Allison2020 – An amazing vocal talent passionately dedicated
How do you introduce an extraordinary vocal talent and human being such as Allison2020? You look at her remarkable story, and her undiminished determination in honoring her father’s musical legacy, two decades after he passed away. Allison a Silicon Valley singer-songwriter lost her dad, Doug Midgley, to cancer, when she was only 10 years old. He was 39, and an accomplished musician, who played the guitar, harmonica, and sang. Through the years, his physical absence has only strengthened Allison’s will to collect, organize, study, interpret, re-master, re-imagine, and re-produce Midgley musical works. You should read her beautiful and honest story for yourself at https://www.daughterofdoug.com/herstory. It is distinctly exempt of melodrama but filled with inspiring emotion.
Allison’s primal burning desire, is to share and grow her dad’s music, and achieve Doug Midgley’s posthumous induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. However, on the road to accomplishing that feat, the public is able to discover an amazing talent in Allison, or Allison2020, as she artistically prefers to call herself.
She is currently building a catalog of captivating songs, alongside producer Digital Droo, who Allison affectionately calls her “proDROOcer”. They have released five very different songs so far: “Comeback”, “Getting Ready To Be Lonely”, “Since We Broke Up”, “Hummingbird”, and “2020”.
“Hummingbird” and “Comeback” contain Allison’s own original lyrics, while the other songs are collaborative projects that started as her Dad’s brainchild. First of all this is simply an incredible collection of songs. If you’re a blues, soul, rock, country, jazz or folk singer fan, Allison2020 as you covered.
She is an extremely versatile singer with a rich resonating voice capable or covering an enormous range – from the lowest lows, to the highest soaring highs. Allison has every bit the vocal talent some of her more famous peers are lauded for, and in some cases, maybe more. If you don’t feel anything when you listen to her every bit of energy onto the gritty rock backdrop of “2020”, then you don’t have a heartbeat.
Moving from track to track her performances are always emotional, energetic and unforgettable. On “Hummingbird”, no doubt dedicated to her father and his guitar, Allison’s voice is significantly nuanced and controlled for an absolutely impressive vocal display.
Digital Droo’s production is layered and luscious, yet never overwhelming, perfectly cushioning Allison’s voice in every instance. “Since We Broke Up” is another mid-tempo ballad, exquisitely sung to the caress of warm keys and persistent percussion. Allison2020 has this magical way of bringing you with her on every song, feeling the depth of her emotion and the intensity of her life experiences.
“Getting Ready To Be Lonely” features an acoustic-guitar driven motif, which settles itself nicely alongside the keyboards, to form a comfortable canvas on which Allison exploits her colorful vocal palette. The set closes with the elegantly arranged upbeat track “Comeback”, which makes me consider how some artists somehow remain criminally under-appreciated.
However I suspect that Allison2020 hasn’t really promoted her craft seriously up until now. And now is as good a time as any to discover her. There’s nothing this woman can’t do vocally, she really deserves to shine brightly. I understand that Allison is doing this mainly for her dad’s legacy, but she truly owes this to her own talent as well.
OFFICIAL LINKS: WEBSITE – DOUG MIDGLEY – INSTAGRAM – SOUNDCLOUD
