Birds Of Chicago & Oh Susanna Perform At The Crossing

Jeff Green | Mar 07, 2013

The atmosphere may have been less raucous last Saturday night at the Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake than it was during the Heritage Festival when Sherman Downey rocked the house. But another sold out house enjoyed an evening of new sounds from Birds of Chicago, a collaboration between Montreal born Allison Russell (Po’ Girl) and JT Nero (JT Nero and the Clouds) and the more familiar songs of Oh Susanna, who played a benefit concert in Sharbot Lake last October,

Because of their very individual backgrounds, Birds of Chicago presented a lot of variety for a two piece band featuring only vocals, Nero’s guitar, and Russell's occasional clarinet. They are both strong songwriters on their own, and Russell's singing in particular lifted the material to a higher level.

After the break, Oh Susanna played an excellent set that included some of the songs from the upcoming album Namedropper. It is a departure for her because she did not write the songs on it; they were each written by different songwriting friends of hers. She performed the songs by Royal Wood, Joel Plaskett and Ron Sexsmith.

The evening ended with Friends of Chicago joining Oh Susanna for a final number, followed by two encores, Pretty Penny and Soon the Birds, the title track to her most recent concert.

The next show at the Country Inn features Laura Bird and Emory Lester on March 30.

Other upcoming shows include Madison Violet on April 6, Ruth Moody on April 13, and the Claytones on May 4. Call 279-2198 for details.