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0:00/2:45
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The Fake McCoy 3:080:00/3:08
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Tanworth-in-Arden 3:260:00/3:26
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0:00/4:15
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Squinto Pinto 2:140:00/2:14
“"Whiteacre shines like a thermo-nuclear explosion." —Music Connection Magazine ”
““This is hellacious, exciting musicianship." —Westword Magazine”
Alison Whiteacre
Acclaimed fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Announces New LP
It'd be tough to match the depth and diversity of Alison Whiteacre's journey as a songwriter, musician, and composer. With a dozen original albums to her credit, plus thousands of sync tracks for television and film through her company, Big Planet Music Inc., Whiteacre has performed alongside artists such as Suzanne Vega, John Prine, Bobby McFerrin, Robben Ford, and beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Her work has won awards from the Milan Film Festival, the Billboard Song Contest, and the National Academy of Songwriters, with critics praising her "bold body of musicianship" (Guitar Player) and "truly twisted fretwork, sugary melodies, and off-kilter harmonies" (Stereo Review).
On her new full-length release, Coming Out Alive (Big Planet Music, May 1, 2026), Whiteacre draws on the pioneering fingerstyle work of Bruce Cockburn, Lenny Breau, Michael Hedges, and Leo Kottke. As the title suggests, the album also traces her own lifesaving journey of gender transition through instrumental tone-poems performed in atypical tunings. The first single, "The Lively Maiden," showcases her range: "The song incorporates my love of quartal jazz harmony, Brazilian rhythms, and British folk/blues guitar giants like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch," she explains. On the second single, “The Fake McCoy,” Whiteacre tips her hat to the harmonic influence of the “Real McCoy,” McCoy Tyner, legendary pianist in the 1960s John Coltrane Quintet. On "Tanworth-in-Arden," she pays tribute to English folk guitarist, Nick Drake.
"We can only dream of the magical music Nick might have created had he been appreciated in his time," says Whiteacre, whose own music sounds perhaps more alive than ever.
