Ravinia 2021 - Issue 3

MARC BAPTISTE (RUSSELL); SARA KIESLING (TRAIN) ALLISON RUSSELL A winding road brought Allison Russell from her Montreal birthplace to Vancouver, where in the early 2000s she began jamming with Trish Klein of the folk group The Be Good Tanyas and together formed the jazz-inflect- ed roots band Po’ Girl as co-frontwomen. In addition to vocals, she contributed a multi- tude of instrumental tracks, from banjo and guitar to clarinet and whistles, over several albums between 2003’s eponymous disc and 2010’s Follow Your Bliss . With her partner JT Nero, Russell decamped to Chicago, where they began performing together as Birds of Chicago, blending Americana with “secular gospel.” After releasing their independently produced eponymous LP in 2012, they built a wide following with extensive touring and cut a live disc at Space in nearby Evanston in 2013. With a swell of fan support, they enlisted Joe Henry (a veteran of Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, and Ani DiFranco al- bums) as producer for 2015’s Real Midnight , which earned them a record deal with Signa- ture Sounds. After the lauded EP American Flowers (2017), the duo released their most recent full disc, Love In Wartime , in 2018 with production by Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi Allstars and a Black Crowes alum) and Nero. Having relocated to Nashville, Russell also began playing with Our Native Daughters—a supergroup of Black roots sing- er-songwriters including Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Amythyst Kiah—releas- ing Songs of Our Native Daughters with the quartet in 2019 on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Following her speech at the Nashville Women’s March in 2020, she recorded the spoken-word editorial “Dream of America” with producer T Bone Burnett and published the piece with Rolling Stone . With a catalog of songs expressing her personal history, includ- ing the abuses she survived as a child, Russell began recording her solo-debut album for the Fantasy label earlier this year and released the collection, Outside Child , in May. Allison Russell is making her Ravinia debut. PAVILION 7:30 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 7:30 PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021 VERTICAL HORIZON –Intermission– TRAIN TRAIN Train formed in San Francisco in 1994 and quickly moved from coffeehouse shows to national tours, tenaciously building a loyal following that led to the band’s eponymous debut record on the Columbia label in 1998. A year later, “Meet Virginia” climbed the charts, reaching number two on the Billboard Top 40 and 15 on the Hot 100, putting the album on track for platinum sales. Compounding Train’s success, their sophomore album Drops of Jupi- ter (2001) went multiplatinum and peaked at number six, featuring the Grammy-winning title track “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” which itself was certified gold while sitting atop the Top 40 and remaining on the chart for over 40 weeks. My Private Nation followed in 2003, also going platinum and reaching number six, and found its greatest success with the single “Calling All Angels,” which similarly became gold certified and a number-one Top 40 hit. Subsequent singles “When I Look to the Sky” and “Get to Me” also became Top 40 hits, reaching numbers nine and six, respective- ly. For Me, It’s You was released in 2006 and reached number 10 with “Cab” coming in as a number-nine Top 40 single. Following a three-year hiatus, Train surged to the top of the pop charts with “Hey, Soul Sister” off the album Save Me, San Francisco . The single won a Grammy and two Billboard Music Awards and also marked the group’s first worldwide top-10 hit since “Drops of Jupiter.” A pair of top-five albums followed: California 37 ap- peared in 2012, featuring another worldwide top-10 single in “Drive By,” as well as the hits “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” and “Bruises,” and the country-inflected single “Angel in Blue Jeans” advanced 2014’s Bulletproof Picasso . Following the holiday disc Christmas in Tahoe (2015), Train paid homage to Led Zeppelin’s second album in 2016, re-creating the land- mark collection in its entirety in concert and on record, with all album proceeds going to charity. The band’s 10th studio album (and sixth top-10), A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat , preceded by the multiplatinum single “Play That Song,” was released in early 2017. Since their 2018 greatest hits collection, Train has released two singles: “Mai Tais” (2019) with Skylar Grey and “Rescue Dog.” Train first appeared at Ra- vinia in 2010 and tonight returns for its fifth season at the festival. VERTICAL HORIZON Originating with lead singer and songwriter Matt Scannell, Vertical Horizon made its re- cording debut in 1992 with There and Back Again . Extensive touring connected Scannell with Dave Matthews Band producer John Alagia, who helmed 1995’s Running on Ice , and shortly after Live Stages (1997) captured the energy of Vertical Horizon’s concert per- formances, the group was signed by RCA. All three of the band’s early albums were reissued by the label, and their breakthrough, ma- jor-debut disc, Everything You Want , followed shortly in 1999. The album went double plat- inum on the strength of its title track, which reached number-one positions on both Bill- board ’s Hot 100 and Top 40 charts and was one of the most-played songs of 2000. Subsequent sin- gles “You’re a God” and “Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)” followed in the hit track’s footsteps, charting up to numbers four and seven, respectively, on the Top 40. The latter song would become a major country hit as well when Gary Allan covered it in 2005. Vertical Horizon’s second major release, Go , appeared in 2003, with singles “I’m Still Here” and “Forever” solidifying the group’s pop-rock bonafides. Following a hiatus, Scannell reconvened the band in 2007 for Burning the Days (2009), which featured legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart on three tracks, including the lead single “Save Me From Myself” and “Even Now,” which was co-written by Scannell and Peart. Songwriter/producer RichardMarx—whose 2012 Adult Contemporary hit “When You LovedMe” would be co-written with Scannell—guested on “Here” as a pianist. Those collaborators returned on Vertical Horizon’s 2013 album Echoes from the Underground , its title taken from a lyric in the track “Evermore.” Peart recorded drums on “Instamatic” and the somber closer “South for the Winter,” and Marx co-wrote the opener “You Never Let Me Down” with Scannell. Scannell’s col- laborations outside Vertical Horizon include writing “Wish You Were Here” in 2010 for Hey Mon- day, whose lead singer would win season three of The Voice , and teaming up with Daniel Powter in 2012 to write “Come Back Home,” which was used to promote NBC’s Chicago Fire . Marx again guested on the most recent Vertical Horizon album, The Lost Mile (2018), adding backing vocals on “I’m Not Running,” which he co-wrote with Scannell. Tonight Vertical Horizon is making its first return to Ravinia following its 2013 debut. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 18 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 46