Alison Harris lives on the edge of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a wild space between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, California. The leaves are turning and the vineyards glow with red and orange. The owls are singing their night song, the sassy mocking birds have quieted with the approach of winter chill.
Alison's music embodies this lush unique environment. The coastal winds, creeks, and redwood trees of this small Sebastopol Valley, where she also grew up, can be heard in every note she plays and sings.
She is the daughter of an elementary school music teacher and the granddaughter of an eccentric Big Band composer. She is classically trained, beginning violin lessons with her father at the age of five, and piano at nine. She was nurtured from a young age with studies of Beethoven, and Bach, while simultaneously being exposed to blues piano, and artists like Ray Charles, Johnny Otis, Patsy Cline and Ella Fitzgerald.
She began writing her own compositions when she was thirteen and went on to complete her degree in music from Sonoma State University. She picked up the guitar in her early twenties. In 2000 and 2001 Alison toured with international reggae act Groundation. She has shared the stage with Pato Banton and Gregory Isaacs, and has recorded in studios like Skywalker Sound with various artists including Marcia Higgs, Groundation, and The Trailer Park Rangers.
Alison's songs have been heavily influenced by contemporary female singer-songwriters such as Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris and Gillian Welch. Her music explores the strength and fragility of the heart. In 2007 she signed with Omega Records.
“Smoke Rings in the Sky” was recorded in the Spring of 2008 at Different Fur Studios (Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, David Byrne) in San Francisco. The album was produced by Chris Chu and Patrick Brown (Tegan and Sara, Gomez, Black Lips, Violent Femmes, Kate Walsh, Rodrigo y Gabriella). Distribution and marketing are being handled by RedeyeUSA (Polyphonic Spree, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Mars Volta, Public Enemy, Jamie Lidell).