JT Nero and Allison Russell of Birds of Chicago celebrated the birth of their first child in December. After touring with her parents for more than six months, baby Ida Maeve has seen 38 states and counting.
RELATED: Summer CD of local music to benefit American Red Cross
“That’s been quite a ride, as it is for any parent,” Nero said. “We’re first-time parents and we’re trying to figure it out.”
Nero said the 6-month-old is so accustomed to life in a van that rest stops become a struggle for her.
“Luckily, she does not yet know that there’s anything but a touring life,” Nero said. “I suppose one of her friends will explain that to her at some point.”
Amid endless tours, Birds of Chicago has found time to donate their track, “All the City Girls,” to this year’s “Red, White & You, Too!” CD, benefiting the American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio.
“With a project like the Red Cross, it’s a kind of win-win for everybody,” Nero said. “It’s nice for artists to donate their music and perhaps get their music out there to people who otherwise wouldn’t hear it.”
Larry Meyer, the group’s legal consultant and publicist in Toledo, informed them about the intended project. The duo no longer live here, so Meyer makes sure they are in the loop.
“The Red Cross is an amazing organization and it’s good to work with charities where you actually see the work that’s done,” Nero said.
Their song for this year’s CD is an ode to summer activities following a frigid winter season.
“The song is a summertime in the city kind of song,” Nero said. “It was a long and brutal winter for all us Midwesterners, so this is a song about how to have fun in the summertime.”
The next step for Birds of Chicago includes more tours and an upcoming album release.
“The rest of the summer we’ll be on the road playing festivals, then we hope to have a new album recorded and out before the new year,” Nero said. “So we’re about halfway through recording it now and, in a perfect world, we’d have it out by October.”
Nero said projects like the Red Cross CD help prove that musicians can reach outside of themselves to give to a cause.
“The pursuit of music can be a very self-involved and narcissistic venture by nature, so anytime you get to do something to give back it feels good,” Nero said. “We hope it raises a bit of awareness. A little bit of good is a good thing.”
