Alanna Clarke
Cochrane, Alberta, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
Toronto – With only a handful of bands on my “must see” list and none of them playing Thursday, I wandered into Bread and Circus for the Factor Breakthrough Series – Best of Alberta, mostly because I’m from Alberta, and one showcase of bands I knew nothing about seemed as good a bet as another.
Alanna Clarke opened, and I’ve got to hand it to her, the girl’s got talent. The 19 year old singer-songwriter from Cochrane, Alberta impressed with a set of her bittersweet tunes about broken relationships and love. She’s a capable guitarist, and considering she’d just met sideman Joel Gunther in person the day before, their rapport on stage was impressive. Her voice is a little Taylor Swift and a little Emiliana Torrini, which is a pretty sweet combination. Her songwriting is above average for this kind of “falling in and out of love” stuff. She’s also cute, and her stage presence is already such that she can make it feel like she’s singing directly to you in the audience. Impressive stuff, especially for a 19 year old.
In the end, the Alberta Showcase started strong with Clarke, but couldn’t maintain that level with the bands that followed.
Comment by Brian Carson
Alanna was just as you described, and is someone to watch. I rate her close to 5 stars considering her age and poise and have doubts that Taylor Swift could fare as well given only an acoustic guitar.
- Panic Manual
Discography
'Wild Rose' - Alanna Clarke 2010
1. Fine Line
2. Fly Into Me
3. Bedroom Window
4. Can't Turn Around
5. Wait
6. Pray For Rain
'Way I Am' - Alanna Clarke 2008
1. All I Need To Hear
2. Bedroom Window
3. Charmer
4. Greedy
5. Way I Am
'Kissing Booth' - Alanna Clarke June 2006
1. Craving
2. Thin Ice
3. Scarless Skin
4. He Gets To Me
5.After The Show
Photos
Bio
Growing up in Cochrane, AB, Alanna, now 19 years old, was 10 when she started pursuing her passion for songwriting, playing music and performing. By the time she was 15, she decided to pursue music full-time and left public school to finish her high school diploma over the internet.
Alanna now spends her time in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Calgary, writing and playing shows. Working with producers in Toronto and LA, Alanna is set to have new material out this year. Please check out the videos to have a taste of what's to come from Alanna this year.
The latest EP from Alanna was released in 2010, entitled 'Wild Rose', available on I-tunes. 'Wild Rose' is a collection of songs written and recorded with Christopher Ward and Luke McMaster. This is the third EP Alanna released, releasing her first 5 song EP when she was 14, and a second at 16.
Alanna strives to have a long lasting career defined by talent combined with ambition and determination. It's the all consuming focus on music that allowed Alanna to book a cross Canada tour on her own in March 2011, or to create a songwriting workshop and take it to over 20 public schools in Alberta.
Other career milestones are a song placement on the 'Degrassi Takes Manhattan' soundtrack, performance spots at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, and $35,000 in career development support from AMP radio, and showcasing at Honey Jam in Toronto last summer.
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