After graduating from college in 1986, Allyson moved to Minneapolis and concentrated on her jazz career. In 1990, she moved to Kansas City, where her career took off. In 1992 she recorded her debut album, "I Didn't Know About You", which was so well received it was re-released on Concord Records in 1993. She subsequently recorded eight more Concord-released albums in Kansas City. In 1998, she moved to New York City with her longtime partner, classical music radio host Bill McGlaughlin, whom she met in Kansas City in the early 1990s.