"From time to time, if your very fortunate, you get to experience a truly transcendent musical performance. I think it takes a rare combination of such tremendous technical proficiency at one's instrument that expressing one's heart and soul becomes at once effortless and dazzling. It's more than chops and it's more than soul. I suppose the closest, but still inadequate description, is virtuosity. One thing for sure, when you experience it, you never forget it. You had to be there last night to hear Allyson Paige. It is beyond comprehension why this incredible talent isn't playing stadiums and pulling down record deals. Perhaps it's because her talent is so great it defies genre categories. She's not a blues singer, a jazz singer or a pop singer. She is a voice that knows no boundaries. Every time she would hit one impossible crescendo and you'd say "damn, how'd she do that", the next phrase would just bury the one before. She just seems to will her voice to say what she feels and it does so despite whatever technical difficulty might be standing in the way".
Vince Caminiti, Golden Gate Blues Society Allyson Paige has made a name for herself throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as a result of her powerful voice and exceptional ability to deliver table pounding performances and raw emotional power to any song that she sings. The inherent beauty and soul fullness of her voice lends itself to ALL styles of music. The first business cards she had made as a teenager said "Allyson Paige. I can sing it". Simply stated truth in advertising. Allyson hails from the Sonoma County wine country north of San Francisco, where where her roots in classic rock gateway'ed her talents into a successful career which has cut across many musical swaths, including classic rock, blues, folk, jazz and country. Allyson has preformed at many of the S.F. Bay Area's premeire clubs including Slims, Bimbos 365, Great American Music Hall, The Sweetwater Saloon, The Last Day Saloon, and The MysticTheater, just to name a few. Allyson counts Joni Mitchell, The Stones, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, and Elton John, among some of her major influences and personal heros (just to start..) , and their lagacies resonate throughout her music. Allyson has been writing and singing songs for more than half her life, breathing passion into each performance with a mesmerizing voice that can be both beautifully tender and stunningly intence with a raw, go-for-broke rock and roll roadhouse abandon. “A 5 Foot 10 woman with Viking blood and a voice that could fill most clubs without amplification, sweetly conquering all withing earshot”.
Jeff Kaliss, San Francisco Chronicle Allyson first made a splash in the storied San Francisco Bay Area music scene as the lead vocalist for The Chris Cobb Band. In addition to working with songwriters Alex Call (Huey Lewis, Pat Benatar) and Andre Pessis (Bonnie Raitt, Mr.Big), she has shared stage time with Angela Strehli, Tommy Castro, Roy Rogers, Norton Buffalo, Earl Thomas, Raz Kennedy (founding member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra), Narada Michael Walden (Producer/Drummer, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder), Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band), Eric Martin (Mr. Big), The Waybacks, and Bob Weir of The Greatful Dead. Currently, Allyson is getting ready to launch a Joni Mitchell tribute project called "Foni Mitchell", along with bandmates Chris Stafford, Edo Castro, Michael Gill and Brad McKeague on July 31st, 2010. Allyson also sings along side her good friend, Bay Area singer/songwriter, Jesse Brewster. The two have performed together at Northern California venues from Arcadia down to Santa Cruz, and have been penning songs together as well. Allyson has released two independently produced CD's. 2010's "Inspire", a collection of popular songs with a postive message by some of her favorite contemporary artists. Her other release, "Blue Horizon", showcases not only her singing virtuosity and versatility, but also her talent as a songwriter. Some of the Bay Area's best offered to lend their talents and gifts to this unique project including Jon Evans (Tori Amos), Larry Cragg (Neil Young) Max Butler (Red Meat, Chuck Prophet) and Geoff Pearlman, Michael Bluestein and Kevin T. White (all formerly with Shelby Lynne). "A welcome introduction, "Blue Horizon" shows off an artist dying to be heard and a hint of more to come."
John Beck, The Press Democrat Allyson's voice and gift for harmonies have also contributed to numerous artist recordings and commercial jingles including spots for Aiport Express and The Silver Legacy Resort in Reno, NV.  |
|
