Allison is an award-winning singer-songwriter, storyteller, speaker, and educator (university professor specializing in creativity, arts integration and storytelling). She believes in the power of story and song to inspire, connect, and teach us about ourselves. Holding an MFA in theater, Allison has been an NPR-affiliate host and radio producer in cultural programming and has captivated audiences as a featured performer and presenter at conferences, festivals, and stages across the country—from touring with The Moth’s Mainstage (also a multiple StorySLAM winner), to presenting at Lincoln Center Theater, to singing her heart out at Wheatland Music Festival, to presenting keynotes for clients, including Kellogg Global. Her contemporary folk albums have received national, international, and satellite radio airplay. Her travels across 5 continents give her lots of material for songs and stories. Allison has weathered her fair share of health challenges from a crazy weird rare cancer to Long Covid, that … interrupted her performance schedule. Yeah, she got some new stories and songs outta it.

Allison is based in Kalamazoo, MI – by way of Austin, TX, New Mexico, Brooklyn and her hometown of Washington, DC. She shares her life with her cool 6-string bass playing husband, John Austin, her ready for prime time 17-year-old jazz bass phenomenon of a son, Michael, and her anxious but well-meaning orange puppy, Penny. Allison doesn’t usually refer to herself in third person.