Andy Allo will perform Friday, May 5, in Grass Valley at the Center for the Arts.

Andy Allo started her musical journey singing and playing guitar at open mikes at Fox and Goose in Sacramento. She worked her way up to shows at Harlow’s and was eventually discovered in Los Angeles by Prince himself, who invited her to join his band.

Allo’s second album, “Superconductor,” features big soul/funk sounds, lots of instruments and production, you can hear Prince’s influence. The album made it to No. 4 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Her recent release, “One Step Closer,” is stripped down and closer to her open-mike roots – a move her friend and mentor encouraged her to take, but she admits she wasn’t ready to hear it at the time.

She just wrapped up filming scenes in “Pitch Perfect 3,” which is due in theaters in December. She’s currently touring in support of her new EP and will release a full length album later this year. Her tour takes her to Grass Valley on Friday, May 8.

We caught up with the very busy artist on the road between Minneapolis and Cincinnati. She discussed lessons she learned from working with Prince, her quest to discover and develop her true voice, and how growing up in Sacramento helped build her confidence musically.

Q. “One Step” is an acoustic singer/songwriter style, instead of the funk/soul you might be known for. Why the departure?

A. I’ve always played the guitar and sang; that’s my foundation. I wanted to create a collection of songs built around how I write. This was really fun and kind of an experiment because I created the EP in two weeks.

Q. Do you feel like these songs are more vulnerable that what you’ve done in the past? It’s stripped down, it’s just you, did you feel that vulnerability?

A. Absolutely vulnerable. This particular EP, I didn’t have a lot of production to hide behind. It was a little scary. Because of the time (limit) I put on it, I couldn’t allow myself to overthink things.

Q. What was Prince like as a mentor?

A. He was just really giving, especially with advice, sometimes you don’t really want to hear it, but you were gonna get it. Now those are the things I think of. I wish I had written down more of what he shared.

Q. Prince was such an influence on you, and now you’re doing all this great stuff. Do you ever get sad that he’s not seeing this?

A. Oh yeah, I was crying in my tour bus the other day. It is sad, because I feel like all this cool stuff is happening for me, and something he really loved was me playing acoustically and singing. “When you do that, that’s you.” When he would say that, I wasn’t ready to hear it then. It was one of those moments, when it was like “I don’t want to hear this right now. I want my big band. I want the horns. We’re doing funk right now.”

When I first met him, I was playing guitar and singing. That’s how he knew me. Through our journey together, I learned about big bands and playing with horns and how to arrange lots of instruments. He was always that constant reminder, “Play guitar and sing. It’s beautiful when you do that.” That’s one of those memories I was reminded of after losing him. I wasn’t ready when he said it. Then I thought, “I need to just go back to [the] beginning.” Read More...

[Edited 5/5/17 4:25am]

I do miss her afro, but I must admit, she is rocking the heck outta her new pixie cut.

Good interview! Interesting what she said about Prince encouraging her to play her acoustic more.I agree that is where she most shines.Her voice is beautiful and she's been picking up more fans in the last month on her tour with Morgan James.I know Prince would be happy for her and proud. -Love the new look!

Yes, there are SO many talented musicians out there...she is so lucky Prince showcased her and exposed her to his fan base ...that was her lucky break . I think she is a wonderful songwriter and singer .She actually inspired to pick up my guitar again and compose and sing again now that most of my kids are out doing their own thing

pinkcashmere23 said:

Good interview! Interesting what she said about Prince encouraging her to play her acoustic more.I agree that is where she most shines.Her voice is beautiful and she's been picking up more fans in the last month on her tour with Morgan James.I know Prince would be happy for her and proud. -Love the new look!

I agree that her comments are interesting, indeed. Especially, since I've read accusations in threads on Prince.org that Prince was attempting to make her something she was not: a funk artist...and that her voice was often drowned out by the NPG Horns and big band. I even remember commenting that he corrected the error of his ways with the Oui Can Luv acoustic album. Some even accused her of deserting funk (read: Prince) when she released her Hello EP as a follow-up to Superconductor.

Now, the truth comes out. He was giving Andy what she wanted, in spite of his belief that she was moving away from her musical core (and strength): acoustics.

80tomato said:

Yes, there are SO many talented musicians out there...she is so lucky Prince showcased her and exposed her to his fan base ...that was her lucky break . I think she is a wonderful songwriter and singer .She actually inspired to pick up my guitar again and compose and sing again now that most of my kids are out doing their own thing

I get the feeling that Andy is fully aware that she was blessed beyond measure to catch Prince's eye. She has gone on record stating that he "changed [her] life."

FlyOnTheWall said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Good interview! Interesting what she said about Prince encouraging her to play her acoustic more.I agree that is where she most shines.Her voice is beautiful and she's been picking up more fans in the last month on her tour with Morgan James.I know Prince would be happy for her and proud. -Love the new look!

I agree that her comments are interesting, indeed. Especially, since I've read accusations in threads on Prince.org that Prince was attempting to make her something she was not: a funk artist...and that her voice was often drowned out by the NPG Horns and big band. I even remember commenting that he corrected the error of his ways with the Oui Can Luv acoustic album. Some even accused her of deserting funk (read: Prince) when she released her Hello EP as a follow-up to Superconductor.

Now, the truth comes out. He was giving Andy what she wanted, in spite of his belief that she was moving away from her musical core (and strength): acoustics.

Yeah I caught that too.I wonder if that was one of the reasons Prince "stole"her horn section from her and if that may have caused a rift in their relationship.She had another band for her Superconductor Europe tour summer 2013 but the following year she went on her Superconductor Acoustic tour in the US.Good point about the Oui Can Luv album-would have been a nice follow up to Superconductor with a proper release.

pinkcashmere23 said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

I agree that her comments are interesting, indeed. Especially, since I've read accusations in threads on Prince.org that Prince was attempting to make her something she was not: a funk artist...and that her voice was often drowned out by the NPG Horns and big band. I even remember commenting that he corrected the error of his ways with the Oui Can Luv acoustic album. Some even accused her of deserting funk (read: Prince) when she released her Hello EP as a follow-up to Superconductor.

Now, the truth comes out. He was giving Andy what she wanted, in spite of his belief that she was moving away from her musical core (and strength): acoustics.

Yeah I caught that too.I wonder if that was one of the reasons Prince "stole"her horn section from her and if that may have caused a rift in their relationship.She had another band for her Superconductor Europe tour summer 2013 but the following year she went on her Superconductor Acoustic tour in the US.Good point about the Oui Can Luv album-would have been a nice follow up to Superconductor with a proper release.

I agree. I think Oui Can Luv could have been a huge commercial success.

I think she really messed up by cutting off all that beautiful hair she had. She looked gorgeous with it, not so much now.

I think she looks gorgeous. Seems to symbolize a re-birth. Here's a radio interview she did yesterday. They ask her if she ever kissed Prince! She goes on to talk about how he's a beautiful man and really charming.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-1

In hour 2 (beginning of show) she also talks about Prince and admits that most songs are inspired by him as well as other experiences.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-2

[Edited 5/6/17 9:04am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:12am]

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

peri1025 said:

I think she looks gorgeous. Seems to symbolize a re-birth. Here's a radio interview she did yesterday. They ask her if she ever kissed Prince! She goes on to talk about how he's a beautiful man and really charming.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-1

In hour 2 (beginning of show) she also talks about Prince and admits that most songs are inspired by him as well as other experiences.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-2

[Edited 5/6/17 9:04am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:12am]

I agree, peri1025: With or without all those beautiful locs, Andy is gorgeous. Clearly, she is NOT her hair and I think that is part of what she's saying with her new look.

Now, this interview was extremely interesting. Thanks for sharing. She pleads the fifth on the kissing Prince question, huh?? She's such a good sport. Still, I think it was very telling to hear her talk of Prince's charm and how it was virtually impossible not to be drawn to him.

