Stones to Joni Mitchell, and originals thrown in there, as well!” she enthused.
This certainly isn’t Crowe’s first Whistler rodeo, so to speak.
She’s been performing at venues throughout town for almost eight years, and her
gigs are getting bigger and bigger as time goes on, moving from the Crab Shack
to the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, and finally, to the Telus
Whistler Conference Centre.
“It’s actually going to be my last show of the Tidings tour, so
it should be a lot of fun, and I’ll be excited,” she said.
At the upcoming Whistler Tidings performance, Billie Woods, an
acoustic performer who draws on travel experiences through Brazil and Canada’s
Pacific northwestern coastal forest to inspire her English and Portuguese
lyrics, opens the concert.
Dates to circle on your calendar:
• Friday, Dec. 19 to Monday, Dec. 22 – The Nutcracker at
MY Millennium Place,
www.myplacewhistler.org
• Friday, Dec. 19 to Sunday, Jan. 4 (excluding Dec. 25 and Dec.
31) – Whistler Holiday Experience at Telus Whistler Conference Centre (by
donation)
• Friday, Dec. 19 – Skate with Santa at Meadow Park
Sports Centre, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. ($2, $4 skate rentals)
• Saturday, Dec. 20 – Whistler-Blackcomb’s Dress Like
Santa day, 8:30 a.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 21 – Whistler Children’s Chorus annual
Christmas Concert at Our lady of the Mountains Church, 7 p.m. (by donation to
the food bank)
• Tuesday, Dec. 23 – Community holiday sing-along with
Whistler Children’s Chorus at MY Millennium Place, 5 p.m. (by donation)
• Wednesday, Dec. 24 – 25th annual Christmas Eve interdenominational service of lessons and carols at the Westin Resort and Spa, 6:30 p.m.