Nora Jane Struthers… singer, songwriter, fashion icon?
Yes, it’s true. Nora Jane is an avid aficionado of vintage clothing, and has long made a habit of checking in on pre-owned clothing stores wherever she is on the road. Amidst touring, writing and recording, Struthers also maintains a blog, Nora Jane’s Closet, where she shares shopping stories and photos from her scavenging missions.
But now, she’s got real fashion cred. Swedish retail clothier H&M has featured NJ in their latest edition of State of Style, their web video program for fashion news. They visited Struthers in Nashville on September 13 for a segment on her choosing among her many antique outfits for her performance that evening at the Bluegrass At The Bluebird songwriters circle with Sierra Hull and Ron Block.
Nora Jane shared a few words about how it all came to be.
“In early September I got an email out of the blue from a woman named Maria Lundqvist who works with, as she described in her email:
‘…Scandinavia’s biggest fashion TV program called State of Style – a documentary TV-series about fashion, broadcasted in 162 countries all over the world. In search for features for the upcoming season I stumbled upon Ms Nora Jane Struthers’ website and was fascinated.
We have decided to dedicate a whole episode to American fashion hubs other than the obvious ones, like New York. Ms Struthers would fit great into the program with her look, her great sense of fashion and her music.’
She wanted to schedule the interview on the day of my performance at The Bluebird Cafe (as a part of the Bluebird in the Bluegrass songwriter series benefiting the IBMA Trust), and then come down to the show and film there too.
This was my Bluebird Cafe debut (Thank you IBMA Songwriters!), and it was totally surreal to have a Swedish camera crew there filming the show!”
In her primary profession of music, Nora Jane is hard at work finishing a new album of her original songs with her band, The Bootleggers. NJ plays guitar and sings, with P.J. George on bass, Joe Overton on banjo, Aaron Jonah Lewis on fiddle, and Drew Lawhorn on percussion.
“My band and I have been in the studio working our new album for the past month and we are putting the finishing touches on it now. We had a listening party at the studio late last night and I have to say, I am surprised at what a happy record it is! Of course, there are a few dark story songs on there, but overall, it is rather joyous. Here are some of the happy titles: Bike Ride, Carnival, The Baker’s Boy, Barn Dance, Jack of Diamonds. (The record is all my original songs.)
It is slated to come out in late March/early April and we have a mighty fine CD release tour shaping up! Check it out online.
My bandmates and I are itching to get out there on the road!”
Keep in touch with Nora and her merry band online.
