Biography

For 40 years he has been considered as the consummate performer, a writer of literary gracefulness whose troubadour chronicles encapsulate the realism of otherwise unsung heroes, otherwise uncharted lives. His songs are faultlessly constructed and flawlessly performed, with his instantly recognisable voice, attractively dark and mellow, and his intricately detailed yet full-sounding guitar playing. His album The Traveller won the Grand Prix du Disque de Montreaux for the best European album, and his CD Colour to the Moon (released in 2001) represents the work of an artist at his most mature and confident. The songs on the CD, Hotels and Dreamers (which was awarded “CD of the Year” in Germany) add to a superb back catalogue of great songs, songs that have been recorded by more than a hundred other performers of various nationalities (there are more than sixty cover versions of his song “It’s Good to See You” in ten different languages). His most recent recording, Leaving at Dawn (released in March/April 2009), shows a return to the folk style of guitar playing and songwriting that Allan developed in the sixties and seventies.

Looking back as well as forward, few people can convey with such eloquence their life experiences. His songs are written from a lifetime of travelling; always the observer passing through, each song is a vignette of life, like a story told over a drink in a bar. Each has an integrity that tells you it comes from something real; characters come to life like people you know and places become as familiar as if you had been there. As Allan says at the beginning of each concert, “Sit back and enjoy the journey.”