We all had to make unplanned changes for the forced differences the pandemic made on our lives, but few had to adapt as much as Nora Jane Struthers. Having reconciled how to be simultaneously a traveling musician and full-time mother, she suddenly had to re-examine almost everything. That whole process informed the songs on her new record, Back To Cast Iron. Ostensibly about her experiences as a now-mother-of-two, she dug deep and created a set of songs with a much broader set of life lessons.
The album opens with Is It Hope?, a rock ballad about the emotions that came with the promise in early ’21 that getting together again with family and friends was right around the corner. It features, as do many of the numbers, her husband, Joe Overton on guitar. Next up is Oh To Be Home, a sonic ode to Struther’s teenage grunge phase. As good as it is, it’s better played LOUD! From there it goes into the funnest song on the record, a Springsteen-styled anthem to the roadside Nebraska attraction, Carhenge. All this leads up to the title track, where Struthers talks about the difficulty of weaning her daughter. As I mentioned earlier, though, it’s a larger discussion about how hard it is to move on from something you love.
The second half of the LP showcases more of Struther’s country side. Children They Need You (All of the Time) is a seriously OG country song in the style of Tammy or Loretta. It’s a universal comment on the demand kids put on you, regardless of how exhausted you may be. Life of a Dream, one of Overton’s compositions, gives some serious thought to dreams, like “when a dream dies, does it go to a better place?” Something Wild is a twangy metaphor about trying to control something wild, whether that’s a plant or a child. The last song, Back on the Road, is ballad to missing life on the road. When Struthers sings about “where the coffee’s hot even when it tastes like piss, there ain’t no finer life that this”, you realize how much you can miss even the bad stuff.
Nora Jane Struthers weaves seamlessly between rock and country, embracing a style for a particular song far more than trying to mash them up and losing the character of both. Her powerful vocals drive her messages home regardless of whether the guitar in the background is shredding or weeping. With all that variety, if you’re not already a Struthers fan, Back To Cast Iron is a chance to get with the program.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.