[Edited 5/6/17 13:57pm]

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

This was another fun Andy interview. Thanks, pinkcashmere23.

FlyOnTheWall said:

peri1025 said:

I think she looks gorgeous. Seems to symbolize a re-birth. Here's a radio interview she did yesterday. They ask her if she ever kissed Prince! She goes on to talk about how he's a beautiful man and really charming.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-1

In hour 2 (beginning of show) she also talks about Prince and admits that most songs are inspired by him as well as other experiences.

https://player.fm/series/the-tj-show/5517-can-we-get-filthy-the-lo-down-hour-2

[Edited 5/6/17 9:04am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:11am]

[Edited 5/6/17 9:12am]

I agree, peri1025: With or without all those beautiful locs, Andy is gorgeous. Clearly, she is NOT her hair and I think that is part of what she's saying with her new look.

Now, this interview was extremely interesting. Thanks for sharing. She pleads the fifth on the kissing Prince question, huh?? She's such a good sport. Still, I think it was very telling to hear her talk of Prince's charm and how it was virtually impossible not to be drawn to him.

[Edited 5/6/17 13:57pm]

Enjoyed the interview-thanks peri1025.Loved her story about meeting Prince for the first time! Cute

FlyOnTheWall said:

Andy Allo will perform Friday, May 5, in Grass Valley at the Center for the Arts.

MUSIC NEWS & REVIEWS

MAY 04, 2017 8:00 AM

Before Prince recruited h...in concert#mce_temp_url#

Andy Allo started her musical journey singing and playing guitar at open mikes at Fox and Goose in Sacramento. She worked her way up to shows at Harlow’s and was eventually discovered in Los Angeles by Prince himself, who invited her to join his band.

Allo’s second album, “Superconductor,” features big soul/funk sounds, lots of instruments and production, you can hear Prince’s influence. The album made it to No. 4 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Her recent release, “One Step Closer,” is stripped down and closer to her open-mike roots – a move her friend and mentor encouraged her to take, but she admits she wasn’t ready to hear it at the time.

She just wrapped up filming scenes in “Pitch Perfect 3,” which is due in theaters in December. She’s currently touring in support of her new EP and will release a full length album later this year. Her tour takes her to Grass Valley on Friday, May 8.

We caught up with the very busy artist on the road between Minneapolis and Cincinnati. She discussed lessons she learned from working with Prince, her quest to discover and develop her true voice, and how growing up in Sacramento helped build her confidence musically.

Q. “One Step” is an acoustic singer/songwriter style, instead of the funk/soul you might be known for. Why the departure?

A. I’ve always played the guitar and sang; that’s my foundation. I wanted to create a collection of songs built around how I write. This was really fun and kind of an experiment because I created the EP in two weeks.

Q. Do you feel like these songs are more vulnerable that what you’ve done in the past? It’s stripped down, it’s just you, did you feel that vulnerability?

A. Absolutely vulnerable. This particular EP, I didn’t have a lot of production to hide behind. It was a little scary. Because of the time (limit) I put on it, I couldn’t allow myself to overthink things.

Q. What was Prince like as a mentor?

A. He was just really giving, especially with advice, sometimes you don’t really want to hear it, but you were gonna get it. Now those are the things I think of. I wish I had written down more of what he shared.

Q. Prince was such an influence on you, and now you’re doing all this great stuff. Do you ever get sad that he’s not seeing this?

A. Oh yeah, I was crying in my tour bus the other day. It is sad, because I feel like all this cool stuff is happening for me, and something he really loved was me playing acoustically and singing. “When you do that, that’s you.” When he would say that, I wasn’t ready to hear it then. It was one of those moments, when it was like “I don’t want to hear this right now. I want my big band. I want the horns. We’re doing funk right now.”

When I first met him, I was playing guitar and singing. That’s how he knew me. Through our journey together, I learned about big bands and playing with horns and how to arrange lots of instruments. He was always that constant reminder, “Play guitar and sing. It’s beautiful when you do that.” That’s one of those memories I was reminded of after losing him. I wasn’t ready when he said it. Then I thought, “I need to just go back to [the] beginning.” Read More...

