Quality Americana

By the Summertime is a throwback to sounds of the 1970s with a distant harmonica and soaring guitars. David James Allen’s soft-spoken singing style leaves a lot of room for dynamics, and the instrumentation is carefully planned, yet feels spontaneous.

Another Day Older

Allen is a graphic artist as well, and created the music video for “Another Day Older.”

The video shows Allen singing into the camera with vintage style lettering for the lyrics. It’s a sentimental song about aging with a vibrant string section and melodic bass. The clarinet solo by Yolande Laroche really added a beautiful layer.

Barrie, Ontario

Allen grew up in Barrie, Ontario and now lives in Prince Edward County. He started playing in bands in his early 20’s with Stonetrotter before going solo. 

“I grew up jamming around campfires,” Allen said. “My parents were trailer park enthusiasts, so they always had a spot at a trailer park all my life, and a lot of that time drinks would be flowing and the campfire would be lit up and we’d have jamborees around the campfire.”

Allen’s mother played violin and his father played guitar, and friends would join in with spoons and various instruments. Soon Allen was playing the lead guitar and was performing with a stomp pedal and harmonica. Allen still uses the one man band set up that was inspired by J.J. Cale. 

“It’s taken me like four years to build it,” Allen said. “I’ve got drum machines, foot organ, bass, and I’ll play harmonica and electric guitar or acoustic guitar.”

Allen said that he missed jamming with people, especially during the lockdown, so he created his own.  

“Probably during covid was kind of when I’d been able to get the most productivity done,” Allen said, “because you know everything was in lockdown and I needed to get creative.”

Littleknown Records

By the Summertime was produced and mixed by William D. Crann and released in late 2023 by Littleknown Records with a follow up live version of the songs in 2024. Allen owns the label and studio for himself and his fellow artists. 

“I had some friends who are recording records at the studio that wanted to put music out,” Allen said. “It’s more about community and fostering community and sharing it with each other.”

For his fourth studio release, Allen pulled a lot of artists from his previous arrangements. He described the album as his best work, saying that “you’ve got to keep trying to top yourself.” By the Summertime is truly a brilliant work with a world of nuance to discover in every listen.

Building the Song

Allen typically writes the songs alone with an acoustic guitar, and collaborates with other artists to bring the melodies to life. He has a wonderful ability to layer the instruments in a way that creates order in the chaos. Nothing is stepping over each other and you can appreciate how unique the sounds are.

“I worked with a wonderful cellist and arranger,” Allen said about Jill Sauerteig. They tried to create a “pocket orchestra” to form a basis for the album. He also worked with Rob Drake on drums and Ben Lemen on bass, artists he grew up with in Berrie. 

“It makes that transition between playing with a band in the studio to being alone on the road a little easier because I know that the song has a strong foundation to begin with,” Allen said.

“The Devil and Me” has a funk or disco vibe and “By the Summertime” has a daytime soap opera feel, like a soft Bohemian Rhapsody. “Holly” feels like a James Taylor hit. Somehow there’s a glue that never makes you feel like a song is out of place.

Hidden Gem

The cover artwork has a story of its own. Allen noticed this artwork hanging in his community laundry room over the years and cites it as a muse for the lyrics.

“There was this knit artwork hanging in the basement,” Allen said. “It was just hanging on the wall for years.”

Allen started asking his neighbors about the work and discovered a long time tenant Deb had made it.

“Her apartment is just filled with cross stitch work like this,” Allen said. “It kind of oddly inspired the songs.”

Support the Artist

At 36, Allen has been working to move into ticketed events that would allow the resources to present a full band to the audience and recreate the studio recordings.

The live music scene is much like the Texas Hill Country in Canada, where you can find a thriving local music scene at breweries and restaurants as well as bars and clubs. He recently went on the Ontario 7 tour with Kojak, where they performed works from both groups.

More information about David James Allen can be found here.

Support the artists by streaming and purchasing By the Summertime on Bandcamp.

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