Allie Farris graduated from Flower Mound Marcus High School, where she was never part of the in crowd. She would retreat after school to her own chamber of solitude, "a wing of the school no one went down." There she found a piano, her instrument of refuge, which she played for hours, ditching the adolescent dramas swirling around her.
She wrote her earliest compositions on that piano, later sharing the moment with friends who knew exactly how she felt. One played the drums, the other the bass guitar. And together, they would dream, fantasizing about the world beyond the schoolhouse walls.
Now 25, Farris is an accomplished singer-songwriter based in Nashville, where she recently released her seventh album, Live in Nashville. Not long ago, she spent an entire day in her adopted city, filming scenes from Wednesday night's episode of Nashville. Its pivotal hour marks the end of the ABC series' winter hiatus and the wedding of lead characters Rayna and Deacon.
"The set was shrouded in secrecy," Farris says. "Shooting lasted close to 12 hours. I got to wear a Chanel dress and high-heeled shoes I kept having to take off. My feet hurt so bad."
Not that she minded. She won't have a speaking part and is sworn to secrecy about the script. But you may see her playing the piano and singing, which she does so well, as anyone who has seen her perform at the Kessler Theater or Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse can attest.
Farris graduated from high school in 2009 and moved to Nashville six years ago, establishing herself as part of a growing band of twentysomething women making a name for themselves in coffeehouses and acoustic clubs all over America. Joni Mitchell wannabes, as they call themselves. Proudly.
"I've learned a ton about myself," she says. "I've learned what it takes to be the best songwriter you can be, the best performer you can be. It takes a whole lot of work, a whole lot of practice. Blood, sweat and tears. I've learned you need to be adaptable and willing to grow. I've become much more focused about what I want and where I want to go. More than anything these days, I remain hopeful."
Live in Nashville stands out, for her dazzling keyboard work and the raw emotion of its writing, which suggests a young woman with a very old soul. How else to explain having as her role models Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King and Elton John? All are old enough to be her parents, maybe even her grandparents. She calls them "the gold standard."
A quote from Billy Joel frames her Twitter page: "Musicians want to be the loud voice for so many quiet hearts."
To make ends meet, Farris tunes pianos. More than once, she says, she has astonished clients by testing a Yamaha or a Samick or a Steinway the only way she can, by performing Browne's "The Pretender" (one of her favorites) or her own killer ballad, "I Won't Say."
Heartbreak, she says, is the gasoline that most quickly ignites songs about loss. Most of the 13 songs on Live in Nashville were written, she says, as only they could have been, in the aftermath of a searing breakup.
"Traumatic and jarring experiences can cause a person to stand still for a moment," she says. "If they're open to it and willing to stand still, they can produce amazing music. It's a big part of what makes Jackson's songs so dense and cinematic. Standing in one place at such a time allows you to take in all the colors in the picture, more so than during happier moments."
But that was then and this is now. Farris recently announced her engagement to a French businessman. "I'm in a very good place right now," she says with a smile. "I couldn't be happier. High school feels ... like such a long time ago."
Twitter: @mgranberry
Here's a video of Allie Farris singing her killer ballad, "I Won't Say":
Here's a preview of Wednesday night's Nashville, which features the wedding of Rayna and Deacon:
Heres's a piece about British and Aussie actors having no trouble mastering Southern accents on Nashville:
