Gothic Celt: Allison Park singer brings history, mysticism to music

If you think fairy tales are for kids, try reading the originals.

Singer Tiffany Apan’s affinity for the work of Danish author Hans Christian inspired the lyrics for her latest single, the somewhat ironically titled “Lullaby.”

“It’s ‘The Match Girl’ and the non-Disneyized ‘Little Mermaid.’ It’s a lot darker than the one I was introduced to as a kid,” the Allison Park resident said. “Sorry! Spoiler alert, if you haven’t read the story.”

Thematically, “Lullaby” fits right in the persona she has developed, probably best summarized in the title of her blog for Celtic Nations Magazine: Gothic Celt.

Stylistically, the song builds on a minor-key motif featuring her keyboards and woodwinds, accompanied by Jason English’s acoustic guitar, and Apan’s classically trained voice rising up to convey all the drama.

Her vocal prowess came to widespread attention in 2008 with the release of her debut album, “Poet,” and its featured track, the traditional “Scarborough Fair.” The song’s video, which Apan co-directed with cinematographer Zane Hersherberger, was a first-place winner at the 2010 International Indie Gathering Film Festival in Cleveland.

The video also laid the groundwork for the raven-haired chanteuse’s subsequent embrace of history and mythology in her music, and beyond: Apan has authored what she describes as dark romantic fantasy fiction and won an award, also at Cleveland, for best horror short script.

She often sings with the Pittsburgh Historical Music Society, which rehearses and performs at the Depreciation Lands Museum in Hampton. The ensemble specializes in music of the 18th and early 19th centuries, complete with historic dress and period-appropriate instruments.

Another of Apan’s musical affiliations is with the Wayward Companions, also revisiting the 1700s with what is “more like the tavern music, a lot of what the commoners might listen to,” she said. “It was kind of like the pop music of the day, basically.”

Her own interest in music basically stems from having two grandparents who were musicians, along with the support of everyone who encouraged her to take music and voice lesions.

“Overall, I am very fortunate to have had family members who really allowed my creativity to flow,” she said. That included being “the only student in fifth-grade writing class obsessed with Vikings and Norwegian sea legends to the point of writing poems about them.”

Eventually, she shifted into writing lyrics for what she describes as Celtic fantasy folk music, sometimes with a harder edge influenced by female-fronted rock bands such as Nightwish and Evanescence.

And sometimes the music is as simple as what she performs in her “Living Room Sessions” on YouTube, with accompaniment just by herself or with a guest musician. Notable in that regard is guitarist Chuck Owston, a Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee.

Regarding her musical future, Apan has a grand idea in the works.

“My next undertaking is an album based on the Tudor and Plantagenet era: Henry VIII, Richard III, all those people,” she said. “It’s a very hefty undertaking, but I think it’s going to be exciting.”

And given the legacy of the British monarchy, it won’t be for kids.

For more information, visit tiffanyapanmusic.com.