John Allen

After his almost fairytale discovery by Frank Turner in autumn 2013, a lot has happened in John Allen's life. He quit his job, quit being a teacher to dedicate himself completely to music and has been touring Europe restlessly ever since. Nearly 500 shows in less than four years are to his credit, including tours with greats of the singer/songwriter scene such as Lucero, Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers, Tim Vantol, Joe Ginsberg, Northcote and Emily Barker, as well as concerts with pop star Milow.

Rough as the Stormy Sea
.BR Allen situates his musical home "somewhere between classic singer-songwriter, folk, country, punk and Americana." He cites such greats as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Cave and Tom Waits as the most significant influences along the way. In his songs, he evokes the ghosts of the past, mourns elapsed loves, sings of freedom on the road, praises the optimism of new beginnings and flirts with the mundane.

'Ghosts' is the name of Allen's now fourth studio album. Allen confronts elapsed loves, spins tales of death, fear, despair and end of the world, breathes life into mysterious characters and steadily moves further away from the image of guitar-playing folk-punk. Ghosts' shows lyrical maturity and the courage to leave the beaten track in favour of musical experimentation. Despite all the demons, all the shady characters and all the defeats turned into music, Allen still manages to light small beacons of hope again and again. As a result, 'Ghosts' is at once brute and fragile, sombre and romantic, rumbling, menacing and conciliatory. For all the change and musical evolution, Allen's distinctive voice remains, roaring, caressing and menacing with madness on 'Ghosts'. Joined by his band, the Black Pages, as well as numerous big-name guest musicians, the long player was created in the spring of 2016 and released in November of the same year. Fans and critics received the album with enthusiasm, Rolling Stone even drew comparisons to Bruce Springsteen,Nick Cave and Tom Waits.

As catchy as his melodic arcs are, his lyrics can be as melancholy, entwined with a melancholy, despair and gloom that are also reflected in his voice, a voice as rough as the stormy seas. Whoever listens to Allen, whoever sees how he merges with his instruments on stage, how he always seems to relive what he sings, suspects: here sings someone who has been through a lot and yet has not stopped believing in the healing power of music and restlessly searching for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe John Allen is nothing but a lucky guy. But for sure, he's taken advantage of the opportunities that have presented themselves and is now on his way to adding a chapter or two to his own rock 'n' roll fairy tale. Text source and more information about this event:
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