February 12, 2009: I’ve really been enjoying my 9-5 routine at the Montreal cafe I frequent every day.  I’ve been a busy bee putting together my spring tour schedule across Canada.  Between now and mid-June I’ve got a whole bunch of shows in Ontario and then Coast to Coast.  Most of the tour dates are up on my website, but more are to come, so stay tuned!    And..I’m gearing up for a trip to Memphis next week for International Folk Alliance Conference.  Memphis, baby.  Happy Valentine’s weekend to you and yours!  Thanks for stopping by.  -Allison xoxo

December 23, 2009: What a year!  I can’t express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me through the past 12 months - it has been incredibly busy and fun.  Highlights of the year included teaming up with Sheena Grobb of Winnipeg for tours - what a beautiful and talented person.  I can’t wait to tour together this year, Sheena!  Other highlights included the Northern Roots Tour (Moosonee!  Hearst!) with the band (thank you Canada Council for the Arts), the multiple X-Canada tours, going to Memphis for the Folk Alliance Conference, getting Bond Writing Services on board (your help has made all the difference in my career this year) and the summer Parks tour with my gifted, lovely sister Megan Lickley.

A big thank you to my amazing family for their love and support and to my dear friends and roommates for making me feel at home on the road and in Montreal.  Thank you for coming out to the shows, buying the music, emailing me words of support, spreading the word, sporting your Allison Lickley t-shirts and being an all-around lovely bunch of people.  It makes me want to keep on doing what I’m doing.  Lots of exciting plans for 2010 - I will keep you posted as things unfold.  I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.

Thanks again for a great 2009.  -Allison xoxo

December 1, 2009: It’s been awhile since the Northern Roots Tour ended, but it’s been incredibly busy with back-to-back tours.  The Northern Roots Tour was amazing.  Check out the tour album for photos from the road.  Thanks again to the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support.  The guys in the band (Michael and Alex) made us stop at every landmark to take photos (the giant goose, the giant dinosaur, giant UFO, giant wolf, etc…)  The guys were great - wonderful musicians and troopers.  We had a jam packed tour schedule and they always had big smiles and much enthusiasm for traveling throughout the north.  They’re both francophone from Quebec and were continually astounded at how much french there is in Northern Ontario.  Merci a tout le monde qui a venu aux spectacles.  C’était formidable d’avoir la chance de jouer pour vous.  A la prochaine!  Thanks for your support, as always.  -Allison xoxo

Here are a couple of the young artists who performed the opening sets at our concerts.

Chantal Sylvestre (Sudbury, ON): Chantal is a 17 year old singer/songwriter from Sudbury ON. She has been singing since before she can remember and is a vocal major at Sudbury Secondary School. She is also involved with the school choirs and musicals. Chantal started writing lyrics at 12 and started to play guitar two summers ago to accompany herself.

Marc et Eric (Cochrane, ON): Marc et Eric sont des étudiants a l’École Catholique Nouveau Regard.  Ils ont joué la premiere parti au spectacle a Cochrane.

October 20, 2009: Tomorrow morning the band and I hit the road to tour throughout Northern Ontario for 10 days.  We’re going to Chapleau, Ginoogaming First Nations, Hearst, Cochrane, Moosonee and finishing in Sudbury.  We’ve got young musicians playing the opening sets in each of these towns - I can’t wait to hear their music.  I’ve added two french songs to my repertoire and will be doing some of the performances in french, some in english.  Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts for their grant that made this tour possible.  I’m so excited!  Off to buy accessories for my performance outfit!  Hope to see you on the road. -Allison xoxo

September 6, 2009: The summer tour with my sister Megan was quite excellent.  Many a good time was had en route to our festival in Ear Falls, Ontario (18 hours each way.  We bonded lots and found our favourite cheesy song on commercial radio - Sarah Moreilles).  To see all our pictures check out tour photos.  My sister told me she didn’t know how to use a camera, so most of the pictures are of her.  You’d think someone with a degree in Math would be able to figure it out, but these things are tricky…  :)  So many great parks that we got to perform in - the staff were always so amazing and the audiences wonderful.  Thanks so much for coming out, young and older.  Here’s a picture of the cutest fan at one of our shows.  She sat front row and loved the Bear Hat I was wearing.  Thanks to everyone for singing along!

I’m presently hunkered down in Montreal until the middle of October, am writing material for the new album and am most busy with preparing for upcoming tours.  In about a month I’ll be hitting the road for about 6 weeks - Southern Ontario, New York State and Northern Ontario!  Much adventuring.

