Although Allison Daniels has been described as an ‘up and coming’ talent, the Quebec City-based country singer has substantial experience as a songwriter and performer to draw on for her upcoming debut album via Vancouver’s 604 Records. That’s abundantly clear on the forthcoming singles for her as yet untitled 2024 debut, ‘Who, What, Where, When, Why’ and ‘We Both Know.’
“’Who, What, Where, When, Why is a really heartbreaking song,” Daniels explains. “It’s about the doubts you have at the beginning of a relationship when someone’s throwing up red flags - a song I hope people will sing at the top of their lungs and, hopefully, release their anger.”
Conversely, ‘We Both Know’ digs into negotiating the challenges of everyday life in a long-term relationship, “How a relationship evolves, how we still love each other, but not in the same way as at the beginning when it was so intense.”
Both tracks display Daniels’ wide emotional range as a singer/songwriter and the benefits of the significant amount of time she’s spent on stage developing her live chops – skills that led to her landing an opportunity to perform with Country superstar, Keith Urban, at Festival d'été de Québec in July 2015, making it to the quarter-finals on the wildly popular TV show, La Voix (Quebec’s version of The Voice), and opening for Canadian country star Tim Hicks on a full run of Quebec dates.
When it comes to music, Daniels is a rarity – a young artist who makes her living almost exclusively as a working musician. “With one or two exceptions,” Daniels says, “I’ve never had a job outside music.” That required taking every opportunity possible to perform over time, from singing competitions to private events, festivals, and – when she was old enough – bar shows, playing covers, as well as original material.
Born in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and raised in Quebec City, Daniels began learning guitar and writing songs at age 11. “My father is a musician, and my godfather is a bluesman. I was raised with music but didn’t like singing when I was little because I was really shy.” So shy, she adds, laughing: “The first time I took singing classes, I took them with my sister because I was too shy to go alone.” She’s come a long way since – going from being painfully shy to seeing the stage as a setting where she feels truly at home.
Writing and playing with her family was a welcome release from feeling somewhat out of place socially for Daniels. “I felt a bit marginalized growing up, so it’s important for me to write about that because I know a lot of people feel the same way,” she continues, citing ‘The Way You Are,’ a song that reflects her own personal and musical journey with the sort of message that, with its insistence that ‘every scar is a beauty mark,’ calls on listeners to celebrate what sets them apart, rather than hide it away. “You don’t have to be another person to be beautiful or cool. You just have to be yourself. Your uniqueness is your best tool in life.”
Many of the other songs on record come from her desire to empower others, and nowhere does she do so more candidly than on tracks like ‘Burn Me Down’ and ‘Woman.’ “It's important to me to encourage people so when they hear my songs, they're energized and more confident. I hope my music will revive their souls.’”
Although Daniels started out performing in French, she went on to write and perform in English as well, leading to collaborations on her upcoming album with Ryan Stewart (Carly Rae Jepsen, Simple Plan) and Tavish Crowe (co-writer of “Call Me Maybe”).
She was drawn to rock and blues early on but came to love country by exploring the genre online. “My parents didn’t listen to country music. So, I brought that style into my family. Now everyone is listening to it," she says, laughing, something she does freely and often, showing a confidence and poise that belies her earlier days feeling like an outlier.
While Country music is her main focus now, Daniels’ sound is impossible to pigeonhole, a seamless blend of country rock, traditional country, swampy blues, and hints of country pop haunting the edges. “For me,” she says, “it was important to create a style that wasn’t ‘in the box’ – a style that's truly me. And my musical roots are where that comes from; my godfather and blues, my father and rock, there are a lot of influences from there that helped create a style that wasn't purely country, or rock, or blues.”
Other, more current influences, musically and lyrically, include the likes of Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, and Chris Stapleton, and other artists from well outside of the genre, including heavy rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet. “That’s not my style on the album, but the way they seem to think and to make music influenced my vision of what I wanted to do with this album.”
The result is real, raw, and forthright, a study in power and passion, displaying a broad mix of musical influences, experiences, and skills that imbue Daniels’ recordings with confidence and swagger to spare. “Even though I started writing songs when I was a child, even though I've performed live a lot, I’ve never released an EP or an album before because I wanted to find myself as an artist first.”
Job done – Allison Daniels is the real deal, an artist who knows what she’s about and displays a level of comfort and clarity of intent on stage and on record that, frankly, only someone who’s spent a lot of time on deck singing and playing their heart out can achieve.