AIMEE ALLEN OVERCOMES OBSTICLES TO PUT A LITTLE HAPPINESS IN EVERYONE'S LIVES!!!
Los Angeles, California is an area that is full of music and the artists that make it. Running the line from punk rock to ska to folk to straight up rock music, LA has it all and Aimee Allen found herself surrounded by all of this music and the city itself, which all played an influence to her and her music. Her songs like "Revolution," "If It Feels Right" as well as her work that appears on the Grammy nominated Hairspray soundtrack, all helped to catapult her to critically acclaimed status.
But it was a series of personal tragedies and hurdles to overcome that led her to record her latest, more chilled out, laid back album A Little Happiness. After splitting with her boyfriend Scott Russo, of Unwritten Law fame, who was also a constant collaborator for her music, she set out on her own path as a solo artist. In the midst of creating her solo project a random gang assaulted her and nearly beat her death causing Aimee to believe that she would never sing again and also caused her some memory loss that she suffers with to this day.
However, surprisingly to her she fully recovered and had the opportunity to perform her songs for then presidential candidate Ron Paul, who was dubbed as the punk rock candidate, and she saw her song "Revolution" become a theme for his campaign.
But the stress of her life and what she had gone through began to affect her during the writing and recording process for the new album. Her senses no longer could handle the loudness, the angriness, and the distortion that the typical punk inspired rock music often presented and she turned to what made her happy; Reggae.
With her musical focus now on creating an album full of pop driven songs with reggae overtones she began to record the songs that would eventually make up A Little Happiness. The songs that began to unfold showed Allen opening up about her life, the relationship that ended, and more importantly instead of the focus being on the anger and spite that comes with life's challenges, she presented a glimpse of positive hope combined with a vibe that you can't help but smile with as you listen giving her an album with lyrics full of tragedy and dealing with them positively.
So what do you do when you finish recording an album of mostly laid back, chilled out reggae songs? In Aimee's case, she found herself in the right place at the right time as fellow Southern Californian's Sugar Ray were ready to hit the road and bring their happy, positive vibe filled songs back to their fans, and asked Aimee to come along for the ride and open the shows the way that she did at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, Tennessee on a warm August night.
With the venue filling in, Aimee walked out on stage, wearing her black Sugar Ray tank top and began her performance by calling all of the crazy dancers to the dance floor in front of the stage, slapping the hands of the early arrivers that met her request as she launched into her feel good set playing mostly songs from her latest album including "Change in Weather," "Crazy," and "Calling The Maker."
Throughout the performance of her current single "On Vacation," she had the crowd moving along with her as she bounced back and forth across the stage and towards the end of the song they seemed to pick up on the words as she led them in a sing-a-long and had them shouting back her lyrics to her.
Her covers of popular hits like "Santeria" and "Save Me," both which appear on the album, kept the crowd singing and clapping along with her and before you knew it she had done her job as the opener and was saying goodbye to a crowd who was left with their jaws on the floor as they didn't know what just hit them.
Aimee Allen has gone through a lot in her life, but in the end she pushed her way through everything coming out on top and her gift to the listeners is A Little Happiness. Whether you have the album stuck in your CD player or you headed out to Sugar Ray's tour this summer, you no doubt have a smile on your face and are filled with positive thoughts thanks in part to Aimee Allen.
