Allison Ponthier

The indie folk singer/songwriter Allison Ponthier was born in 1997 in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, where she developed a taste for country, jazz, and folk music. After moving to Brooklyn, New York, at 20 years old, she began writing music that embraced her gay sexual orientation, as well as the unique combination of her childhood musical influences. She signed with Interscope Records in 2020 and released her debut single, "Cowboy," the following year. Equal parts lushly-arranged piano ballad, kinetic pop song, and atmospheric country-western tribute, "Cowboy" was promoted with a cinematic music video inspired by Ponthier's love of B movies and supernatural cinema. A follow-up single, "Harshest Critic," was released in May 2021, with both songs appearing on her critically-acclaimed, six-track debut EP, Faking My Own Death. Meanwhile, she also began collaborating with the indie band Lord Huron, whose single "I Lied" — a highlight from the band's 2021 album, Long Lost, which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Folk Albums chart, Number 2 on the Top Alternative Albums chart, and Number 3 on the Top Rock Albums chart — featured Ponthier as a guest vocalist. The song became a viral hit, racking up more than 10 million digital streams during its first year of availability, and Pothier joined the band's tour as an opening act in September 2021.