[Edited 5/5/17 4:25am]

pinkcashmere23 said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

This was another fun Andy interview. Thanks, pinkcashmere23.

You're welcome! That was a fun interview.

Latin said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

Thanks for posting the video.

You're welcome

pinkcashmere23 said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

I agree, peri1025: With or without all those beautiful locs, Andy is gorgeous. Clearly, she is NOT her hair and I think that is part of what she's saying with her new look.

Now, this interview was extremely interesting. Thanks for sharing. She pleads the fifth on the kissing Prince question, huh?? She's such a good sport. Still, I think it was very telling to hear her talk of Prince's charm and how it was virtually impossible not to be drawn to him.

[Edited 5/6/17 13:57pm]

Enjoyed the interview-thanks peri1025.Loved her story about meeting Prince for the first time! Cute

It was a cute story. It's also the first time I've heard her reveal that, after someone (probably from the Africa Channel entourage) handed Prince her unFresh CD, he immediately played it as a musical selection at his afterparty. That must have been quite a heady--and perhaps intimidating--experience.

FlyOnTheWall said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Enjoyed the interview-thanks peri1025.Loved her story about meeting Prince for the first time! Cute

It was a cute story. It's also the first time I've heard her reveal that, after someone (probably from the Africa Channel entourage) handed Prince her unFresh CD, he immediately played it as a musical selection at his afterparty. That must have been quite a heady--and perhaps intimidating--experience.

I know.I don't think she's ever mentioned that before. I could just picture him pouting and stomping off too, after they were talking about him being funny looking as a baby and she made some jokes about it.

Short interview about Prince and performance of 10,000 Days on Good Day Sacramento youtube.com/watch?v=5BXOT9xL58A

pinkcashmere23 said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

It was a cute story. It's also the first time I've heard her reveal that, after someone (probably from the Africa Channel entourage) handed Prince her unFresh CD, he immediately played it as a musical selection at his afterparty. That must have been quite a heady--and perhaps intimidating--experience.

I know.I don't think she's ever mentioned that before. I could just picture him pouting and stomping off too, after they were talking about him being funny looking as a baby and she made some jokes about it.

Yup. Already, the mind play had begun.

[Edited 5/7/17 13:54pm]

FlyOnTheWall said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

I know.I don't think she's ever mentioned that before. I could just picture him pouting and stomping off too, after they were talking about him being funny looking as a baby and she made some jokes about it.

Yup. Already, the mind play had begun.

[Edited 5/7/17 13:54pm]

Yep.Sounds like they felt very comfortable with each other from the start and shared a similar sense of humor.On stage they were always off to the side talking and laughing.They seemed to get along really well for awhile.

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

thanks for sharing! she's the cutest and has such a genuine & positive energy. I can see why P likely fell for her.

peri1025 said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

thanks for sharing! she's the cutest and has such a genuine & positive energy. I can see why P likely fell for her.

peri1025 said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Here's an interview Andy did while in Houston for the Reckless Abandon tour.She discussed how she feels about being called Prince's protege and what it was like working with him and more. youtube.com/watch?v=bXNkR5MfOW8

thanks for sharing! she's the cutest and has such a genuine & positive energy. I can see why P likely fell for her.

You're welcome! Yes I agree.

pinkcashmere23 said:

Short interview about Prince and performance of 10,000 Days on Good Day Sacramento youtube.com/watch?v=5BXOT9xL58A

Thanks for sharing, pinkcashmere23. She is always so gracious.

She also did a beautiful rendition of "Shake Your Memory" on "Good Day Sacramento."

[Edited 5/10/17 11:42am]

FlyOnTheWall said:

She also did a beautiful rendition of "Shake Your Memory" on "Good Day Sacramento."

[Edited 5/10/17 11:42am]

Thank you for posting! That was beautiful...love that song.