Bluegrass is not necessarily mainstream country, but for Allison Brown it is where she is currently most comfortable as a performer.
"I've been singing for people since I was fourteen so it's really hard to remember what drew me to music, it was just kinda 'always there' as for folk and roots music I didn't get into it until much later in my early 20s when I started singing with my cousin Erin Gignac," said Brown who will perform at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer with the Dr. Pinkham's Medicine Show next Wednesday (July 7). "A friend of her Dad's brought over some records he thought we should listen to from Perth County Conspiracy, Pied Pumkin, Ian Tambyln, David Wiffen etc. That's what got me into folk.
"Then I ended up living with a country fiddle player named Lonesome Lefty for two years and we hung around a lot with $2 Bill and his Bad Pennies, they got me into Bluegrass and more of the barroom folk and gospel.
"Then I ended up hanging out with a blues guitar player for a while who got me into stuff like Mississippi John Hurt and Maria Muldaur.
"I also worked in a record store for four years and hosted a radio show for seven so lotsa stuff gets in my ears there too.
"It's a growth process. These days I'm getting into a lot of blues and R&B. Who knows what will be next?"
Brown's music is something of an amalgamation of all her influences.
"The kind of stuff I play is oldtyme, gospel, country, bluegrass and my own songwriter stuff," she said. "I'd call it indie-alt-country for the cool kids."
Brown has been developing her sound for a number of years now.
"I've been doing my own thing for about 10 years, but before that I did a lot of singing in high school and what not," she said.
Brown said she is looking forward to her show in Yorkton alongside Hal Brolund and Leah Morise.
"I'm really excited about the Cup & Saucer show because it's the first time I've played in Saskatchewan," she said. "I played a few shows in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba on my solo bus tour from Vancouver back to London Ontario last summer, but I'm very intrigued to get a chance to spend more time in the prairies this time around as I think the landscape and culture might be similar to the southern Ontario prairies where I'm from."
Brown has also found time amid touring to record a new CD; 'Viper at the Virgin's Feet'.
"It took me a really long time to gather the songs up for this record," she said. "It's been five years since my first one was released in 2005, at that point I wasn't sure if I'd ever make another CD."I'm a very slow songwriter. I write a lot when I take breaks from gigging, usually just in my day to day life. I wrote a lot of the originals on this record while I was at the gym or after I had too much coffee. I admit sheepishly that some of my songs are inspired by television (Weathergirl was inspired by real life TV personalities on London's 'A Channel News, Something Holy was inspired by a Bravo documentary on a photographer named Shelby Lee Adams who takes photos of modern day Appalachia), all the other songs are inspired by my own goof-ups in romance or general world weariness."
The remainder of the CD draws on older bluegrass material.
"The oldtyme songs just 'stick' to me; the ones that I feel invested in emotionally are the ones that I keep playing and can deliver the most effectively," said Brown. "I did a lot of diving into a lot more old black gospel music over the last few years like the Staple Singers and Sister Rosetta Tharpe that I feel really influenced my song choices for the album."
While it took time to write, and record, it was worth it, said Brown.
"I'm completely happy with the final product," she said. "I think the song choices are strong, the recording is exactly what I was going for, the players are awesome, the visuals are very effective. It's a much more mature record songwriting and vocally wise since my last record; lots of growing."
Brown said she hopes the CD is well received.
"I hope every song gets played on the radio but so far CBC has played Birds and Weathergirl most often," she said.
Brown said she loves how Weathergirl came out with Shelley Brown's bass arrangement."Birds is sweet as Rick Scott plays some high flyin' dulcimer on it," said Brown.
"But my heart really lives inside those oldtyme songs like Evenin' Train and Calling My Children, especially as our power trio of angelic harmonies with Erin Gignac and Anna Atkinson is particularly soaring.
"A stand out is Pancho & Lefty as David Essig's guitar parts set the scene. You can taste the desert dust on that one."
