Summer Russell IF

Summer Russell is a lifelong lover of music and poetry, myth and magic, science and nature. She came home to filk much later in life than she might have wished, but she got here as soon as she could.

First, though, she was a little girl with a Casio keyboard, a room full of fairy tales, and designs on the astronaut life. Later she became a bookish dreamer who almost cried in the middle of treble choir when she sang in harmony for the first time. She learned to play the guitar as a teenager and quickly took to songwriting, powerfully influenced by traditional music from the British Isles and by the singers and poets of the folk revival. At the same time, she fell hard for rock 'n' roll, eventually building to the revelation of melodic power metal about elves and wizards. She remains a headbanger at heart to this day.

She found the Society for Creative Anachronism and spent many an enchanted night singing from fire to fire, or sharing in the warmth of the bardic circle that hinted at what was to come. She sang about warrior women before she came of age and put on armor of her own. Later, she had the honor of serving for a year as Premier Bard of the Stellar Kingdom of Ansteorra.

It was with wonder and gratitude that she found her way, at last, to her first OVFF. She found new life there in the wells of inspiration and kindness that never seem to run dry. Since then, she has taken every chance she can to join her friends and kindred spirits in song, whether gathered together in rooms or reaching across great distances to keep the music alive.

In 2018 she was Toastmaster at Consonance, where the community worked a feat of deep magic on her behalf. She has also been a guest at FilKONtario, OVFF, and GAFilk.