Growing up in the stark landscape of the Canadian prairies Alissa Arnason spent countless hoursdreaming, writing, drawing, and singing within the simple confines of the suburban landscape of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Arnason’s works include independent releases Gentle Step (2011), single Working For Myself(2012), Stone & Feather (2014), and single Lighthouse (2021). In 2014, following the release of Stone & Feather, Arnason embarked on a promotional tour with over a dozen shows across California, Oregon, and British Columbia. In 2017 Arnason, supported by Forest Tate, toured the Kootenays on the Snowglobe Tour, a multi-date one week tour with shows in Kaslo, Nelson, and Rossland - including Rossland Blizzard Music Festival. During the Covid-19 Pandemic Arnason offered multiple live-streamed concerts on social media inan effort to both stay active as a performing artist and to offer a semblance of live music to thegreater community.

Arnason’s most recent single, Lighthouse, was recorded and produced by Jayne Trimble in Vancouver BC, and released on Trimble’s label World Peach Records in June of 2021. The release gained Arnason attention including an announcement of the release on The Sound Café online magazine, a live single release show, radio play in Canada and the USA, a review on Roots Music Canada, features on Record the Reverie and Indie Music Woman SPOTIFY playlists, and an interview on Broadtube online music magazine. In 2022 Arnason was the subject of Before I Made It, a short-form documentary about being working-class and redefining what it is to ‘make it’ in the music industry. The film was featured as a part of the 2022 Kootenay Film Festival.

Arnason is featured on Kootenay-based Dirt Floor’s albums Rosie Blue and Wyoming Wind. After writing and recording vocal harmonies for the studio album, Arnason joined the band to perform multiple live shows including a multi-day tour in the fall of 2023. She also toured with Sarah Orton as backing vocalist and executed her own successful solo tour in March of 2024.

A prolific live performer, Arnason performed over forty live performances in the year 2023 alone including Kaslo Jazz Festival with Dirt Floor and Woodstove Festival in Cumberland. Currently, Arnason is living in Nelson, where she is in the process of planning a fall tour and preparing to record her forthcoming full length album, to be released later this year. So far in 2024 she has played multiple live shows, including Blizzard Music Festival, Tiny Lights Music Festival, Dollyfest, Pachena Bay Music Festival, and Shambhala Music Festival. She recently collaborated with Nelson business Horse and Snake Vintage and fellow local artists Sarah Orton and Ryan Dutchak to release a high production video of an intimate liveperformance.