Tag Archives: birds of chicago

Birds of Chicago: ‘Real Midnight’ Sings to the Wolves at the Door

Birds of Chicago: J.T. Nero and Allison Russell

Birds of Chicago: J.T. Nero and Allison Russell

Real Midnight, the new release from Birds of Chicago—the collective of musicians that centers on the peripatetic singer/songwriters J.T. Nero and Allison Russell—demonstrates that words and music put together in just the right way can melt hearts, heal wounds, and stiffen backbones. Again and again on Real Midnight, Nero and Russell, who will be in concert in Santa Fe and Albuquerque this week, manage to snare big feelings in the tiniest details (“He can see her now he can see her now/Sunlight through her camisole”), memorialize hallowed moments of youth in a handful of words (“We watched you fade/Dim star of the palisades/Drowning in the sun”), and celebrate truths that can make you shudder (“Nobody keeps anything/Nobody gets to keep anything/I’m trying to catch a feeling/I’m just trying to catch a feeling”). Continue reading →

Birds of Chicago Fly to the Heart of Things

When was the last time you heard the words “moonglow” and “tapeworm” in the same song?

Right, never—unless you’ve heard Birds of Chicago, a musical collective that spins around its two singer/songwriters: J.T. Nero (aka Jeremy Lindsay), of the rock/soul band JT and the Clouds, and Allison Russell, best known as half of the urban folk band Po’ Girl.

NGM_49062011-10-12Their penetrating, poetic, off-center but on-target songs take flight on two of the more
distinctive voices on the Americana scene. Nero’s scratched, soulful vocals and phrasing bring Sam Cooke to mind, while Russell brings a crystalline warmth that can tease out the most
delicate emotions. Each of those voices seems to provide the perfect backdrop for the other, and together, they take a firm but gentle hold on your ears and won’t let go.

Gliding on the wings of their eponymous premiere album, Nero and Russell, with help from bassist Chris Merrill and drummer Nick Chambers, will bring their blues, soul, country, rock,
zydeco, folk, honky tonk, what-have-you tunes to the Old Church in Corrales this Tuesday, and it’s not to be missed.

Continue reading →