Alison Parson (born 1984) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer and songwriter based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Early life

Parson hails from

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,622 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. His ...

, where she attended Alcorn Central High School, graduating in 2002. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Recording Industry/Music Business and a minor in marketing from

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

. Parson has helped raise over $30,000 for Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and has spent countless hours speaking to children about the importance of believing in themselves and their dreams.

Singing career

Parson has performed at the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

with blues artist

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

. She sang for mass at the

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

in Paris, France. In addition, she played Sandy in the production of '' Grease'' at

Eurodisney Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...

. She was a finalist in the Next American Superstar Competition. She has opened for artists including

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

Linda Davis Linda Kaye Scott (née Davis; born November 26, 1962) is an American country music singer. Before beginning a career as a solo artist, she had three minor country singles in the charts as one half of the duo Skip & Linda. In her solo career, Dav ...

, and

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe ...

. Parson's first disc was labeled Alison Rhea, as she initially debuted with her middle name, soon after changing to her full name, Alison Parson.

Critical response

Author Colleen Creamer, in ''Her Nashville'' magazine, says, "To hear Parson sing is impressive. Not only is her songwriting really good, but her voice has a kind of phrasing and vocal timbre that is both sophisticated and authentic, admirable for someone 25 years old."

Awards

Parson was voted one of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

's Best Singer-Songwriters by

Village Voice Media Village Voice Media or VVM is a newspaper company. It began in 1970 as a weekly alternative newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona. The company, founded by Michael Lacey (editor) and Jim Larkin (publisher), was then known as New Times Inc. (NTI) and the ...

-owned ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'' in 2011.

Film career

Parson has appeared in movies, such as her part as a make-up artist preparing a model for a photo shoot in

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

short film '' Look'', which won an Award of Merit for best student film in the 2009 Accolade Competition, Award of Merit for best experimental film in the 2011 Best Shorts Competition], Gold Award at the 2011 California Film Awards, Silver Lei Award at the 2012 Honolulu Film Awards, Award of Excellence and Best Original Score in 2012 Los Angeles Movie Awards. Parson is also a professional make-up artist who has done make-up for celebrities, such as

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

and

Nicole Richie Nicole Camille Richie (; born September 21, 1981) is an American media personality, fashion designer, and actress. She came to prominence after appearing on the reality television series ''The Simple Life'' (2003–2007), in which she starred al ...

for ''

The Simple Life ''The Simple Life'' is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do menial, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fa ...

''.EPK for "Look"
Issuu.com (August 3, 2011). Retrieved on 2011-11-12.

References

External links

Alison Parson
*
EPK for Look
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parson, Alison 1980s births Living people Singers from Nashville, Tennessee American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Middle Tennessee State University alumni Singer-songwriters from Tennessee People from Corinth, Mississippi 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Year of birth missing (living people)