Alison Kelley

lison Kelley grew up singing traditional music as a chantey brat at South Street Seaport. She was also inspired by sitting at the feet of Pete Seeger as he performed for children on the Upper West Side. Bitten by the music bug, she joined her elementary, junior high and high school choruses and hasn’t stopped singing since. During college, Alison performed and toured with the CCNY Gospel Choir and the CCNY Vocal Ensemble. She also performed and conducted a series of workshops called “Organizing with Songs” with The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). After graduating, she continued singing gospel with Inner City Voices, a group formed of former CCNY Gospel Choir members. In 1990, Alison and her sister Hilary officially joined forces as the Cruel Sisters, a duo specializing in bloody ballads, eclectic and obscure songs. After joining the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA), Alison, Hilary and a group of friends formed Out of Bedlam, to perform medieval-renaissance music at fairs an