Is there a better way to start a holiday season weekend than listening to one of the rising stars of American roots music?
It’s doubtful, so that is why we are bringing Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line to Montgomery for one show on Friday, December 6.
The daughter of a bluegrass musician, Struthers is an accomplished singer/songwriter who leads a group that was recognized as the best band at Colorado’s prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The band recently released the critically-acclaimed album Carnival, which was produced by Brent Truitt, known for his work with Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, and The Dixie Chicks. The album spent several weeks on the Top 20 Americana Radio Chart this summer.
Carnival caps three years of intense work by the 29-year-old Nashville performer, who is a former English teacher who once was the featured vocalist in the band Bearfoot. She has spent time touring the United States, France and Germany.
Her music draws on traditionalist roots, but bends towards the progressive sounds of bands like Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers.
Struthers was educated at NYU’s Steinhart School of Education and she taught at a charter school in Brooklyn – a time when she played gigs as a folk-rock performer at CBGBs and The Cutting Room. She made her recording debut with her father in Dirt Road Sweetheart and shortly afterwards moved from Brooklyn to Nashville.
Her solo debut was recorded in 2010 with Nashville’s master multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien and fiddler Stuart Duncan.
After taking first place in Telluride in 2010, Struthers released an album with Bearfoot entitled American Story. The album featured six songs written by Struthers or co-written with O’Brien and Claire Lynch.
She was recently mentioned in a National Public Radio music feature by Ann Powers about the new wave of female country artists. Powers grouped Carnival with albums by Pistol Annies member Ashley Monroe; Hank Williams’ granddaughter Holly Williams; Lee Ann Rimes; Caitlin Rose; Dusty Springfield’s spiritual daughter Courtney Jaye; The Band Perry; and the soundtracks from the television series Nashville.
Struthers has built a reputation as one of the rising stars in American roots music. One of her trademarks is her vintage clothing.
The Party Line consists of P.J. George (upright bass, harmony vocals, pedal steel guitar, accordion, banjo), Joe Overton (clawhammer banjo, harmony vocals), Aaron Jonah Lewis (fiddle, three-finger banjo, baritone fiddle, mandolin), and Drew Lawhorn (drums).
The December 6 show will be held in The Hangar Music Hall at The AlleyBAR in downtown Montgomery off Commerce Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Enter the bar through the alley entrance or through The Aviator Bar. No coolers allowed and no food available on site.
Admission is $10 per person. All tickets will be sold at the door. The show is sponsored by The Alabama Roots Music Society and The Alley Bar/The Aviator Bar.
Source: Alabama Roots Music Society