On Friday, January 30, Athenaeum Center welcomes Half Gringa to the Paradiso, launching a new season of our Strictly Chicago Series with an artist whose work reflects the depth and patience of this city’s creative life. Half Gringa is the project of Chicago-based songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Isabel Olive, whose music has earned wide recognition for its emotional intelligence and songwriting elegance. Her debut Gruñona was named among the Chicago Reader’s Best Albums of the Decade, while Force to Reckon was selected by VICE as one of the 22 Essential Albums of 2020, praised for its empathic, searching songwriting.
Her latest album, Cosmovisión, represents a striking evolution. Recorded in Chicago with producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Califone), the record weaves English and Spanish into luminous, emotionally rich songs shaped by Olive’s Venezuelan-American upbringing. Rather than translating between languages, Olive allows them to coexist—opening space for ambiguity, multiplicity, and questions that resist easy resolution. The songs explore mythology, inheritance, mortality, and self-understanding, embracing complexity as a necessary part of meaning.
In this interview, Olive reflects on the freedom of bilingual songwriting, the joy of long-form musical architecture, and the collaborative energy of playing live with fellow Chicago musicians. She also speaks to the value of making work slowly and intentionally in a city that supports deep artistic development. It’s a conversation about community, curiosity, and creative faith—an ideal beginning for a series devoted to homegrown artists shaping the cultural soul of Chicago.
Half Gringa: Strictly Chicago Series
1/30/26 | Doors: 7:30 | Show: 8:00 PM
Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, Paradiso Ballroom
2936 N Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657 · Free Parking
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ACTC: Cosmovisión feels like it leans into bigger, harder-to-name questions than your earlier records. What drew you in that direction?
Isabel Olive: Cosmovisión is the spirit of who I am as an artist, and I have been working to articulate it ever since I started writing my own songs. In this way, the questions feel very essential to who I am and how I view the world as a person, so it makes sense that they’re a little trickier to pin down.
ACTC: You move between English and Spanish in your songs without translating one into the other. What does that kind of freedom give you as a songwriter?
IO: It definitely gives me the freedom to say things with the specificity that each language demands. I have a background in poetry, and it’s fun to experiment with different poetic devices within and across languages.
ACTC: Is there a song in your current set that’s been especially fun or surprising to play live?
IO: “Force to Reckon”, the title track from my second record, is really fun to play live now. I remember feeling self-conscious about how long it is at one point, but now that I have other long songs in my catalog, it doesn’t feel as strange to play. I think long songs are underrated in general and it’s cool to live in something a little longer. As a performer you can really build the dynamic architecture in a way that’s really rewarding.
ACTC: Who are you playing with these days? How do they shape your music, arrangement, and perspective? How do these songs change when you play them live, in a room with people sharing the experience together?
IO: I’ve had a rotating cast of characters in my band since 2017, and it’s been an absolute joy to meet and work with so many incredible musicians. Right now the recurring faces are Quin Kirchner (drums), Victoria Park (bass), Sam Cantor (guitar), Emily Jane Powers (guitar, violin), Julia Mendiolea (guitar), Lucy Little (violin), Brenden Cabrera (keyboard), and Ivan Pyzow (trumpet). I love how different people can bring their own dimensionality to the songs, it makes them feel special and different from the recordings. It’s incredible to see how different audiences’ energies make each show special as well. I’ve also met so many people while going to shows and it is such a cool way to be in community with others, especially in a world that seeks to isolate us, where people in power benefit from that isolation.
ACTC: What’s something small or unexpected that’s been bringing you joy lately—musical or otherwise?
IO: In Chicago winter, I have to make sure that I make an effort to lean into the good things about it, or it can start to feel oppressive. I love watching the quality of the light change throughout the day, and I have a long coat so I can take walks when it’s sunny and not be too bothered by how cold it is. I also quit streaming recently, so my music listening habits are extremely deliberate now. I’ve honestly been enjoying the silent reflection that occurs when a record ends. It makes me appreciate the work even more.
ACTC: You’ve made a lot of this work in Chicago. How has being here shaped the way you listen, write, or think about music?
IO: Chicago is a great city to make work in because it’s a great city to live in. I have lived here for my entire adult life, and I think there’s been a drive to do things and try things artistically that require more development, a longer incubation period. There’s a dedicated scene of people who support local music, but I think the spotlight not being as intense as it is in a large, oversaturated city has made it possible for people to create something really unique without being under too much pressure.
ACTC: When someone leaves one of your shows, what do you hope stays with them?
IO: I hope that people leave with a sense of joy, catharsis, and mystery. I think art can and should be able to deeply resonate with an audience in addition to entertaining them. I hope that people are thinking about some of the lyrics for a while after the fact, trying to consider meaning and purpose.
ACTC: Can you describe this moment in your creative life in a sentence or two? Does that feel like a difficult position to be in? What are the joys and challenges?
IO: Being fearless and open to seeing what happens. It feels great to be in this moment, but it was a tough road. Where I am in creative life is affected by where I am in my personal life and in my career in general, and these “post” pandemic years have been some of the most difficult. The music industry as it stands today does not work for working class artists. It is very difficult to get any momentum without a lot of money to spend, and the cost of everything is rising. The upside of this is that it lays bare the desire to be an artist without any adornment or glamour. I often liken it to being part of a holy order, you have to really embody the work and not get hung up on any of the artifice of the industry around it in order to keep going. You make it based on a feeling and drive within, having faith that it’s important in and of itself without the carrot of fame, money, clout, etc at the end of the day.
ACTC: What’s next?
IO: Next, I’m going back to the studio to make another record. I feel lucky that Brian Deck wants to work with me again, it was a literal dream of mine to work on something with him. So we’re starting sessions in February and seeing what happens with the demos I made. With Cosmovisión, I was really clear on the vision – I came into the studio process super rehearsed and prepared with my band, but this time I am keeping things a little more open-ended, which is different than my typical modus operandi. At this moment in my career, I feel really open to letting things reveal themselves to me as opposed to chasing something specific. I have some themes and textures in mind but I don’t want to feel tied to too many specific concepts yet. I want to be very explorative and in the moment with this one.
About the Strictly Chicago Series
Strictly Chicago is Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture’s ongoing concert series celebrating the depth, diversity, and creative vitality of Chicago’s music community. Through intimate live performances, the series spotlights homegrown artists whose work reflects the cultural roots, personal histories, and evolving sounds that shape this city. Each concert invites audiences to experience music not only as entertainment, but as a living expression of place, belonging, and artistic legacy.
The 2026 season opens with Half Gringa on January 30, followed by La Rosa Noir on February 21, Sun Queen on March 13, Nathan Graham on April 18, and Alyssa Allgood on May 15. Spanning indie, alternative, folk, soul, jazz, and beyond, Strictly Chicago reflects the breadth of voices making vital work across Chicagoland today.
By centering local artists on its stages, Athenaeum Center affirms its mission to support thoughtful cultural exchange through live performance. Strictly Chicago creates space for musicians to develop work over time, for audiences to engage deeply with artists from their own communities, and for the city’s musical heritage to be reimagined—one performance, one room, and one shared experience at a time.
