Born in Montreal, Quebec, Allison Russell is a self-taught singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was born to a single mom battling mental-illness and a father from Grenada. After an abusive childhood, she fled her home at the age of 15, sleeping in the Mount Royal Cemetery. Russell continued on in school, escaping into her literature arts, and theatre courses. As her Scottish-Canadian grandmother had always taught her ballads and fables as a child, she began writing her own melodies and performing at Irish pubs. She sees ballads as “road maps” to freedom, using them often in her lyrics.

By 18, she became a social worker and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. There Russell met some of her first collaborators and formed band Po’ Girl in the early 2000’s. The band centered around old-time sensibilities and pre-war blues. Her next collaboration would form with her current musical and life partner, JT Nero, in the band Birds of Chicago. She was later asked by Rhiannon Giddens to join Our Native Daughters, a group of all-black banjo players focusing on telling the histories of their lineage. She wrote song Quesada about her enslaved foremother for the group, and they released the album Songs of Our Native Daughters in 2019.

The work Russell accomplished with Our Native Daughters would ‘open the floodgates’ for her to begin working on her solo album. Her debut album Outside Child was released in 2021 and acts as an autobiographical exorcism for the musician. The album was praised and grabbed three Grammy nominations, a Juno award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, 2022 Americana Music Associations Album of the Year Award, two international folk music awards, three Canadian folk music awards, and four UK Americana music awards. While her debut album acts as testimony to her trauma, her sophmore album The Returner, shows her path to healing.

Described as a ‘mind-bending soulful expression’, The Returner carried with it a powerful message of community. After many Grammy nominations, this latest album would secure Russell her first Grammy win in 2024 at the 66th Grammy Awards.

Awards

• 2024 Grammy Award for American Roots Performance
• Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year 2022
• Americana Music Association Album of the Year
• Canadian Folk Music Awards