Plagued by a life of abandonment, abuse, and addiction, Allen Snow's music arises from a yearning for love and stability, intertwined with the anger to prove that with determination, one can defy the odds and become what they aspire to be despite the hand they're dealt. Born into a fatherless home in PEI, Allen began his life in Brackley Beach with his mother until she married when he was three to the man who first introduced him to blues music, Leroy. Their marriage didn’t last very long though, and Allen found himself constantly moving around the East Coast Provinces, often in the middle of the night with nothing more than a garbage bag of clothes and a guitar Leroy gifted him when he was ten. This continued until just after his thirteenth birthday when he ran away from home. After a short time living in an abandoned row house, Allen was picked up by police and placed in foster care, once again carrying a garbage bag of clothes and his guitar to another house. Here, he found some safety from the abuse he had endured, but it didn’t shield him from the influence of drugs and crime in the neighborhood. Finding attachment in all the wrong places, a hospital bed became another temporary home after he pushed things too far during a night of drinking and drug use.
Admittedly ashamed of this part of his life and rarely speaking about it publicly, the one thing Allen doesn’t deny is that the Saint John Regional Hospital is where he wrote his first two songs. The only constant in his life was his love of music, and after starting his music career, he realized that there was a pattern behind it all. After every move, every time he was left alone, every "incident," he picked up the guitar—whether to escape from reality or for pleasure, it was always there, often with one or two strings missing and rusted but still present nonetheless.
After his hospital stay, Allen found a job working at a Subway in Saint John, NB, where he first met his future wife and mother of his children. He returned to school and started a career in welding, which then led to a career in the Royal Canadian Navy starting in 2008. In 2017, he deployed overseas, but upon returning home, his world was turned upside down again when his wife left him and the children, and it became apparent afterward she had been having an affair.
Once again, Allen found solace in writing music and singing, now more than ever before. He wrote about everything from his military service to his failed marriage, his childhood, the people in his life—anything that came to mind. He delved deeper into the music-making process and when the children's mother returned to NS in the fall of 2018 he found himself with time alone when they would spend time with their her. At first, the extra time was unsettling and he wasn’t sure what to do without having the kids around but soon found out about the open mics in Halifax and became obsessed with performing. Singing his songs for the world to hear is cathartic for him, a relief from his thoughts and memories.
After a few months of visiting the local open mics in his spare time Allen went canoeing with some friends down the Musquodoboit river. A memorable trip filled with laughs and some ridiculous photos, he came home exhausted but with his mind filled with lyrics for a new song; “Downstream”. A quick write, he finished the song in a couple of hours and shared it with the guys. After receiving an outpouring of compliments about the song, his friends encouraged him to play more and thoughts of playing his first real gig began to take place. Simultaneously, CTV was hosting a contest asking people “What does Country music mean to you?” inviting people to submit photos to answer the question. Allen sent in a picture of himself from the river trip pretending to paddle his canoe with an acoustic guitar saying that it meant simply “Good tunes, Good Friends, Good times”. Surprisingly, he won. All expenses paid Allen and three friends travelled to the Cavendish beach music festival and after discovering that he was a musician staff of CTV asked if he would like to perform. Jumping at the opportunity Allen played three songs to an early Friday crowd of 1-2000 people. It was the spark he needed and when he returned home immediately used the leverage of Cavendish to book his first solo acoustic gig at the Atlantic Fleet Club.
With a couple of gigs at the fleet club under his belt Allen felt like his songs and performances needed more than just an acoustic guitar. With some help from social media he put together a band consisting of himself on vocals and guitar, Matthew Strugari on Drums and Tam Duong on bass. Together they played their first show in January of 2020 with another shortly after in February just in time for the Covid Pandemic to start. During the Pandemic some changes took place in the band with Jay Hamm taking over on bass and Archie Gillis joining on Lead guitar. As the restrictions ebbed and flowed they got together and would play the occasional show and quietly in the background Allen was putting things in motion to record some of his songs before embarking on another deployment overseas. In June of 2021 Allen, Matthew, Jay and Archie recorded 11 tracks at FANG Studio (New Scotland yard at the time) in Dartmouth, NS under the guidance of Thomas Stajcer, 10 of which would eventually make it onto his debut Album “The Quorum”.
A month after the recordings Allen deployed onboard HMCS Fredericton. Not knowing at the time that it would be his last sail and the beginning of the end of his Career in the Navy. In the midst of the Covid Pandemic the ship made its way across the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. With Thomas and Matthew in the studio in Dartmouth and Allen in port in Sweden, they were able to mix the album remotely. This trip would be different than any he’d been on before however, and dealt another unsavory hand Allen faced trial after tribulation. If the unpredictability and confinement to the ship due to the pandemic wasn’t enough, three months into the trip Leroy passed away and took the wind out his sails further. Combined with a miserable, toxic crew, a Fire onboard and a back injury. Allen’s Mental health took a deep dive and upon returning home he was Diagnosed with C-PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder.
Again, Allen turned to music for comfort and continued to learn more about the music industry, when he learned that his medical conditions might mean the end of his Military career he began looking at other options and discovered that NSCC Ivany campus taught a 2-year music arts program and although he was doubtful he felt a hint of hope that it might be possible.
In the spring of 2022 He sent the recordings from FANG off to J. Lapointe of Archive Mastering and in May the first Single “Ellie Marie” was made public followed by two others and finally the complete album in September. Initially just trying to get his music in front of more people Allen applied to showcase for the upcoming 2023 ECMA’s but after receiving a phone call that the album qualified for nominations he submitted for one category only… blues, in honor of Leroy.
Allen understands pain and acknowledges that he isn’t the only person who has faced struggles; he hopes that through his song-writing and music, others will find something to hold onto when they feel like letting go. In May of 2023 Allen received the award for blues recording of the year at the ECMA’s and after retiring from the RCN in August he started the Music Arts program at NSCC. His band has grown and now includes Courtney Clark on keys and Dillon Winter has since replaced Archie on Lead Guitar. Putting the past in the rear-view he currently spends his days studying and honing the craft, practicing and preparing for the future of his career in music and although he might be joining the game late he’s stacking the deck so that losing isn’t an option.