This Wednesday, Americana artist Allison Russell kicks off the U.S. leg of the All Returners Tour, a jaunt that was originally scheduled for last fall, but was postponed after Russell booked her Broadway debut as Persephone in 8 x Tony Award winning musical Hadestown, by Anaïs Mitchell. The second night of this run will have Allison Russell headlining Theatre of Living Arts this Friday, May 2nd, her first headlining date in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection since November of 2023, when she sold out The Music Hall at World Café Live. In the time since (in addition to performing on Broadway), Russell snagged her first GRAMMY, spent much of 2024 touring the world with friend and longtime collaborator Hozier, and continued to collaborate with her profoundly impressive collection of musical friends, including recent single “Superlover,” featuring Annie Lennox… who, during a chat earlier this week, I find out Allison first met under almost impossibly cool circumstances…
Izzy Cihak: I know that you just did a run of dates in Australia, playing both festivals and headlining shows. How were those gigs?
Allison Russell: We had a wonderful time in Australia. We all fell in love with Melbourne and the Yarra River. It was such a joy to get to share a couple of shows with Oz’s own Mo’Ju. Getting to see Hadestown Australia in Sydney and duetting with their stellar Persephone, Elenoa Rokobaro, was a surreal delight. Walking the sea cliffs from Bondi to Bronte Beach in a rainstorm with my tour sisters… And of course, Byron Bay Bluesfest is magical —the land and the sea and the people and the beautiful, wild things. Such warm and welcoming audiences too, so many people knew the words to our songs and were singing along. Dancing sidestage for Chaka Khan’s headlining set made my and the Rainbow Coalition’s whole year! It made the 25-hour plus of travel and the jetlag worth it!
Izzy: The last time we spoke was in 2023, in the middle of The Returner Tour, when you had just gotten a number of GRAMMY nominations. What have been some of the highlights of your solo career (I’ll get to the Broadway stuff in a bit.) since then? I know you won your first GRAMMY for “Eve Was Black” and did a ton of touring last year opening huge stages for Hozier, in addition to a number of festivals.
Allison: Winning the GRAMMY for Best American Roots Performance for “Eve Was Black” was particularly undreamt of and uplifting — acknowledging and celebrating the work of our whole Rainbow Coalition Circle. I also got to play clarinet and sing backups for Joni Mitchell’s first GRAMMY telecast performance at that very same 66th GRAMMY Awards alongside fellow Joni Jammers, Brandi Carlile, SistaStrings, Lucius, Blake Mills, and Jacob Collier. I was mostly focused on that — never in this World did I think that I would be hearing my name called to accept an award myself. Queen Joni also won for Best Folk Album for her live at Newport album produced by magical Brandi Carlile, which I also played on — I’ll never get over any of it as long as I live. I’m very superstitious about powers of 11! Auspicious! Touring with Hozier was a dream and it was actually the mystical, mythical overlap between the Hozier fandom and the Hadestown fandom that led to me making my Broadway debut in my favourite musical, guest starring in the role of Persephone…
Izzy: I was bummed when your All Returners Tour got postponed last year, but so happy to hear that you got the gig playing Persephone in Hadestown on Broadway (“Persephone” is one of my favorite songs of yours.) How was that whole experience? I’m such a fan of Anaïs Mitchell, both her solo work and Bonny Light Horseman.
Allison: Same! I’ve been madly, musically in love with Anaïs Mitchell since I first heard her sing “Why We Build The Wall” at a series called “Sings Like Hell” at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara back in 2008!! I’ll never forget my premonition of a generational work in the making when I heard her describe it as Hades’ song from, “a nerdy folk opera I’m working on.” We’ve been feral folky friends ever since. We’ve slept on each other’s floors and nursed our babies on the same folk fest stages. Watching her take Hadestown from that moment to the concept album to Off Broadway to Edmonton to London to unprecedented longevity on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre to the toast of the Tony Awards to multiple international cities and a touring company, to teen editions across America and around the World — has been such a hope giving gift. It was intensely challenging and rewarding to make both my acting and Broadway debuts in such an iconic role in my favourite musical — I rehearsed intensively for 6 weeks and played the role for my 15-week contract, 8 shows a week, and I never missed one day or performance. That entire ensemble, onstage and off stage, are extraordinary. There also needs to be a whole Broadway show about swings because they are the lifeblood of the theater world. I am in awe of every artist involved in Hadestown and I am forever changed by the experience. Still processing… And exploring what the next theatre/acting project might be — I’ve been bitten by the theatre bug now, there’s no going back…
Izzy: How does doing a musical, as part of this huge and talented cast, compare to doing your own music, whether as a solo artist or as part of one of the numerous bands you’ve been in? I’ve talked to Kate Nash and Kimbra about similar things and they each said that it was nice to not have all the pressure of being responsible for the whole thing being entirely on them.
Allison: I definitely second those emotions! There was also such a liberatory respite in not having to tell my own story for a spell. Getting to be someone else, a mythical Goddess 8 shows a week, was a disciplined ultramarathon of a gig, but still a lighter lift than holding the circle and all the risk and all the self-doubt that I carry in my solo career/work/music. My job was so much simpler as an actor within the life giving brilliant Hadestown Broadway Company: honour the words and works of one my favourite writers on the planet, take direction as open heartedly, mindfully, and precisely as possible, learn from the geniuses surrounding me and don’t make things tougher for them — the hardest working ensemble in the God’s Almighty World! It was such a privilege and such a blessing — I felt like I was going to Hadestown University (something I never got a chance to do IRL) and I wasn’t going to miss one day… Of course, my solo work is really solo in name only — I am hooked on the-whole-being-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts magic and mystery and sacred excavation/discovery process of ensemble/collaborative/coalition/creative communion work in my “Allison Russell” project too. I feel these disciplines are highly complementary and mutually beneficial. I plan to continue multidisciplinary exploration and cross-pollination!
