Allison Crutchfield

A seasoned veteran of the D.I.Y. music community before she even graduated from high school, indie pop vocalist, songwriter, and instrumentalist Allison Crutchfield had made her mark with a handful of noted independent bands before she stepped forward into a solo career. Allison Crutchfield and her twin sister Katie Crutchfield were born in Birmingham, Alabama on January 4, 1989. Both had a passionate interest in music, and when they were 15, they formed a band, the Ackleys, with Allison on keyboards and Katie on guitar. The Ackleys' lively take on indie rock won them a devoted local following, and they became fixtures in the Southern D.I.Y. community. The band broke up in 2007, and the Crutchfield sisters launched a new project, P.S. Eliot, with Allison on drums and Katie on guitar. P.S. Eliot specialized in moody, emotionally emphatic music that veered between punk and indie pop; the group released two albums, 2009's Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds and 2011's Sadie, before the bandmembers parted ways in late 2011, shortly after relocating to Brooklyn, New York. (In 2016, Don Giovanni Records released a P.S. Eliot anthology, 2007-2011.)

Allison and Katie next worked together in the short-lived group Bad Banana, until Katie formed a new group of her own, Waxahatchee. Allison in turn formed a band, Swearin', which featured her on guitar and vocals, Kyle Gilbride on guitar, Keith Spencer on bass, and Jeff Bolt on drums. Swearin' made their debut with a 2011 EP titled What a Dump, and cut two albums, 2012's Swearin' and 2013's Surfing Strange. However, Allison and Kyle Gilbride became romantically involved, and when their relationship took a turn for the worse, it led to the breakup of the band. In 2014, as Swearin' were beginning to wind down, Allison Crutchfield made her solo recording debut with a seven-song EP, Lean in to It. In 2016, Allison and Katie reunited P.S. Eliot for a short tour in support of the 2007-2011 collection. That same year, Allison signed a recording deal with Merge Records and began work on her first full-length solo effort. That album, Tourist in This Town, appeared in January 2017. ~ Mark Deming