Banjoist and singer Nora Brown started learning music at the age of 6 from the late Shlomo Pestcoe. From his tiny studio apartment in Brooklyn, Pestcoe instilled in her the belief that music is meant to be shared.
Nora plays traditional American music, including bluegrass and old time, with a focus on Southern Appalachian banjo and guitar playing. Along with mentors in the northeast like the late John Cohen, she also has traveled and learned directly from master musicians including Alice Gerrard, George Gibson and the late Lee Sexton and Art Rosenbaum.
She has played numerous venues and festivals in the US and Europe including the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Trans-Pecos Festival of Love in Marfa Texas, and Folk Holidays in the Czech Republic.
Since 2019 she has released several albums on Brooklyn’s Jalopy Records Label and all recordings have charted on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts during the first week of release.
At 13 years of age, Nora exhibited elegance and depth in the performances featured on her debut album, “Cinnamon Tree.” Produced by Alice Gerrard and recorded at Studio 808a, an old farmhouse in Floyd, Virginia, the songs, stories, and instrumentals on this record draw the listener in. Nora was joined on various songs by award-winning fiddler Stephanie Coleman.
These songs were learned by Nora through the continued tradition of visiting elder musicians in her community, from old records and field recordings in archival collections.
In September 2021 Jalopy Records released Nora’s 2nd album called “Sidetrack My Engine,” recorded in an underground cellar. The album is only available on limited edition 10” white vinyl and digital formats. Notably, “Sidetrack My Engine” hit #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts the 1st week of its release.
In January 2021, at age 15, Nora played at influential world music showcase GlobalFEST in New York City.
Nora Brown returned in 2022 with her third full-length album, “Long Time To Be Gone.” Recorded at the historic St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn Heights, this collection of traditional tunes and songs. Brown commented, “this time we were working in a cavernous church, which allowed us to really experiment with all the sounds that different locations in the sanctuary and different mic configurations could produce. When you listen, you can hear the expanse of the space pretty clearly, which was really important to our approach on these recordings.”
On “Long Time To Be Gone,” Brown played a variety of unique instruments, including an 1888 Luscomb banjo owned by her great-great-grandfather; a fretless tack head banjo built by her dad; and an historic 5-string banjo that belonged to one of her mentors, New Lost City Ramblers’ member John Cohen (the instrument was played by Roscoe Halcomb on his High Lonesome Sound album and is now in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress).
In 2023, “Live From Bristol: Nora Brown with Sarah Kate Morgan” was released. Nora played banjo and guitar, and Sarah Kate played the mountain dulcimer.
Nora has won numerous banjo and folk song competitions at various fiddlers conventions, including the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Music Festival and The Grayson County Old-Time and Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention.
She teaches both in person and online banjo classes and workshops. Moreover, Nora continues to travel and learn from old masters and has taken regular trips to Eastern Kentucky, studying under the late master banjo player and former coal miner Lee Sexton and master banjo player and historian George Gibson.
Nora performs solo and also as a duo with award-winning fiddler Stephanie Coleman. Additionally, she collaborates with singer songwriters Jackson Lynch and Hannah Read.
Discography:
Cinnamon Tree (Jalopy Records, 2019)
Sidetrack My Engine (Jalopy Records, 2021)
Long Time To Be Gone (Jalopy Records, 2022)
Nora Brown, Sarah Kate Morgan – Live From Bristol, EP (Jalopy Records, 2023)
Lady of the Lake, with Stephanie Coleman, EP (Jalopy Records, 2023)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.