Meditate
Each night before she takes the stage, Russell takes a quiet moment to herself in front of an altar made up of photos of her musical heroes — Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, Prince, and Mavis Staples. She began the ritual in the summer of 2021, after picking up a gas station painting of Prince while en route to Newport Folk Festival, and has been doing it ever since. “I always try to have a meditative moment where I reground on whose shoulders I’m standing on, what we’re trying to do with the circle work and rainbow coalition-building we’re doing at our shows,” she says. “I try to leave myself open to the mystery and joy of it all, and not take it for granted.”