# Alison Pipitone > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alison_Pipitone > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alison_Pipitone.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Pipitone > Source revision: 1340414876 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Alison Pipitone** is an American rock 'n' roll singer, songwriter, and [guitarist](/source/Guitarist). She has released a total of nine albums, both as a solo artist and with the Alison Pipitone Band, the most recent being 2013's "Big Wide World" on Slice Records. Her music is characterized as *a rollicking hybrid of alt-rock and boogie blues with forays into classic country and American folk.*[1] ## Early life Inspired by artists including [The Clash](/source/The_Clash), [Etta James](/source/Etta_James), [the Pretenders](/source/The_Pretenders), and [Dolly Parton](/source/Dolly_Parton), Pipitone began playing guitar at the age of 18.[1] With divorced parents living on opposite sides of the country, she split her teen years between [Hamburg, New York](/source/Hamburg), (just south of [Buffalo](/source/Buffalo,_New_York)) and [San Diego, California](/source/San_Diego).[2] ## Career Pipitone was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2017. Pipitone's professional career began in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) in the late 1980s, playing rhythm guitar in the band The Monas with her sister Natalie Howes on vocals and keys; brother Damon, on drums and sister Gabrielle Hangen on bass. Gabrielle left the band a short time later and Aaron Britt took over as the bass player.[3] When the [grunge movement](/source/Grunge) took hold in the early 1990s, Pipitone returned to Western New York and launched a career as a solo artist. In 1995, she released her debut recording, *Life in the First Person.* In reviewing the album for the [North County Times](/source/North_County_Times), writer [Jim Trageser](/source/Jim_Trageser) noted "Pipitone's music is what gives her lyrics their power. Hard-edged and contemporary, her music is along the lines of [Sheryl Crow](/source/Sheryl_Crow) or [Joan Osborne](/source/Joan_Osborne). Like Crow, Pipitone's rough, nasal vocals are half-sung, half-spoken. And she also plays some mean guitar."June 2014. Pipitone continued to hone her craft over the next decade with five more solo albums. In 1997, Pipitone wrote and performed the song *Dynamite* for the soundtrack to the motion picture *[All Over Me](/source/All_Over_Me_(film))*.[4] In 2006, The Alison Pipitone Band made its debut with the album *Tiger Babies*. The band followed up with 2009's "Me and Miss Grimes" and 2013's "Big Wide World." In reviewing *Big Wide World,* Art Voice critic [Geoff Kelly](/source/Geoff_Kelly) said the album shows that Pipitone "knows how to write a hook like nobody's business."[5] A fixture on the Buffalo music scene for nearly two decades, Pipitone has earned the [Buffalo Music Award](/source/Buffalo_Music_Award) for Top Original Female Vocalist nine times and The Alison Pipitone Band earned the [Top Original Rock Band Award](/source/Top_Original_Rock_Band_Award) in 2005 and 2009.[3] Pipitone has earned a reputation as the "high priestess" of the Buffalo rock scene through her live performances and lengthy discography.[6] In addition to touring the United States, Pipitone has appeared on the bill of various music festivals, including [North by Northeast](/source/North_by_Northeast) in Toronto, the Crossroads Music Conference in Cleveland and [The Great Blue Heron Music Festival](/source/The_Great_Blue_Heron_Music_Festival) in [Sherman, New York](/source/Sherman,_New_York)[3] She has served as a support act for performers including [Barenaked Ladies](/source/Barenaked_Ladies), [Joan Jett and the Blackhearts](/source/Joan_Jett_and_the_Blackhearts) and [Lilith Fair](/source/Lilith_Fair).[3] ## Discography ### With The Alison Pipitone Band - Big Wide World (2013) - Me and Miss Grimes (2009) - Tiger Babies (2006) ### As a solo artist - Retrodyne (2004) - I'll Ask Her (2002) - Shake It Around (2000) - Like Being Born (1998) - Down To Money (1997) - Life in the First Person (1995) ## Music videos - Roller Derby Queen (2010) - When Down Tumbling Down (2012) - Helpless (2014) ## References 1. ["Through the past, darkly with Alison Pipitone"](http://www.buffalo.com/arts-entertainment/blog/alison-pipitone/50736/arts-entertainment/blog/alison-pipitone/50736), Aug 9, 2013[dead link] 1. ["It's a 'Big Wide World': Alison Pipitone Band Debuts New Album"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131026004124/http://www.thesunnews.net/scene/219-Its_a_Big_Wide_World_Alison_Pipitone_Band_debuts_new_album.html), July 18, 2013, archived from [the original](http://www.thesunnews.net/scene/219-Its_a_Big_Wide_World_Alison_Pipitone_Band_debuts_new_album.html) on October 26, 2013 1. ["Alison Pipitone, Buffalo Music Awards biography"](http://www.buffalomusicawards.com/bands/allisonPipitone.html), retrieved 2016-06-16 1. ["All Over Me Soundtracks"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118586/soundtrack) 1. ["See You There"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160810191329/http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n29/see_you_there.html), Art Voice, July 18, 2013, archived from [the original](http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n29/see_you_there.html) on August 10, 2016, retrieved 2016-06-16 1. ["Night Out Buffalo Profile: Alison Pipitone"](http://www.nightoutbuffalo.com/music-bands/65284/alison-pipitone/) ## External links - Official website: [http://alisonpipitone.com/](http://alisonpipitone.com/) - YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/user/pipitoneband](https://www.youtube.com/user/pipitoneband) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alison Pipitone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Pipitone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Pipitone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.