Quick Q and A with Nora Jane Struthers
 by Kathy S-B  ·  31 January 2012

We fell in love with the unique sound of Nora Jane Struthers and the Bootleggers. It’s old-timey and contemporary all at the same time. It’s difficult to argue with David Mayfield from Cadillac Sky who said, “Nora Jane is one of the best songwriter-singers this side of the Himalayas!” To learn more about Nora Jane and the Bootleggers, visit their website. Here’s a great little video that gives you a taste of what Nora Jane and the Bootleggers are all about!

I love the fact that you were an English teacher while grooving to traditional music and made the connection to implementing stories into old time music. Can you recall coming to the realization that your two passions — literature and music — were connected?

I don’t think I had the realization that for me stories and songs are bedfellows, until after my album was done and I had to be able to talk about it intelligently to DJs and writers.

You have been quoted as saying that your music is “not really bluegrass, not really old time and not folk — it’s all of them.” Do you find that a lot of musicians are blurring the lines between all kinds of musical genres a lot these days? Have you had the experience of meeting died in the wool bluegrass fans who don’t quite know what to make of your musical detours?

My favorite musicians use different influences to create something totally unique; I think there are a lot of talented people out there fusing genres to create something that is entirely their own. I have yet to meet a staunch bluergrass fan who could not on some level appreciate how I’ve incorporated elements of bluegrass in my own work. Perhaps, the fact that I do not call it bluegrass has something to do with that open-mindedness.

When did you first start singing and playing?

My dad has a wonderful voice and a passion for harmony singing so I have been singing my whole life. I picked up the guitar when I was 14.

Do you recall the first song you wrote? And how about your first performance?

I was 4. The lyrics are: “Where ever there’s a weeping willow, weeping willow, weeping willow, where ever there’s a weeping willow there’s water near by.” copyright Nora Jane Struthers

Right now you’re fronting two bands, the Bootleggers and Bearfoot. Can you explain the difference between the two bands? Is there any crossover “sound”?

Sonically, the bands are quite similar except, Bearfoot is slightly bluesier while The Bootleggers have more of an old-time fiddle influence. Both bands have guitar bass, mandolin, fiddle. Bearfoot has two guitars, two female voices, our bass player occasionally plays an electric, and our mandolin player plays fiddle on a few tunes. The Bootleggers music has a more “vintage” aesthetic; we perform a few western swing tunes and a few old brother-duets off of a record I recorded with my dad in additional to my original songs.