Rising Stars: Meet Alison Hawkins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Hawkins.

Hi Alison, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
True Lions started as a silly/sweet pop duo in 2018 that has since expanded to a large fun band with a revolving lineup of badass superstar musicians, including Elizabeth Kosko, Teri Quinn, Aryana Nemati, Claire Adams, Iona DeWalt, KuJo, Fritz Hutchison, Miki P, and Adee Dancy. I primarily write the songs, and everyone comes together to collaborate on instrumental arrangements and harmonies. Every show features a different awesome lineup of talented artists, which I believe proves our musical prowess and uniqueness!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’ve been playing piano since I was six years old, and I initially studied piano performance at Mizzou on a music scholarship. I quickly became burnt out, memorizing and performing more music than I could handle, playing gigs and genres I hated and working as a choral/opera accompanist. I left music school after two years and started privately teaching music, and since have been teaching for the past 12 years! I currently make a living as a professional artist by teaching piano and violin lessons to folks of all ages, and I’ve never been happier.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a musician; I play piano, violin, guitar, and I sing. I love songwriting and flexing my creativity muscles in every capacity. I enjoy playing keytar in True Lions, which is what I’d like to be known for! I believe the keytar sets us apart from most other local acts (we even wrote a song about it, called “Ode to Keytar!”)

Contact Info:

• Email: truelionsmusic@gmail.com
• Website: http://truelions.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: @truelions
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/truelionsmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcc14ifpX0nFfuQbGye8uhg/featured

Image Credits
Quinn Hernandez, Kelsey Borch, Anna Selle, Ada Jay