Hope to see you soon.  Thanks so much for your support.  -Allison xoxo

Coming Soon! (on August 29, 2009):  I’ve been asked to open for Penny Lang at PennyFest - so exciting and a wonderful honour.  James Finnerty has also been added to the bill for Saturday, August 29th - he’s a very talented Montreal singer/songwriter friend I’ve done shows with before.  Check out my ‘tour dates’ page for ticket and time details.  It’s going to be a great evening.  -Allison xoxo

July 28, 2008: In three days I leave Montreal for a few weeks of concerts in Ontario.  My lovely, talented, hilarious and sweet sister, Megan, will be joining me on stage, which is most exciting.  So you can recognize Megan, I’ve included a picture of us from Northern Lights Festival Boreal - she’s a hottie, I know.  Seated behind us is Tom Wilson of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings…we were pretty stoked.  I think he gave us the thumbs up at one point.

We’re playing five Ontario parks in the next few weeks and going up to Ear Falls, Ontario (18 hours Northwest of Sudbury) to play Trout Forest Music Festival.  I explained to Megan that I have a ‘No Desserts in the Car Policy’, which she was very happy with and immediately instituted three policies of her own (to my one policy - we’re a little competitive).  Come camp with us!  Hope to see you on the road.  Thanks for checking in.  -Allison xoxo

June 26, 2009: Back in Montreal after 6 weeks on the road.  What a trip!  Sheena and I had such a great time eating sushi in Victoria, buying starbucks across our fair country (I inconveniently refuse to drink gas station coffee unless absolutely necessary), and visiting so many great family and friends…we were definitely spoiled by all our hosts.

Below is a picture that wonderfully captures our tour.  We had a wheel fall off our car in Calgary, blocked 2 lanes of traffic for half an hour, had a police car hang out with us until CAA arrived (note: CAA is now the unofficial sponsor for this past tour), and made sure we dashed out in traffic to capture it on film.  Good times.  Stay tuned for more Sheena and Allison tours in the future.

And now I’m back in my little room in Montreal and am working on more material for the next record.  I’ve decided it’s time to go into studio soon and those songs won’t write themselves.  I’ll be heading to Ontario in August to play shows in Ontario Parks - singalong songs, here I come!  Thanks so much for your support.  Hope you’re well.  -Allison xoxo

June 4, 2009: Today in Calgary, Sheena and I will be performing live on The New 97.7 FM.  We’re very excited that they’re having us on their 1pm show!  Tune in if you’re in the city.  (I’ll write more soon….tour is going so well, and wonderfully busy.  Just played a great house concert in Edmonton).  Thanks for your support.  -Allison xoxo

May 22, 2009: Sheena Grobb and I are having a great tour! She’s such a wonderful friend to spend days and days in the car with. The shows have all been going really well. We’ve been hanging out in Canmore for a few days and getting ready for our next round of shows. Here’s a picture of us in front of our hostel. Up next, Cochrane, then BC Coast. Yeeha! Thanks for your support, as always. Allison -xoxo

May 14, 2009: Running around Winnipeg today before our show tonight. Already forgot stove top espresso maker and performing outfit and the tour has hardly begun. It’s going to be the incredibly shrinking suitcase tour again. Got lost in Winnipeg last night while arriving. It certainly is an interesting city to navigate. I found myself repeating outloud several times: “But I thought I was on Duncan/St. Anne’s/any other street in Winnipeg that changes name 4 times”, “There’s River Street, again.”, “Which/how many lane(s) am I in?”. Nothing like navigating at night by yourself in an unknown city. Here’s the tour poster for the next month, care of the talented Jack Dylan of Montreal (I love his work). Hope to see you on the road! -Allison xoxo

(The Exciting News): I’m very honoured and excited to announce that I’ve been nominated for Best Album, Best Songwriter and Best Vocal Performance for the 2009 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards! Pretty lovely mid-tour announcement to get to make. The awards ceremony/announcement of winners is on April 25th in Sudbury.

March 5, 2009: On other notes…the Kingston show was awesome and can’t wait to go back, I just finished a show in Peterborough tonight with so many wonderful listeners and clappers, Acres of Lions play great rock’n'roll and are sweet guys, and I’m on the last chapter of the book on tape for To Kill A Mockingbird (so. good.). The tour is going splendidly well and I’ve had such lovely visits. Thank you! -Allison xoxo

Feb 27, 2009: I am back from Memphis, TN, and what a trip it was. I met so many amazing musicians, heard so much music, and could hardly sleep the first couple of nights because I felt like I was always missing something fun. Am already excited to go back next year. Canada represented! The Sweet Beaver Suite had some amazing musicians and was definitely the place to be. I was proud to be from Up North. And now my Ontario tour kicks off tomorrow. What a whirlwind it’s been, and will continue to be for the next month. I just got myself a blackberry, which means I take myself very seriously now. When I went into the store I made the salesclerk get the oldest model they still carried. In the airport on the way down to Memphis I asked these two guys how to do this one function, and they were astonished to see the ancient model I carry. I think it’s a half centimeter wider than the new model, which is really embarrassing. Please don’t tell anyone or post this info on your blog. I don’t think I could bear it. Alright, off to bed to get a good night’s sleep before the fun begins! Hope to see you on the road. Thanks for your support. -Allison xoxo

