Nora Jane Struthers competes – twice – at Telluride Bluegrass Festival

15 Jun Nora Jane Struthers competes – twice – at Telluride Bluegrass Festival

[click “Play” and listen to Nora Jane Struthers speak about her music and career]

When Nora Jane Struthers hits Telluride to compete in both the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s Troubadour and Band contests, she’ll be doing it in style – vintage style.

She loves vintage threads. Just last week, Nora Jane visited vintage outlets in her hometown of Nashville, where she made a video of herself playing a couple of songs and chose vintages togs fans and fellow vintage addicts can sign up to win. (The videos are live on her website.)

Music is a second career for Nora Jane. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter was full-time teacher of high school English before making a professional leap with a move to Nashville in 2008. However, she comes by her affinity for traditional American musical styles naturally.

Born in Virginia and raised in New Jersey, Nora Jane Struthers grew up singing with her father Alan, a veteran of a Minneapolis bluegrass band, who wrote a novel about country-rock titan Gram Parsons for his doctoral thesis in American studies. While attending New York University for a degree in education, Nora Jane performed a folk-rock style at major Big Apple venues such as CBGBs and the Cutting Room. The turning point in her career came while attending fiddlers’ conventions down South with her dad: music, not teaching, would be her life. And she’s off to quite a start.

Nora Jane Struthers is not just any music world wannabe. Her debut eponymous album, an affecting blend of literate, original compositions, due out right around the Telluride Bluegrass weekend, features two Telluride Bluegrass fixtures: Grammy -winner and local hero Tim O’Brien and guitar whiz Bryan Sutton.

“Old time music continues to reinvent itself in the able hands of young artists like Nora Jane Struthers,” said O’Brien.

With an endorsement like that from a world-class star, it sounds like we might know a lot more about Nora Jane Struthers very soon. I can see it all now: a room full of fans dressed like Barbara Stanwyck and Grace Kelly. And in this metrosexual age, that includes the boys.

To learn more about Nora Jane, click the “play” button and listen to her podcast.