Izzy: You have so many legendary musical friends who we talked about last time we spoke, and you recently released a rendition of Birds of Chicago’s “Superlover” with Annie Lennox, who’s such a legend. How was it working with her? I understand that you met at a Joni Jam with a bunch of those amazingly talented musical friends of yours.
Allison: It was an absolute dream come true getting to work with Annie and such a privilege that she chose to make her first appearance on record in over 8 years on “Superlover.” Yes, we met at the Joni Jam at the Gorge a couple of Summers back by the grace and intuition of Brandi Carlile, who seated us next to each other, alongside Sarah McLachlan, on a green velvet couch just behind she and Joni for the staging — no big deal, haha! Annie is one of those rare people with the gift of making one feel like beloved and welcome family from the first conversation. She is a true Universal Mother, a music and humanitarian Icon and I am so proud to call her friend and chosen big sister now. Singing next to Annie is like sound bath healing levels of exponential goodness. She is an Artist of the Ages, a kindred spirit and I love her so.
Izzy: I know that, in conjunction with the single and the upcoming tour, you partnered with Propeller to support the Human Rights Campaign and give a lucky fan a chance see and meet you on the final night of the tour. How did you connect with Propeller and how is it working with them toward such a meaningful cause?
Allison: I first connected with Propeller via Ali Harnell, who leads Live Nation Women. She had the inspiration to have them partner with us for the Love Rising All Star Benefit concert that I helped to conceive and curate at Bridgestone Arena on March 20th, 2023 — March 20th is now officially Love Rising Day in the city of Nashville! With Propeller and the Looking Out Foundation’s help and all the incredible artists who donated their time and platforms, like Brittany Howard, Hayley Williams, Hozier, Sheryl Crow, Julien Baker, Asia O’Hara, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell and so many more, we were able to raise close to 600K that night in support of Inclusion Tennessee, Tennessee Equality Project, Out Memphis, and the Tennessee Pride Chamber. Working with Propeller again in support of HRC on this All Returners Tour feels like a natural continuation of the Love Rising ethos and effort. Sadly, we as a country have only backslid further in the last two years, the attacks on the civil and human rights of our intersectional LGBTQIA+ communities and on our Trans, Non-Binary, Intersex Two Spirit, and Gender Expansive siblings have been acute, horrific, and unconscionable. All hands on deck to grow the Circle of Love, Equality, and Harm Reduction!
Izzy: You’re about to embark on the rescheduled All Returners Tour. What can be expected of the live show, in terms of set list, production, and just the general energy of the evening? These are, for the most part, the biggest stages your headlining shows will have appeared on yet.
Allison: I always tell the beautiful humans who come to our shows that they are as much a part of it as we are. It is a co-creation always. Circle Work of High Degree. The Rainbow Coalition and I are just one half of the Circle, those who choose to come and be in creative communion with us are the other half. Each night we all together create something new and unique. I am an artist who needs to vary the set list somewhat for each show for that very reason. I get inspired by each city, each day, people I meet, song requests people send us, etc. Folks can expect to hear songs from The Returner and Outside Child, songs from collabs I’ve done over the past couple of years, and we’ll be debuting some new songs from the upcoming new record… We end up laughing, crying, dancing, and singing together. Everyone in my ensemble: Ganessa James, Caoimhe Hopkinson, and Caoi De Barra are lead singers, writers, and multi-instrumentalists themselves. We’re really leaning into the power of our voices in harmony on this tour. Expect surprises and special guests along the way too…
Izzy: You’re going to be on tour with Kara Jackson, who’s also totally amazing. What are your thoughts on her and her music? Are you excited to spend a month on the road with her?
Allison: Kara is extraordinary and not to be missed. I fell in love with her album Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? when we were doing the The Returner Tour in Canada last year and I’m ecstatic that she said yes to doing this All Returners Tour with us. We’re all so excited to have a new road sister — she’ll be on our bus with us too. Expect some new collabs to come out of this!
Izzy: The last time we spoke you said you were about three-quarters through the first draft of your memoir, and you told me you had recently developed a routine to incorporate working on it into your time on the road, so I’m curious how that’s been going and what fans might be able to expect of it, as it’s developed since that time?
Allison: I am still deep in the writing and excavation process for this book — working title “No Shame: Memoirs of an Outside Child.” It has been, possibly, the most challenging creative endeavour I’ve ever undertaken. It has been both an eviscerating and transcendent process. I’m very lucky to have an incredibly patient and intuitive outstanding editor, Bryn Clark at Little Brown, holding my hand through the inner wilderness. I’m almost done and will hopefully be embarking on my first book tour around this time next year!
Izzy: Finally, you always seem to have so many different things going on, but what are you most excited about in 2025, after these headlining dates wrap? I know you have some big festival shows over the summer, but what else are you hoping and planning for 2025?
Allison: New book, new album “In The Hour of Chaos,” and more multidisciplinary cross-pollination work. I’ve been in collaboration with an exquisite choreographer, Kevin Thomas of Collage Dance Collective in Memphis, TN. He created a ballet for “Eve Was Black” that premiered at the Polaris Prize Awards Ceremony last year and we are workshopping a larger piece, full length piece… More collabs, more harm reduction circle growing – as Joni would say, “More Muse, less Ick”!!
*Get your tickets here.
