Crickett Lynn Allen

Crickett Lynn Allen passed peacefully in her sleep on December 8th in St. Simon’s Island, GA at the age of 72. Crickett was born in Abbeville, GA to H. Ray and Dee Warren. Crickett grew up in Athens, GA, as well as Haddonfield, NJ and Indianapolis, IN where she excelled in music and diving during her high school years.

Born into a family full of music -- the daughter of a jazz guitarist and a big band vocalist, Crickett came into this world with a big personality, a twinkle in her eye and a fierce creative point of view. She began singing and playing piano at a young age. Her father, an accomplished musician, physicist and inventor said her arrangement of “Here’s That Rainy Day” at age 3 was so good that his swing band adopted it as their own. Her early performance of ‘Pennies From Heaven’ with her sister made the song forever a family favorite along with the obvious, “Georgia”.

Throughout life, Crickett’s number one passion was music. She was a lifelong learner in every facet of life, but especially with music, studying her heroes like JoAnn Castle, Oscar Peterson and Errol Garner. In her 20’s, she performed with the late great Jimmy Scruggs in Indianapolis. She soon went on to form and lead her own funk and Top 40 bands, as boss and music director – roles that were seldom held by women at that time. Crickett moved to California in the 80’s and continued performing all over the state including the esteemed jazz venue, Humphrey’s in San Diego. Her unique piano style encompassed stride and honky-tonk with ragtime, boogie-woogie, jazz and swing. Crickett later teamed with Nooney Rickett to become the house band at the Alexis Park Hotel. Among those who came to watch them perform were B.B. King, Charlie Daniels and many other top musicians. Crickett then moved to Nashville where she led the house band at the Opryland Hotel. During her years in Nashville she traveled and performed all over the world, from cruise ships to opening for many top performers including Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell and Lee Greenwood.

Crickett was an accomplished songwriter with over 100 published songs. She released original music throughout her life. Her song ‘Born In Georgia’ was named to the Indie Best Seller List in 2016. Her CD Southern Heart was released in 2018, featuring Holding On and Excuse Me I’ve Expanded. Crickett and her husband continued playing live music throughout the past several years, including on St. Simon’s Island and she played over 35 gigs this past summer in their part-time home of Maine. Of course, she booked every one, planned the set list, arranged the harmonies and looked forward to seeing her friends enjoying every note.

Crickett touched souls wherever she lived or traveled. Her charisma lit up every room she entered. She was a bright light, a piece of the sun who allowed God to use and guide her as needed. She let her faith guide her to the people who needed her to serve them. There are those who say ‘I’ll pray for you’ and there are those who actually pray, believe and don’t give up. Crickett never gave up on anything she started – from creative ventures to the people she loved. If she connected with you once, on a plane ride or in a music club, you were connected to her forever. Crickett was quick-witted with an amazing sense of humor. She loved to travel and would adventure at the drop of a hat. It became her passion to build community with her friends by planning deck parties at Skiff Landing, wine night with the girls and the Ugly Christmas sweater parties during the holidays with friends in Georgia and Maine.

A passion for children and people with special needs converged with her musical talent for a new life path in the 2000’s. Her teaching role with a Nashville children’s music program, Funikijam lead her to the Lebenshilfe adult learning center in Aalen, Germany in 2003 where she created and developed a musical curriculum for special needs adults for over 16 years. Each year, Crickett would write a musical comprised of American pop hits and her own originals. Over the course of four weeks, she would teach the students the songs and dance moves, rehearsing daily. At the end of four weeks, students with severe disabilities, some who barely spoke, were singing and performing her self-penned plays for their families. She believed all students were worthy of performing in the school play, regardless of their ability or disabilities. Her love for her students was palpable. She used rehearsals to build self-confidence and self-assuredness among her ‘kids’ and the development of all who studied with her was unmistakable. Her curriculum was the subject of a documentary about music as a tool for social development that aired throughout Europe. While in Germany, Crickett also worked with renowned music teacher Gianni Pacifico with Primus Music School.

Crickett’s creativity reached far beyond music. She designed and created unique furniture for tiny house living years before HGTV. She was a successful interior decorator who could put together furniture and colors with ease. Bringing new life to a house was a gift she gave to many of her friends. She found innovative ways to heal and spent several years as a cold laser technician, working with her husband Ren in their clinic to help thousands of people quit smoking. She treated others with her stress release program using auricular therapy and EFT tapping. Her hunger to improve herself and help those around her was insatiable.

In 2020, Crickett used her experience in Germany as the foundation for a book It’s Ok To Do Something New which pairs a message of self-confidence with original songs. Her vision was to use the book to bring the Lebenshilfe curriculum to the world. She wanted special needs friends worldwide to experience music and performance through the story. The book will be published posthumously in January 2022 and will be available at crickettallen.com.

The family will be hosting celebration of life parties in four of her favorite places: Aalen Germany in the early spring; in her previous home of La Jolla, CA; in her current part-time home of Maine in August and on January 22nd in St. Simon’s Island, GA at 2pm at the King & Prince Hotel. Crickett is survived by her daughter Kelly Clague, her husband Ren Halverson and their kids, Eric, Reny and Hunter Halverson, sister and brother-in-law Joy & Jim Goodis, brother and sister-in-law, Glen & Beth Warren, brother and sister-in-law Tom & Mary Nguyen, nieces and nephews: Matthew and Michael Wright, Abigail, Blake and Cullen Warren, Daniel, Andrew and Amanda Nguyen, along with so many friends who call Crickett their adopted ‘mom’ or ‘sister’ and count her impact as life changing.

The family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to Crickett’s Sunlight Academy or her daughter Kelly’s SafeTour.org Crickett’s music is available on Apple Music and Spotify.

For more information on the celebration(s) of life, go to CrickettAllen.com