A SHERO's Journey: Allison Russell

With the Grammy's just over a week away, host Carmel Holt welcomes
back the extraordinary multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter,
poet, and activist Allison Russell, who is up for four Grammy's
this year for her second solo album, The Returner, making her an
eight-time nominee in three short years. Allison's career spans
over two decades, and over a dozen albums recorded with her bands
Po' Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters - her
collaborative project with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, and
Leyla McCalla. But it was Outside Child, Allison Russell’s
critically acclaimed, and four-time Grammy-nominated 2021 solo
debut, that set off what has been a whirlwind three years of
awards, accolades, touring, headlining Newport Folk Festival,
collaborating, activism, and building what she calls “the Rainbow
Coalition”. In today's conversation, Allison reflects on the last
couple of years, discusses what awards mean to her, and shares the
story of making The Returner as a second chapter of a trilogy:
Outside Child was a chronicle of her escape from childhood abuse
and trauma, to finding healing, love and chosen family in art,
music, and community, and The Returner is the next chapter: a
celebration of survivor’s joy.