ABOUT
writing the soundtrack to our lives
Alison Rising is a songwriter emerging out of the Colorado folk music scene. Her evocative, poetic lyrics offer the listener emotionally relatable stories spanning the range of human experience. She delicately toggles between vulnerable, confessional songwriting; social explorations of contemporary issues such as human migration or climate change; and world building with settings and characters that evoke nostalgic, yet contemporary feelings. You can find her performing at listening rooms and house concerts around the front range of Colorado.
Growing up in rural Michigan, Alison attended folk and bluegrass festivals as a young child, learning to play hammered dulcimer from her grandmother while teaching herself piano. She learned campfire songs at summer camps from the absurd to rounds to tender folk songs (basically every song in the Rise Up Singing songbook). From middle school through her first years at college, she studied percussion performance, and started playing guitar in her early 20s, but she didn't explore songwriting until 2019 when her guitar teacher, Taylor Sims, encouraged her. Alison is obsessed with unearthing the keys to creativity, and enjoys giving back the inspiration and support that Taylor and others gave her by facilitating songwriting communities for both amateur and professional writers.
Songwriting is one of Alison's play languages - a place to explore a variety of dreamlike concepts, authentic emotions, sonic templates and a variety of genres. Her ever-evolving sound is influenced by her own wildly eclectic musical tastes and she aims to be as versatile in her songwriting as her interests. In her music, you as likely to be reminded of revolutionary songwriters past and present as you are a hint of her bluegrass roots, melancholic noir, a world beat, or a tender and confessional piano ballad. She is intrigued compositionally by experimenting with various sonic combinations of both acoustic and digital instruments as well as how folk music has the power to galvanized activism throughout history.
DEBUT ALBUM
Alison self-published her first album on her indie label Cadence & Cadenza Productions. Hope Among the Ashes debuted late 2023. Co-produced, recorded, & mixed by Kyle Donovan at Cinder Sound Studios and mastered by the phenomenal Anna Frick. It also features Bradley Morse on bass (Gasoline Lollipops, Bonnie & Taylor Sims), Kevin Matthews on drums (Gasoline Lollipops, Jayme Stone), Taylor Sims on electric guitar (Everybody Loves an Outlaw, Madeleine Hawthorne, Bonnie & Taylor Sims Band), Eric Moon on keyboards (Bjork, Jill Sobule, too many others to name), Joy Adams on cello (Big Richard, Nathaniel Rateliff), Eve Panning on fiddle (Big Richard, Lonesome Days), and Carson Keeter on pedal steel. Background vocals by Amy Glenney, Kyle Donovan, and Taylor Sims.
Follow along at all the places @alisonrisingmusic.
Inquiries: info@alisonrisingmusic.com
MORE
Alison is also a speaker, educator, and coach with a background in how people learn. She earned a BA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College, and an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver and has over 30 years of teaching experience. Alison’s previous roles include preschool teacher, educational director, college professor and educational coach. Alison helps educators and parents understand and apply the newest research at the intersection of mind, body, & brain psychology into their lived experience. She is a leader in creativity, educational innovation, and inclusive design for learning.