MEET THE FOXES of FOX CROSSING
Allison Branch
GUITAR & VOCALS
Allison Branch was born and raised on a West Texas cotton farm. A little girl gifted with a big voice and a passion for music. Given a guitar at the age of eight she was taught her first chords by her Dad. The fire was lit! Allison was born into a family of musicians as her Great-Grandparents were Vaudevillians; her Grandfather played several instruments and her Dad is a guitar player. Growing up she loved to perform at her Church, School, and County events. At the Tender age of 15 she auditioned and was selected to be a member of the South Plain College Opry. A well-known traveling ensemble of young gifted area singers and musicians. Upon graduating from High School Allison was awarded the coveted Tom T. Hall Scholarship from South Plains College, a world renowned music program quoted as the "The Juilliard of Bluegrass” by the New York Times. It was at SPC where she furthered her musical knowledge and honed her craft. In 2002 she earned a minor in Music from Texas State University, along with a BA in Mass Communications. Allison appreciates all genres of music. She has played and sang in many bands over the years including country, classic rock, punk, singer/songwriter and a popular show band, but she has gone back to her roots with Fox Crossing Stringband.
Despina Pafralides
FIDDLE, MANDOLIN & VOCALS
Born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL, Despina is primarily a self taught musician. Her first instrument was bass guitar she bought herself at the age of 17 because her friend had a bass too and they were to start a band. Upon realizing that you can't have two bass guitars in the same band, her mom bought her an inexpensive electric guitar. The rest is history! With a pink mohawk and blue sparkly guitar she learned a few power cords and formed Missing In Action, an all female pop-punk trio. Writing songs and playing shows, this band quickly gained popularity local parties. When that group disbanded, Despina picked up the bass guitar again and helped found jamgrass group, The Sweetwater Meltdown. Writing songs, learning how to sing bluegrass harmonies and gaining a better understanding of what it takes to play live, That group played many shows, festivals, and venues in the Midwest region including The Shawnee Cavefest, Blottopia, and Hookahville 2009. That band fell apart as most bands do, and she started playing in Top 40 pop-country cover band called Whistling Dixies. This is where she met Allison Branch. Performing at town festivals, events, and top Chicagoland country venues including Old Crow Smokehouse, Bub City, Firewater Saloon, and more. During that time Despina also played bass in the Eric Lambert bluegrass trio, and often played bass or sang with a Jerry Garcia Band tribute called Sisters and Brothers.
Wanting to start an all female bluegrass group, at the age of 27, she started playing fiddle. Fusing a love for bluegrass music and live performances, Fox Crossing Stringband formed in November of 2016 and hit the ground running.
Cassie Lynn Wright
DOBRO, BANJO & VOCALS
Born in Woodstock NY and raised in Raleigh NC, Cassie Lynn Brooks comes by a love of folk and bluegrass music honestly.
However, it was a move to Chicago presented the opportunity to learn the banjo and dobro from amazing teachers at the Old Town School of Folk Music (including Dave Bragman, Chris Walz, Keith Baumann, and Greg Cahill) and songwriter James Weigel.
She has played in several bluegrass bands including The Bonesteelers, Found Hounds, but Fox Crossing Stringband brings it all together, including the opportunity to write music for the band. Through songwriting, she is dedicated to building up more tunes in bluegrass that share a female perspective.
Beyond bluegrass she also has a strong passion for educational equity, holds an MPA in Public Policy, and supports scholars from Chicago to attend colleges nationwide.