Allison Russell joins Record Bin Radio on Apple Music Country with Kelly McCartney to discuss the hurt, healing, and hope of trauma. Sarah Kilborne also pops by to chat about pioneering queer artists, and Kelly drops the needle on the Indigo Girls album ‘Swamp Ophelia.’ The full interview with Allison Russell is available tomorrow at 12pm PT / 2pm CT / 3pm ET or anytime on-demand here.
Allison on hearing Tracy Chapman the first time at nine years old
As we drove through the Rocky Mountains, my uncle played me some of his favorite records, and his absolute favorite record was ‘Tracy Chapman,’ by Tracy Chapman. And this was on tape. And he popped it in and I will never ever forget it. I mean the entire record obviously is just a masterpiece, is a brilliant, is a deep work of self-declaration, and transcendence, and resilience….and just brilliance. Poetic and a lot of brilliance.
Allison on hearing Tracy Chapman’s “Behind the Wall” for the first time
When I heard “Behind the Wall” for the first time, I just wept. I just put my head against the window and looked out at the Rocky Mountains and I wept. I soaked my shirt through hearing “Behind the Wall.” It was the first time I understood, first of all, that we were the family behind the wall and that we weren’t the only ones.
Allison on not letting trauma be the defining narrative
The trauma is not the defining narrative, it’s just part of the narrative that shapes us. And I think when we have survived things that are really really traumatic, it is easy to think that is the defining factor. It is easy to think that we are the sum of our scars and losses, when in fact, we are much more than that.
