Interview with Singer-Songwriter Allysen Callery

AHC: What has this journey, this life in music been like for you, both the highs and lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Allysen- I think album artwork is something to be very selective about, it's the face of your child, so give it a good face. Make music to your own standards. I choose a certain kind of mood while telling my own story, over trying to make people dance, or drink. But everybody has their own kind of song.

And be a nice person, treat everyone with kindness.


AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Allysen- We had a lot of instruments in the house when I was a kid & lots of records - Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Classical , but no Jazz or Blues. 

I heard The Mississippi Sheiks do "Sittin' On top of the World" on college radio when I was in my mid -30s, I'd never heard anything like it before, I just sat down in my housework clothes & listened to the whole song.

I wrote a bunch of sort-of blues songs after that , I just put one called "Shoot Me" on my new record 13 years later.


AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote?

Allysen-It was a song in high school called Cancerous Alice haha 


AHC: Who are some of your musical inspirations? 

Allysen-Marissa Nadler gave me a sort of template, all I ever wanted was to be on a small label & tour Europe, & she was doing those things. It looked like it could be done. Cat Power was another that really inspired me to come out of just singing & playing in my bedroom, the way she could sing so that the words really meant something changed how I approached singing. The Incredible String Band opened my mind quite a bit when I was a child.


AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak?

Allysen- I like the mix of intricate guitar work, in an open tuning preferably, & a good story sung well. 


AHC: You've been called the 'Tim Burton of folk music' but when I think of the roots of folk-telling there is inherently something mysterious about it, whether folk tales around the fire throughout the centuries or folk music itself, both are ways of piercing the veil and carrying around memory, cultural and mysterious, and I think you capture this at its core, not so much by restoring a mystery as by saying 'listen close, the mystery has always been there'. What is your personal philosophy around folk music, story telling and your own unique approach to it all?

Allysen- Thank you. I think like most magical things, it's easy for it to be overlooked by the casual observer, but the quiet ones, that really listen & pay attention, will hear & see so much more. 



AHC: What are your favorite on-tour, on-the-road memories?

Allysen- Touring Germany for the first time, I was with Stephen Burch/the Great Park. The venues there closed somewhat early, but we'd stay up late drinking & smoking, & playing guitar. One guy brought out a yo-yo & did all these tricks, we were laughing so much . I felt really alive & it was so much fun. 


AHC: Do you have any words of advice for young musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find their voice and their way in this world?

Allysen-Find a part time day job you can live with, to pay the bills & feed you, & make your art on your own terms. 


AHC: Do you have any new projects in motion you'd like to tell people about?

Allysen- I'm going to be putting out an EP called Prince's Pine on the British label Reverb Worship soon , & beyond that I'll be putting out another full length on vinyl in 2017. I'm playing next March at SXSW & I hope to have something new for then. 


For more information visit allysencallerymusic.com/



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In Your Hollow by Allysen Callery from brett davey on Vimeo.