Allison Crowe concluded her Crying in a Rainstorm tour back here in her hometown at The Port Theatre on November 1, with a 700 plus member audience to welcome her back. Crowe exuded up-beat energy at the Port Theatre that night. In fact, someone must’ve spiked her bottled water with giggle-juice; she was just having too much fun up there.

"It was fun to be with family and friends," says Crowe about her Port performance, "but it was a little more nerve-racking knowing the people there. And the (theatre) setting makes a little more pressure."

If Crowe was nervous up there, it certainly didn’t show. In fact, her power and passion was infectious. Even with her young years, Crowe has the presence of a seasoned performer, perhaps from being fresh off her first ever tour, where the ballsy singer-slash-pianist and her band gigged across the nation to Montreal and back. Or maybe it’s because she’s got talent.

"I’m just really starting out, so I’m learning. I guess you’re always learning," states Crowe, rather humbly.

Manager Adrian du Plessis is enthusiastic to describe Crowe’s increased success. As an ex-concert promoter, du Plessis turned to managing Crowe about three and a half years ago after seeing her perform. He says the Port show is just a sample of things to come.

"It’s a sign of progress. In the early days, we had to generate the activity. Now it just happens all by itself."

Crowe has two shows planned in Victoria: one at the Young Auditorium at Camosun College on November 23. The other is a Christmas benefit for the Huron Carole Foodbank fundraiser on December 21. Then she’ll spend the winter writing new songs and mixing her first, full-length album, to be released in the spring. The album is pending the decision between working with a major American label or to release it independently. For Crowe, it’s all about artistic control.

Du Plessis says, "The industry gets so complex. It’s possible to record an album commercially and then get chewed up like sausage meat and then the career has ended. It’s all about corporate connections and not about connecting to the music. We’re not going to change. There’s nobody like Allison. What Alley does is just her."