LOOKBACK MACHiNE: Allison Russell

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 11, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

We haven't featured an artist in our Wednesday playlists with as much diversity as Allison Russell. From Po' Girl with Trish Klein of Be Good Tanyas (and Awna Teixiera), she formed Birds Of Chicago with her partner JT Nero. Our Native Daughters was a groundbreaking folk and gospel outfit featuring Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Amythyst Kiah. With 2021's Outside Child, she launched her phenomenal solo career, resulting (so far) in three projects that have expanded the boundaries of our kind of music. 

Plus, Allison Russell plays clarinet. Which you can't say (we don't think) about Jason Isbell, Alejandro Escovedo, or even Gillian Welch. A multi-instrumentalist, she is a serial collaborator - in our playlist below, Russell pairs with Luther Dickinson, Orville Peck, and Norah Jones, just to name three. Earlier this year, her In the Hour Of Chaos was effectively a project built from partnerships with fellow artists. 

For our Lookback playlist, we represent songs from all phases of Allison Russell's career, with a special appreciation for her more recent solo stuff. 

ALLiSON RUSSELL: thirty favorites

- Po' Girl, "Tell Me a Story" Vagabond Lullabies  (2004)

- Po' Girl, "Skies Of Grey"  Home To You  (2007)

- Sofia, "Burning By Our Hands" No Shame  (2007)

- Po' Girl, "All My Tears" Deer In the Night  (2008)

- Po' Girl, "Kathy" Follow Your Bliss  (2010)

- Birds Of Chicago, "Humbold Crows"  Birds Of Chicago  (2012)

- Birds Of Chicago, "Dim Star Of the Palisades" Real Midnight  (2016)

- Birds Of Chicago, "Remember Wild Horses" 

- Birds Of Chicago, "Hold Steady/Rock Slow" American Flowers  (2017)

- Birds Of Chicago, "Roll Away" Love In Wartime  (2018)

- Birds Of Chicago, "Baton Rouge" 

- Birds Of Chicago, "Superlover" 

- Luther Dickinson, "Kathy" Solstice  (2019)

- Luther Dickinson, "Til It's Gone" 

- Our Native Daughters, "I Knew I Could Fly" Songs Of Our Native Daughters  (2019)

- Our Native Daughters, "You're Not Alone" 

- Allison Russell, "By Your Side (Sade cover)" single  (2019)

- "Nightflyer" Outside Child  (2021)

- "Persephone"

- "The Runner"

- "Joyful Motherfuckers"

- "Springtime" The Returner  (2023)

- "The Returner"

- "Demons"

- "Stay Right Here"

- Orville Peck, "Chemical Sunset" Stampede  (2024)

- Allison Russell, "No Springtime" In the Hour Of Chaos  (2026)

- "Cold April"

- "Really Real (ft Norah Jones)" 

- "Love Is a Golden Lion" 

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview: