Tidings, Allison Crowe's mix of traditional carols such as "In the Bleak Midwinter", "What Child Is This", "Silent Night", and songs of joy, peace, and redemption from the modern, secular, songbook is a favourite of, both, music fans and critics. It's been called: "The Yuletide find of the year... an absolutely stunning seasonal album that can be enjoyed year-round." Applause is heard for the vocalist/pianist's "truly transcendent" takes on Joni Mitchell's "River" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

Wisconsin DJ and sociologist, Dr. Gerry Grzyb, AKA 'Dr. Christmas', has commented: "Of over 100 new Christmas CDs played on my show, Allison's drew the most listener interest." Others, around the world, bill Tidings, a newly emerging classic, as "A marvelously throughtful album", noting "a mostly unadorned Crowe plays piano... and expertly tackles both Christmas classics and less traditional homegrown songs."

Professor of Law at St. Paul, Minnesota's Hamline University, Carol Swanson, is also a veteran reviewer of Christmas music. She says: "Tidings is an exceptional holiday album, and Canadian Allison Crowe is a stunningly talented performer. Her voice celebrates the music with a bluesy rock-gospel intensity; her controlled vibrato, silken rasp, and powerful projection rivet your attention. This is no casual background music for your holiday party; be prepared to be amazed .this album is packed with highlights from stem to stern. Every song radiates sincerity, creative flair, and emotional intensity."

While enjoying accolades across the spectrum, and reaching an increasingly broad public audience, Allison Crowe continues to create outside the mainstream. Like Nina Simone, or her modern models Pearl Jam and Ani DiFranco ~ the 25 year-old musician chooses not to conform or "play the game". She's true to her own course (bringing to mind Neil Young's mid-'70s quote: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.").

"In an entertainment world that increasingly genuflects at the altar of instant fame, Crowe seems an anomaly, building her career slowly and carefully," observes music-writer Adrian Chamberlain (in an article published earlier this month in Canada's Times Colonist newspaper).

Still, even as she goes her own way, there is a pop culture nexus. Vital ideas from the 'street' are commonly absorbed by those in the corporate sphere, commodified and mass-marketed. Allison Crowe's Tidings concept has itself this year seen a mainstreaming effect with the release by Vancouver, B.C's Nettwerk Records of Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" CD. For Crowe, this is a particularly delightful and gratifying turn - she grew up listening to, and inspired by, McLachlan's '80s and '90s output (including "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" and "Surfacing" albums).

Crowe's original album, Tidings, continues to grow in acclaim - essentially through grassroots discovery by listeners. Upon its initial, full-length, release one reviewer declared: "This high concept seasonal sampler is a triumph." Most currently, in the December 15, 2006 issue of the Women's Post ( www.womenspost.ca/Crowe_for_Christmas.asp )
The Globe and Mail Books Editor, Martin Levin, titles his column "Crowe for Christmas" and says:

"It is customary among some at this time of year, to begin to issue seasonal greeting by reference to some song. Thus, to readers, I say, have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, or, to paraphrase ecumenically, a Cheery Chanukah or a Kolossal Kwanza.

To help you on your way, there is the usual shower of Christmas albums. You might try CDs by Canadian icons Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong) and the Barra MacNeils (The Christmas Album II), or journey to the land of the green Christmas (mostly) for James Taylor's At Christmas, while the most unlikely source of peace and love is shock-rock heavy metallers Twisted Sister, with A Twisted Christmas. Somehow, I can't quite associate chestnuts roasting on an open fire or sleigh bells jing-a-lingling with
Dee Snider and crew.

But I do want to recommend three CDs by Canadians you might not know." Following praise for Michel B