Allison Russell Talks Working with Joni Mitchell at SOCAN Awards: 'One of the Most Surreal Gifts of My Life'

SOCAN celebrated its 100th anniversary by presenting the Global Impact Award to a true Canadian legend: Joni Mitchell. The singer-songwriter won the award for her 1969 classic, "Both Sides, Now."

Mitchell was not able to attend the SOCAN Awards ceremony at Rebel in Toronto last night (Sept. 30), but she was honoured in an outdoor ceremony in Los Angeles, including SOCAN executives like CEO Jennifer Brown and the consulate general of Canada.

Instead, the awards brought on a musician who now knows her well: Grammy-winning roots singer-songwriter Allison Russell.

The Montreal-born, Nashville-based artist performed a powerful solo version of "Both Sides, Now" that included a spoken poetry intro, acapella singing and unaccompanied clarinet. It was an unconventional performance that echoed the mature gravitas of Mitchell's performances since coming out of retirement at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. And there's a reason for that: Russell has been a major part of that comeback.

"I'm very, very lucky to have a wonderful chosen sister, Brandi Carlile, who invited me into the magic circle of Joni Jam [the star-studded performances by Mitchell and a large circle of other musicians]," she tells Billboard Canada on the red carpet before the ceremony. "I play clarinet and sing backups. We've done Newport, we've done the Gorge, we've done Hollywood Bowl, we did the Grammys, which was just extraordinary. [Joni] really likes my clarinet playing, which is mind-blowing."

Russell has been welcomed by the legendary songwriter at jam sessions in her Los Angeles home, which is a big deal for the musician who grew up idolizing her.

"Walking into her living room is like walking into her beautiful mind," she explains. "Every inch of the walls are covered with her extraordinary paintings, which she's planning to donate to a museum in Saskatoon right by the Saskatchewan River when she, I hope 50 years from now, rejoins the stars."

"Getting to be in creative communion and community with her has been one of the most surreal gifts of my life," she continues. "I've been listening to her since I was in utero. She’s my mom's favourite singer. My mom's from Saskatoon, and Joni still has her Saskatchewan accent. She's been in the Canyon forever, but she still sounds so Canadian. We love talking about Saskatoon together."

Asked if Mitchell has plans to play more live shows, Russell says she doesn't know but praises the "determination, grit, resilience and sheer willpower" of her recovery from health struggles after a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2015. She's played marathon three-hour sets onstage in the last year, and Russell says she's playing piano and guitar again.

In the meantime, she's honoured and humbled to be a steward for the legacy of the great songwriter. Mitchell is a supporter and a fan, which is something she's still wrapping her head around.

"The most terrifying moment maybe I've ever had was the second Joni Jam at her house," she recalls. "She turned to me at one point in the night and said, 'Okay, play me one of your songs.' I ended up playing her 'Eve Was Black,' which later went on to win a Grammy. She and Annie Lennox were in the room when I played it together with my friend SistaStrings, and they gave us a standing ovation. That we got a standing ovation from Joni, I'll never get over as long as I live. To get her approval, in her house, means so much."

Allison Russell's performance came at the end of a long night with more than 50 awards presented, including to producer Boi-1da, Benson Boone collaborator Evan Blair and the trio of songwriters behind Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em," Lowell, Megan Bülow and Nathan Ferraro (stay tuned to Billboard Canada for interviews with them in coming days).

An industry gala at the end of a long show can be a very tough room for any performance, but especially one as hushed and unconventional as Russell's. But from the first moment, when Russell lit a candle in front of a picture of Joni Mitchell at the 1967 Newport Folk Festival, the audience was hushed. When she was finished playing, the audience slowly rose for a standing ovation and Russell returned to the stage for a curtain call.

Last year, Allison Russell was honoured with the Breakthrough Award at Billboard Canada Women in Music 2024. Days before the 2025 celebration on October 1 at Rebel, she offers her congratulations to all of this year's honourees.

"I really appreciate that y'all are amplifying the signal of women in the music industry," she says. "It's been so imbalanced for so long. It's so joyful to be together. It makes a difference, because there's this divide and conquer lie of scarcity — that there's like somehow limited interest in women or limited interest in women from various cross sections of identity. But it's nonsense. We don't have to compete against each other. We are stronger when we're in community and amplifying each other."

As for her own plans, Russell is working on a new new album, In The Hour of Chaos, scheduled for release in 2026. She's also working on her first book, a memoir inspired by her critically acclaimed 2021 album Outside Child.

"It's been a very intense process, but I think really generative and really rewarding," she reveals. "There's some poetry elements. There's some songwriting elements. And a little bit of magic realism as well, because so much of my childhood I survived through living a very active life in my imagination."

Find a full list of SOCAN Award winners here.