One Life by Allowah

First, thank you for stopping by & tuning in. I want to share with you a little bit about this album, and I'll do my best to keep it brief and to the point...

This is a bit of an unfinished symphony in that I decided to release it before fully completing all of the tracks. Even the ones that are complete could, to my mind, still use some work, specifically in the area of mixing and mastering, but also added instrumentation and vocal tweaking, etc.

Just for the record, the more finished and complete tracks are: Into Her Presence, Losin' the Illusion, State of Grace, The Attitude of Gratitude, and Choose Once Again. Everything else is just not quite there yet, yet...

That said, I do think that there is much that is of value here, and that is why I decided to put it out as is.

This album is essentially a concept album based around the theme of "Oneness." You can hear that theme played out on almost every track, and if you don't hear the word "one," then you will hear something about one's good friend and faithful companion, Love.

The idea for the title came from the title track, "One Life (God 3.1)," which I feel is one of the strongest tracks on the album. Early on I played it for the producer, Julian Sundby, and he suggested that maybe the album could be called "One Life," too. I said, yeah, maybe.

And then on the day that we officially began recording, as I was on the way to the studio, I drove up behind a car with the words "One Life" written on the back. I took it as a sign, and that's where the concept of the album really started to take shape.

Some of the best musicians from Nashville flew down to Florida to help with this album, including a true guitar hero, Darin Favorite. You can hear his masterful playing from the very first track, "Foreverture," and on just about every track thereafter. I'm truly awed by Darin's musicianship. To see him in action is basically to be blown away.

Essentially, I brought the songs with all the basic parts worked out, and Darin and the guys then one-upped it into something beyond what it was. For example, I had a basic idea for One Life, and the Nashville cats added some choice parts that I then had to go back and write lyrics for -- it ended up being far better than I could have imagined.

That said, I do feel that something is generally lost in the studio that you could really only get from hearing the songs live, either with a band, or perhaps better, with just me playing the songs the way that I originally wrote them.

And on the other hand again, I'm amazed at what the boys did, and how quickly they put it all together. They are true professionals. That's why I wanted to change the name of the artist for the album to "Allowah & the A-Men," because they really are all what are called "A-listers" in the business.

I would say that this album is really 13 tracks with 5 demo bonus tracks, and most of the bonus tracks are at the tail end of it.

If I had to choose the 6 strongest tracks in order of quality, they would be:

1. Let's Get Hitched
2. Losin' the Illusion
3. Crazy for You
4. Into Her Presence
5. One Life (God 3.1)
6. The Music Now

The one track that I would really love to record professionally, and willl at some point, is "All I Know," which I feel is the best-written song. Darin actually helped with the version on the album -- I recorded my parts in the bathroom, and he added the guitar and bass and mixing.

Overall, I feel that these songs are profound artistic statements coming from a place of deep engagement with spiritual principles. The album really is just one long presentation of nonduality, couched in a popular format. I'm not exactly patting myself on the back, but this is not such an easy thing to pull off -- and I'm not so sure that I did, but hey, at least I tried.

You might also say that the album is all about the illusion and reality of Love. I would like to think that it moves the musical conversation forward a bit Please read what I wrote in the liner notes for "One Life (God 3.1)" to get a better sense of what I mean by this. I used the word "God" only sparingly and when I did, with specific intention. I don't care for music that is too preachy, and maybe this comes off that way a bit too much, but I would say it's more of just a personal affirmation and reminder than anything else; and in any case, the good thing about music is that you can always just turn it off! But I do hope you'll listen to appreciate the more subtle nuances of the presentation.


I chose the Rock format because it was the music I grew up with and I would say that "Classic Rock" is in a very strong sense my Bible and the soundtrack to my life. You can hear echoes of some of my biggest early influences in this music: Pete Townshend and the Who, the Beatles, Dylan, Clapton, the Stones, Santana, Blue Oyster Cult, the Doors, and many other great artists of the '60s and '70s.


This album is dedicated to my late parents, Beverly and Fred, and to my brothers and family.


Again, thank you for listening. I would like to think this is all just from my heart to yours, and from your heart to God's. But that's just the music talkin'... I'll meet you there. One Love <3

Allowah has been playing guitar since age 11 and writing songs after a spiritual awakening at 19. His first official release was "Heart 'n' Hands" from back in 2016, and in 2024, Allowah released a new album of music entitled "One Life." Your feedback on the music is most welcome: allowah13@gmail.com. Thank you for your listening & support! <3

Facebook