Allison Geddie
Marina del Rey, California, United States
Music
Press
You know the type of singer/song- writers who play at open-mic nights at trendy coffee shops? Never been to one of those? Well, we haven’t either, but Allison Geddie is the girl we imagine we’d find there, jamming on an acoustic guitar and singing in a pretty, delicate voice.
It’s not too surprising then that Allison played her first show—at 15—at a local café in Connecticut. She knew early on that she had a serious knack for writing and performing music after she first played her dad’s guitar. Years later, her talent has matured, and eight years of song writing came to be her debut album which was recently released.
Everything You Don’t See, Allison’s debut, has the light and natural feeling of an acoustic album, but incorporates drums and strings to flawlessly compliment the raw quality of the guitar.
If Norah Jones’s sultry voice and Sara Bareilles’s lyrical honesty were combined to make an album, it would be Everything You Don’t See. Sure, the singer/songwriter thing is slightly clichéd, but Allison’s sound is strikingly unique.
Some of our favorites are “Divided,” “In This City” and the adorably nostalgic “What We Lived For (The Starbucks Song).” We think the album is definitely a perfect lying-on-the-hammock, relaxing soundtrack for summer.
Check out Everything You Don’t See (out now!) and let us know your fave tracks!
--Haley Blum - GirlsLife.com
Singer/Songwriter Allison Geddie makes a strong debut with Everything You Don’t See. The album was produced by Greg Critchely (Michelle Branch, High School Musical, Miley Cyrus) and features Geddie’s commanding, and often haunting, songwriting presence as well as guitar work by the Goo Goo Doll’s Greg Suran and Nelly Furtado axeman Mike Krompass.
Having Greg Critchley’s name attached to this was a risky prospect in my opinion. The mere presence of his name invokes the spirit of the ever blossoming tween market, which doesn’t bode well when trying to get adults to consider your music as “legitimate.” Geddie is a beautiful young woman as well, another signature of the tween market. Make no mistake though, Geddie is far from a tweenie-bopper. Her music is quiet, thoughtful, and introspective in the same way that debut albums from artists like Jewel and Sarah McLaughlin were but with just a little more melodic energy. Everything You Don’t See is a singer/songwriter album for sure but is tinged with some strong pop hooks in mostly the right places.
There are a few highlights here. “Take a Shot” is probably the best example of what Geddie has the potential to evolve into in my opinion. The song is very controlled and reserved in a Christine Kane kind of way, but the soulful vocal and the underlying pop hook in the chorus make it a memorable number. The acoustic “Walking Slow” is riddled with piano and very mild orchestration, elevating it from a simple folk song into something more wonderful and certainly more beautiful, perfectly marrying music and lyric. The more up-tempo, hook-oriented, “Set Us Free” is more dynamic than many of the songs on the album and initially stands out for that reason. Over a few listens though, it becomes a standout track as much for its nice hook as its compelling lyrics.
Overall this is a better than average debut album. If you are a fan of singer/songwriter, folk, or quieter, more organic pop artists then you should definitely check this out. Geddie has a lot of room to grow but I doubt any purchaser would feel ripped off after spending their hard-earned money on Everything You Don’t See.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher - Colossal Pop
Allison Geddie is a down-to-earth, 25-year-old artist whose songs are going to be on everyone’s iPods. Geddie’s new album Everything You Don’t See provides a raw and fresh sound that presents listeners a gate into her inner thoughts. She started from the young age of fourteen and started composing and performing her own songs. Her influences include Ben Harper, Alanis Morisette and Counting Crows and she says her music sounds like a mix of Sheryl Crow, Dido and Sarah McLachlan. Geddie’s melodies are powerful and create emotions that allow audiences to really connect with her. She wants the melodies to sound similar to how she wrote them on the acoustic guitar, but adds other instruments to create depth. Instruments such as the cello and chimes make her songs absolutely beautiful to listen to. On top of that, her lyrics reveal personal and key moments in life that she shares with us.
Geddie’s music reflects her personality. Both her and her music are very organic. Using make-up such as, Aveda paprika blush, chocolate eyeshdow and cappuccino Bonnell Lip Lites, all give her that natural and relaxed look, which is carried through to her music. She never gets manicures because playing her guitar just ruins her nails. And to stay in shape, she does yoga once a week and has even run in a marathon!
Allison Geddie sounds and looks great! So check out her new album Everything You Don’t See (and her new video of the song “Leave with me”) on her website, http://www.allisongeddie.com/home.html
- Aanchal - Glam.com
Discography
Debut Album "Everything You Don't See"
Photos
Bio
www.allisongeddie.com
myspace.com/allisongeddie
Music has always been in Allison Geddie’s blood. At twelve years old she was already sowing the seeds of what has grown into a love of composing and performing music. Schooling herself on artists like Ben Harper, Alanis Morisette, and Rob Thomas, she picked up her father’s guitar and began instinctually writing her own songs. By fifteen she booked herself a gig at a local café in Connecticut, and her music career was born.
Allison’s stunning presence and musical ability is garnering her an ever-growing fan base, which isn’t surprising; serious music fans know a good thing when they hear it. With melodies sometimes delicate and haunting, sometimes raw and unbridled, her lyrics hint at life’s deeper, darker truths – truths that invoke in listeners a powerful and palpable sense of connection, inspiration, and belonging. As a result, she’s constantly booked in clubs throughout L.A and her songs have been featured on ABC’s “The View” and "All My Children."
At the behest of legendary producer David Foster, songwriter and producer Greg Critchley (whose credits include Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, Michelle Branch, and “High School Musical”) enthusiastically took on the task of producing Geddie’s debut album, which features Nelly Furtado guitarist Mike Krompass, and Goo Goo Dolls guitarist Greg Suran.
Geddie’s intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics reveal stunning layers of her vulnerability, and are often reflective of relationships and transitions in her life. She says, “When I was seventeen I played a song for a girl who was a few years older than me, and she had to leave the room because she was crying. And I discovered that people can relate to my music, and I felt honored that someone really got my songs, that she was living inside of my words. I felt heard.”
Geddie’s signature style reveals itself in melodies and lyrics that often take unpredictable and surprising turns, riveting the listener with stunning depth, power, and beauty, haunting them for days and weeks to follow. Her songs range from the self-effacing “Fixing Me” where she writes: “I’m trying to live and let be/ but I can’t control my thoughts./ I want to be true to you/ but the liar calls the shots./ I try to be everything that I know I want to be./ It feels like life is just one long road of fixing me.” to playful lyrics of her generation in songs like “What we Lived For (The Starbucks Song)” where she croons: “We’d always drive our car to Starbucks…/ and we’d look for our fathers in 19 year olds.”
As for her first record, Everything You Don’t See, she says, “I wanted to make a beautiful album. I have a wide variety of songs, and I wanted to keep the beauty theme running throughout. We added cello and chimes and piano. I wanted to make sure that the album stayed close to the way I wrote the songs on the acoustic guitar, organic, yet with all the added elements of the band.” The songs are at times slow and dark, at times riveting and raw. Her refreshing vulnerability takes us to a place where she is willing to courageously bare her naked psyche, like the album’s title suggests, letting listeners in on her most private emotions and thoughts.
The range we see from Geddie in her first album is both masterful and fresh, just like her performances, with a sense of consistency not usually seen in a debut record. With her rare combination of deep intelligence and stunning beauty, she has simultaneously created a classic sound that seems warm and familiar, and yet, is completely original, destined to win hearts from the get-go.
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