Singer/songwriter and traditional musician Allison Williams plays old-time clawhammer banjo in a modern context.

A native of the Arkansas Ozarks, Allison got her start as a punk rock musician before rediscovering her musical roots. Several years in the mountains of North Carolina educated her in Southern banjo styles, especially the fast, distinctive styles of Hobart Smith and Wade Ward.

In 2005 she formed the Forge Mountain Diggers, a hard-driving oldtime band, with Freight Hoppers fiddler David Bass. The Diggers toured internationally for three years, sharing stages with Rhonda Vincent, Donna the Buffalo, and many other giants of the new roots music scene.

Allison Williams' solo CD " Give Me the Roses" came out in autumn of 2008, featuring driving arrangements of traditional old-time songs, as well as eclectic originals, woven together by a talented backing band of rising stars: alumni of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Wiyos, among others.

Since then she has toured internationally, playing to a sold-out Barbican Hall in London, as part of the BBC's "Folk America" special, and backing folk legend Michelle Shocked on her 2010 East Coast tour. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.