Feb 11, 2009: (Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio One) I just found out that the Vinyl Cafe will be playing one of my songs on their show this weekend. Thanks Stuart and his lovely producers! And a big thank you to everyone who wrote in requesting my music - your help is much appreciated. The show airs on Saturdays at 10 AM (CBC Radio 2), Sundays at noon (CBC Radio One) and Tuesdays at 11 PM (CBC Radio One). Exciting news! (Montreal) I just got asked to open for Craig Cardiff’s concert on February 11th in Montreal (put on by the lovely Hello Darlin’ Productions). He’s a very talented musician, a great performer and it’s such an honour for me. Check out his music and then come on out for a great show! www.craigcardiff.com (Also check out www.hellodarlinproductions.com - they’re doing wonderful work for folk music in Montreal.)

January 21, 2009: Hello, and welcome to 2009! I’m spending a 6-week period in Montreal, busy booking several tours I’m really excited about! It’s been amazing to have Sunday Night Dinner with friends, start guitar lessons, sleep in the same bed every night and fully enjoy this stage of my career. Being your own booking agent definitely has it’s perks (when I’m home to do booking my personal assistant makes wicked italian espresso for me every morning in my very own kitchen). Have booked some great house concerts at some of your homes (so fun!), and have been able to fit in some shows in towns where I’ve been promising to come soon! (Thanks to Peterborough, Kingston, and Guelph crews for helping get the word about the upcoming gigs). If you’re in Ontario I’ll be coming your way soon on tour…hope to catch you there. Back to creating my Facebook Fan Page and listening to Beck. Hope this finds you doing well! -Allison xoxo

November 18: Back in Montreal after an incredible month of touring and travel in Bhutan. It was such an honour to meet people across the country, to give concerts in such a variety of venues, and to perform as part of the Coronation Celebrations. I just posted my tour album on the website - 45 pictures this time as I felt it couldn’t be captured in less. Hopefully you’ll feel like you were on the tour with me and the group! And now jet lag is a thing of the past, I am acclimatized to Montreal driving and parking, and I’m onto organizing my spring touring schedule in the US and Canada (would love to hear any ideas you have for Eastern US and Western Canada!). Saw my first snowfall this morning and made myself a Chai latte to celebrate the occasion. Hope you’re keeping warm and having a great day. -Allison xoxo

November 5: UK Tour Cancelled / Allison to perform during Bhutan’s Coronation Celebrations (see ‘tour dates’ for new schedule) It’s a cozy day here in Bhutan and I’m meeting good friends from Sudbury for tea at 1pm downtown. There’s a cafe in town called ‘Arts Cafe’ which reminds me in many ways of Canada and Montreal. If you’re on my mailing list you’ll get a slightly longer message today - what fun for you! So much has happened over the past few weeks and I feel like I’m living in a very grounded, vivid dream - all of this is to say that I have been having such fun performing throughout Bhutan and getting to know the country. It has been so fascinating to spend hours driving through very rural, mountainous areas and then to show up at a school that is open to the elements but has a working sound system; a really interesting mix of technology and agriculture. I’ve used power bars built out of blocks of wood and have been contiuously creative with mic stands. Yesterday I hiked up a mountain to visit Bhutan’s university for monks, had lunch with a lovely Buddhist leader from Eastern Bhutan, met the 7th reincarnation of the founder of Buddhism in Bhutan, and then had dinner with the Canadian High Commission to Bhutan and his wife (brilliant, interesting, and gracious people). We ended the evening with a short Allison Lickley concert over scotch and gin and tonics. All in a day, these days. Thanks for checking in! -Allison xoxo

October 17, 2008: Hello! Writing from our good friend’s house in Thimphu, Bhutan. What and AMAZING place. It’s hard to believe I’m here. Was interviewed on Kuzoo Radio in Bhutan this evening and it will be aired a week today. We head out tomorrow morning bright and early for a 2 week road trip/tour across the country to the East. Quite excited. Must remember to pack my oatmeal - as a touring musician I’m a sucker for my morning bowl of oatmeal - one of the few day-to-day constants. Am adjusting to altitude and might be up to jog tomorrow at 5:30am? We will see (: -Allison xoxo

::Hey - thanks for stopping by! I’m excited to bring you a new website to accompany my new album. A huge thank you to my friends Jon Noel and Wes Hatch who respectively designed and programmed this new site. Two very talented, cool guys. You can check out their websites at www.jonnoel.com and www.malformed.ca. Tons of touring coming up, so check out ‘tour dates’. Will write more when I can figure out how to shrink the font size. (: Until then, thanks for your support! -Allison xoxo