Birds of Chicago to fly in for South on Main concert

It's late March and Birds of Chicago are flying out of Chicago.

The folk-rock duo of J.T. Nero and Allison Russell, who also happen to be husband and wife, are at O'Hare International Airport awaiting a flight to Toronto for a one-off show.

The airport is familiar ground for the pair, who for years were based in Chicago before a recent move to Nashville, Tenn.

"I don't miss O'Hare," Nero says during a phone call from the airport.

The Birds will perform tonight at South on Main as part of the Oxford American's Archetypes & Troubadors Series. Arkansas folkies Smokey & The Mirror will open.

The group is on tour in advance of its forthcoming album, Love in Wartime, a thoughtful yet sunny collection of head-nodding folk-pop produced by North Mississippi Allstar Luther Dickinson and set for a May 4 release on the Signature Sounds label.

"It's always a very restless time," Nero says of the gap between the end of recording and the drop date. "I'm very excited for it to be out in the world and for us to be playing in support of it."

Nero, 45, and Russell, 37, got together for sessions with Dickinson at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago.

"It's more famous for big '90s rock and grunge, but it's a great live room," Nero says. "Part of the deal with this record is I wanted to capture the energy of the band playing live."

Expect that spirit to be on display tonight, as Nero and Russell will be joined by a full band.

"We'll be a quintet," he says.

The group's last studio album, 2016's Joe Henry-produced Real Midnight, leaned toward the somber side. Nero says they were seeking something less heavy this time around. And with current events being as they are, the need for something lighter seemed greater than ever.

"We knew as a band we really wanted to make a proper rock 'n' roll record that had the full dynamics of our band. And as the things going on in this country intensified, it felt all the more important to make a joyous, rock 'n' roll record. For us, rock 'n' roll has always been a spiritual thing and a way to give people a kind of medicine that can be dosed to all folks."

That sort of positivity can be heard on Love in Wartime's title track, a sensitive study of the power of love in uneasy days with a chorus made for bringing out the goosebumps. "Lodestar" swells from near-whispered vocals and restraint to a freight-train of release before returning to its earlier, cozy warmth. "Roll Away" is a sweet slice of hand-clapping pop with a bright, gospel swing, while "Roisin Starchild" has a scratchy-guitar funkiness and features Russell's soothing vocals.

"I love that unconscious blending of sounds," says Nero, who grew up listening to hip-hop but also was absorbing radio hits and MTV. "That's the ongoing thing and that's what makes it fascinating."

Nero and Russell have known each other since 2001, when they first met while making music on the West coast. Their paths continued to cross and, by 2012, its was pretty evident that it was time for them to become a couple.

"We finally realized we had to carve space out for our own thing together," he says.

They have a 4-year-old daughter who often spends time on tour with them.

"She's been on the road with us from the start," the proud dad says.

Birds of Chicago's appearance at South on Main is the final one in the current Archetypes & Troubadors Series.

"We're really excited to be coming," Nero says. "We've heard such cool things about that series. We've had it circled for a while and are super stoked."

Weekend on 04/12/2018