Allison Rae Robertson (born August 26, 1979) is an American musician and the former guitarist for

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

The Donnas The Donnas were an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1993. The band consisted of Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Torry Castellano (dr ...

and Chelsea Girls.

Early life

Allison Robertson was born on August 26, 1979, in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

. She comes from a musical family. Her father is musician Baxter Robertson who wrote the track "Feel The Night" on ''The Karate Kid'' soundtrack as well as writing and performing the track "Vanishing Point" on the

Body Rock ''Body Rock'' is a 1984 American dance drama film directed by Marcelo Epstein, and written by Desmond Nakano and Kimberly Lynn White. It stars Lorenzo Lamas as a young man "from the streets" with a talent for break-dancing, and co-stars Vicki ...

soundtrack. Her mother, Lisa Jimenez, worked for

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

and for a variety of music publishing companies in Los Angeles prior to the family relocating to Palo Alto in the early 1980s. Although she was born in North Hollywood, she later moved to

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, early in her childhood. She started to play guitar at the age of 12.

Music

Her first guitar was a Mexican-made Fender Telecaster which she later sold to get her first Gibson guitar. In Palo Alto she met her bandmates (from what was later known as The Donnas)

Torry Castellano Torrance Heather Castellano (born January 8, 1979) is an American attorney and the former drummer of The Donnas. She announced her retirement from drumming in July 2010. About Castellano was born in San Francisco, California. She met future ...

in 4th grade,

Maya Ford Maya Anne Ford (born January 8, 1979, in Oakland, California) is an American musician and the former bass player of rock band The Donnas. She also goes by the name Donna F. Early life Maya Anne Ford, was born on January 8, 1979, in Oakland, C ...

in 5th grade, and

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead singer and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted the Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004� ...

in 7th grade in school. They formed a band in 8th grade called ''Ragady Anne'', later calling themselves ''The Electrocutes'' at Palo Alto High School. She toured with the band, straight out of high school. She is known for playing Gibson guitars and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

amps, her signature guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Standard.

Side projects

In 2006, she formed the band Elle Rae, with her sister Emily. The name was a combination of both their middle names, Ellen and Rae. Elle Rae has recorded two songs, both of which are available for streaming on their

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page. One of the songs is a cover of the

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

track "

Six Months in a Leaky Boat "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" is a song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz. It was released in May 1982 as the second single from the group's album, '' Time and Tide''. The song became a top-10 hit in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, going ...

". In early 2007, she played lead guitar for band Loudlion. One of their songs appeared on ''

The Hills Have Eyes 2 ''The Hills Have Eyes 2'' is a 2007 American horror film and the sequel to the 2006 film, which itself was a remake of the 1977 horror film. The film follows several New Mexico Army National Guard comrades as they fight for survival against ...

'' soundtrack. As of May 2007, she has her own show called ''Fun in The Dungeon with Allison Robertson'' on the internet radio station Women Rock Radio. In January 2009 Allison joined with

Samantha Maloney Samantha Maloney (born December 11, 1975) is an American musician best known for playing in the band Hole. She has also performed live with Eagles of Death Metal and Peaches. Early career Maloney received her first drum-kit at the age of five. D ...

(ex.

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

), former ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' model/disc jockey

Jill Janus Jill Janus ( Janiszewski; September 2, 1975 – August 14, 2018) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Huntress (band), Huntress, The Starbreakers and Chelsea Girls. Early life and education Ja ...

, and Corey Parks (ex.

Nashville Pussy Nashville Pussy is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band's lyrical themes mostly revolve around sex, drugs, drinking, fighting, and rock 'n' roll. Initially called Hell's Half-Acre, the band's name comes from Ted Nugent's int ...

), to form Chelsea Girls. Chelsea Girls were offered a monthly gig at

The Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 20, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with ...

in Los Angeles, after the band's first three live shows there sold out and attracted major media attention. In February 2010 Robertson announced that she was no longer playing with Chelsea Girls via The Donnaholics message boards. In October 2010 Robertson began playing select shows with the Chelsea Girls once again.

References

External links

The Donnas’ official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Allison 1979 births Living people The Donnas members Guitarists from California Palo Alto High School alumni People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles American rock guitarists American lead guitarists Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Musicians from Palo Alto, California 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists