Expressing warm but edgy vocals thrown on a classic country pillow with a dash of bluegrass on the side. Heartfelt, emotive lyrics in a unique country folk style. Allison Forbes has well and truly found her calling – to change the face of Country Music.
She grew up just outside Tamworth with the Country Music Festival significant in her life. Watching the stars gather every year in her home town, she yearned to be a part of it. Allison dabbled in every musical genre over the years. On the turn of a coin she was accepted into the prestigious CMAA Academy of Country Music in 2011 where she learnt how to refine herself as an artist and a songwriter and to embrace what had always made her different to everybody else. The past two years have been spent travelling, writing, learning and more recently playing in small outback towns of Australia.
Since beginning her songwriting journey, Allison has been invited to perform at the Tamworth Chamber of Business Awards, the esteemed Roll of Renown Concert where she represented John Williamson at the Tamworth Country Music Festival and she has graced the stage with the likes of Golden Guitar winners Beccy Cole, Luke O’Shea and Bill Chambers.
In July, Allison was announced as a top 20 finalists in the running to receive a $50,000 scholarship to the Australian International Conservatorium of Music and was given the Special Talent Award voted by the AICM Board of Directors. Fresh out of the studio with ARIA winning producer Shane Nicholson, Allison recorded her debut EP “What’ll Happen To Me Now?” which was released on August 30th 2013. It shot straight up the National iTunes Country Chart reaching number 12 and sat with the likes of Alan Jackson and Keith Urban.
Her co-write with Sally-Anne Whitten for her latest album came 6th in the Australian Songwriters Awards and two of her own were in the running for Musicoz – Australian Independent Music Awards. She was also announced as a semi-finalist in the world-famous International Songwriting Contest.
This January, Allison was a major player in the Tamworth Country Music Festival, up for a TSA Award and winning the TSA/APRA New Songwriter of the Year Award. She performed all over the festival on shows with Shane Nicholson, Harry Hookey, Brad Butcher and Kasey Chambers.