Allison Crowe's Vancouver Tidings to Aid St. James Community Square December 19, 2008

Expect plenty of holiday cheer, laced with overtones of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, jazz and Broadway, as Canada's popular bicoastal singer-songwriter Allison Crowe brings "Tidings" to Vancouver's friendly St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Ave., Friday, December 19 at 8:00 p.m.) with special guest Billie Woods.

Part proceeds of this concert are committed to aid St. James Community Square, a non-profit and charitable organization located in the heart of Kitsilano. Independent and entirely self-supporting for its operating expenses, St. James provides affordable space to the community for educational, cultural, recreational and social activities

"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 is a stunningly talented performer." Longtime NPR broadcaster Ross Hocker calls Allison Crowe's show, "The most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life."

"Treat yourself to one of the mightiest talents on the singer-songwriter scene today," says Bob Muller, song curator at JoniMitchell.com "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," writes Robert Reid in The Record.

Crowe's rare gift and talent in communicating emotions not only make her a thrilling original act, her role as an interpreter is getting much recognition. "Her version of 'I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)' would give Aretha Franklin goose-bumps," notes Robert Moyes in Boulevard. This month, two major tributes to Leonard Cohen have featured her song contributions.

During her triumphal Beatles Week 2008 concert series, BBC Radio 2 interviewed and recorded Allison Crowe in Liverpool performing "Hallelujah" for an hour-long documentary, "The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall", that explores the many facets of this Leonard Cohen creation. Other participants include musicians Imogen Heap and Kathryn Williams alongside producers John Lissauer (Leonard Cohen) and Andy Wallace (Jeff Buckley).

UK-based MOJO magazine pays tribute to Leonard Cohen with its December '08 issue which celebrates "deep and moving music, the kind of stuff we need in the run up to the holiday period". Of Allison Crowe's contribution of "Joan of Arc" to its 'All Star Tribute", a cover-mount CD titled "Cohen Covered", MOJO says: "Once famously described by the Vancouver Courier as possessing a style akin to 'Elton John meets Edith Piaf', the Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe is renowned for her ability to blend control and melodrama. Certainly she does so on this spirited cover of Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate classic, a track which also powerfully showcases her considerable talent as a fine interpreter of song."

Support artist for this special event is globe-trotting musician and photographer, Billie Woods. Woods opens the concert with songs inspired by life in Canada's Pacific northwestern coastal forest, and infused with the warmth and vitality of the sambas, bossa novas and other cultural rhythms of Brazil. Radiating her joyous nature, in English and Portuguese, Billie Woods' vocals and classical guitar make for all-seasons good times.

Allison Crowe and Billie Woods welcome this opportunity to team up to help St. James Community Square. Now in its 15th year of operation, this vital organization has about 5,000 people registered for, or participating in programs at the site, and the facility hosts an estimated 500,000 user visits each year. A diverse range of activities in the community centre includes self-help and step groups (AA and Debtors Anonymous); the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra; music programs for small children; recreational programs such as Tai Chi, martial arts, dog training, gymnastics and yoga; a preschool and a day care; and numerous meetings and special events including a wide range of concerts covering classical to folk.

Being independent, St. James does not receive financial support (eg. from grants) for operating expenses. Capital upgrades and renovations are an ongoing need. Funding generated from this month's Tidings concert will be directed toward helping the centre replace the mixed collection of chairs in its Hall and refinishing the floor in the Hall (a follow-up project). St. James Community Square welcomes support for these, and other improvements - and is able to issue tax receipts for donations should anyone wish to contribute further to their cause.

Date/Time: Friday, December 19, 2008 Doors: 7:30 p.m. Music: 8:00 p.m.

Venue: St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave. (at Trutch), Vancouver

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

Tickets: Highlife Records & Music (1317 Commercial Dr.), Rufus' Guitar Shop (2621 Alma St.), & Zulu Records (1972 West 4th); & online @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com/shoptickets.html

Info: http://www.sjcommunitysquare.org/rental.htm +
http://www.allisoncrowe.com + http://www.myspace.com/billiewoods

Phone 250-537-1286 or email [email protected]

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