Nora Brown - Sidetrack My Engine [Vinyl]

Nora Brown captures performances of striking beauty and depth on her album, Sidetrack My Engine. At just 16 years of age, her playing channels the raw, immediate quality of a field recording while maintaining studio-level fidelity, achieved by recording live to tape in mono within a large 19th-century vaulted stone cellar beneath Brooklyn. This 12-inch vinyl repress invites listeners to engage with poignant and transformative music rooted in tradition.

The songs and instrumentals on this record challenge listeners to integrate this 'outsider' music into their contemporary lives. Nora learned these pieces through the tradition of visiting elder musicians, studying old records, and archival field recordings. She is joined on several tracks by Jackson Lynch and Jerron 'Blindboy' Paxton, recognized by the New York Times as an exceptionally talented young acoustic bluesman.

• The album opens with 8th of January, a tune commemorating the Battle of New Orleans, learned from an archival recording of the African American banjo and fiddle duet, Frazier and Patterson.
• The essential American ballad Frankie and Albert was learned in person from Eastern Kentucky banjo player John Haywood.
• The Very Day I'm Gone was adapted from a version sung by ballad singer Addie Graham.
• Wedding Dress originated from John Cohen and is presented here in Nora's unique arrangement.

This is the 12-inch vinyl repress of the album, manufactured by Jalopy Records in the USA.