Allen writes music as a tribute to the lifestyle of the rural African-American. His top song "I've Been There" won the California Country Music Association's award for "Songwriter of the Year" in 1999. Allen's main collections of work include "Nineteen Hands," "Stonetalkers Resurrection," and "Reconcile." "Nineteen Hands" includes a collection of songs which tells of the lives of the Black settlers, cowboys and Gold Rush argonauts of the American West. Stonetalkers Resurrection includes songs which tell the story of the African-American country life, then and now, and Reconcile is a collection of romance songs based on the fictional life of a free African American woman named Mad Mary and her un-manumitted slave lover known as Black Man Dixon. Allen's instrument of composition is acoustic guitar. He performs his own vocals and adds spoken word and historical commentary to his live shows. Allen has performed at a variety of venues from Nashville to Los Angeles under the his own label called "Rollin' Country Records."