Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line

Overview

Nora Jane Struthers calls her music “Classic Americana.” The singer-songwriter’s self-titled solo bow, to be issued June 22 on her own label, will be a revelation to roots music fans: overflowing with affecting, literate original compositions and featuring a complement of top Nashville players, it announces the debut of a major new talent. Produced by Brent Truitt (Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks) at his East Nashville studio, Nora Jane Struthers features eleven elegantly crafted songs penned by Struthers, plus a rendition of the traditional “Say Darlin’ Say.” The numbers run the gamut from the stunning “Willie” (a reconsideration of the murder ballad, sung from the victim’s point of view) and the novelistic “Evelyn” and “Greenbrier County” to “Cowgirl Yodel #3,” a romping melding of Jimmie Rodgers and Western swing, and the timely “One Notch Tighter.” Struthers performs her material with a voice as pretty and homespun as the vintage dresses she favors on stage. Her accompanists on the album include acclaimed singer/multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien, all-star fiddler Stuart Duncan, award-winning dobro player Rob Ickes, top bluegrass guitarist Bryan Sutton, banjo ace Scott Vestal, veteran bassist Dennis Crouch, and, on backing vocals, do-anything performer Shawn Lane. Truitt contributes mandolin and octave mandolin. The 26-year-old vocalist – a full-time teacher of high school English before making a professional leap into music with a move to Nashville in 2008 – has formulated a unique fusion of traditional styles.