February 3, 2012

$18 / $21 at door

Nora Jane Struthers and the Bootleggers

Nora-Jane-Struthers-Bootleggers_x450The me&thee coffeehouse welcomes a rising Americana singer-songwriter and her band, Nora Jane Struthers and the Bootleggers. Only in her mid-twenties, this former high school teacher has received rave reviews for her self-titled album. Don’t miss this show!

Born in Virginia, raised in New Jersey, Nora Jane Struthers grew up singing and playing traditional music with her dad, Alan Struthers. After earning her degree in English Education from New York University, she spent three years teaching high school English in Brooklyn, NY. During these years, Nora Jane and her dad began performing out in New York City and New Jersey, as a duo under the name Dirt Road Sweetheart. In August of 2008, Nora Jane made a career change and moved to Nashville, TN where she recorded her debut album, comprised of eleven original songs and one traditional song. The record, which features some of Nashville’s A-List players (Stuart Duncan, Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton, Dennis Crouch, and many more), was produced and recorded by industry stalwart Brent Truitt and was released independently in June 2010, staying in the top 40 of the Americana Radio Chart for 14 weeks.

Two days before the release of her record, Nora Jane Struthers and her band, The Bootleggers, won the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival band competition (previous winners include Nickel Creek, The Dixie Chicks & Bearfoot). In both 2009 and 2010 Nora Jane was a finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Competition and in 2009, she and the Bootleggers won the Neo-traditional Band Competition at the Appalachian String Band Gathering in Clifftop, WV where Nora Jane was also given the award for Best New Song.

The Bootleggers are: P. J. George, upright bass, harmony; Ward Stout, fiddle, harmony; and Dave Goldenberg, mandolin. Originally from Salem, VA, P.J. George is the primary harmony singer in The Bootleggers. With a degree in Music Education, P.J. is a talented multi-instrumentalist, proficient on piano, guitar, mandolin, drums, banjo, fiddle and has recently taken up the pedal steel guitar. Nora Jane & P. J. often perform as a duo and during these shows P. J.’s instrumental skills truly shine. Originally from Wellsville, NY, Ward Stout has been playing fiddle professionally since he was 17 years old with some of the finest bluegrass and country bands on the continent including Bob Paisley and Southern Grass, The Weary Hearts, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Special Consensus, Tracy Lawrence, and Aaron Tippin. Ward is a master of the three T’s — taste, tone, and timing. Originally from St. Louis, MO, Dave Goldenberg is a recent graduate of Berklee School of Music with a degree in Mandolin Performance. Dave is an extremely versatile player, able to mash a Bill Monroe style “Bluegrass Stomp,” transpose a Bach violin concerto, and improvise around the head of jazz standards with equal ease.

  • Nora Jane Struthers is one of the most mesmerizing, haunting and hard-hitting projects I’ve ever heard. Her lyrics are simply spectacular and have achingly beautiful melodies to boot. This is one of my favorite all-time albums and certainly the most arresting music I’ve heard in a long time.” Dave Higgs, Bluegrass Breakdown
  • Old time music continues to reinvent itself in the able hands of young artists like Nora Jane Struthers. Tim O’Brien
  • Instead of a vocal tour-de-force, her voice — direct and free of artifice — points the listener back to the essence of each song. She is, first and foremost, a songwriter. But unlike many songwriters who aren’t performers, Struthers’ singing is as polished as an Opry pro. Steven Stone, Vintage Guitar