Allison Russell

Allison Russell is a compelling singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with strong ties to the folk community. She first made her name in the 2000s as a member of the eclectic Canadian roots group Po' Girl before forming the duo Birds of Chicago in 2012 with her husband and creative partner, JT Nero. Taking inspiration from a wide array of sources, Russell's songs have threaded through jazz, country, folk, Celtic, klezmer, and blues to become a distinctive amalgam of her own making. In 2021, after two decades of musical exploration, Russell made her solo debut with the Juno Award-winning Outside Child. Her solo follow-up, the joyful, Grammy-winning The Returner, arrived two years later. Her 2025 releases included the protest-fueled Annie Lennox collaboration "Superlover," "Comes a Time" with the Doobie Brothers, and the Finding Joy soundtrack entry "Love I Found," before she returned with the solo EP Rainbows in 2026.