Nora Brown is an American folk musician based in Brooklyn, NYC, who plays traditional music with a focus on southern Appalachian banjo and guitar.

Brown started learning music at the age of 6 from the late Shlomo Pestcoe. From his studio apartment in Brooklyn, Pestcoe instilled in her the belief that music is meant to be shared.

Brown plays old-time traditional music with a particular interest in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee banjo playing. Along with the banjo she’s interested in techniques of unaccompanied ballads form the Southeast region of the United States.

She has played at numerous venues and festivals on the US East Coast including TED salon in NYC, Joe’s Pub, the Floyd Radio Show, Washington Square Park Folk Festival, Brooklyn Folk Festival, Brooklyn Americana Festival, Oldtone Roots Music Festival, Irvington Folk Festival, Summer & Winter Hoots at the AshokanCenter, and has had multiple month long residencies at famed Barbès in Brooklyn NYC.

Brown has taught both beginning and advanced banjo classes at the Ashokan Center’s long standing old-time camp known as Southern Week in Olivebridge, NY. Brown continues to travel and learn from old masters and has taken regular trips to eastern Kentucky to visit with 90 year old master banjo player and former coal miner Lee Sexton and master banjo player and historian George Gibson.

Brown has won numerous banjo and folk song competitions at various fiddlers conventions including the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Music Festivaland Grayson County Old-time and Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention.

In October 2019 Jalopy Records released Brown’s first album of 11 traditional songs and tunes called Cinnamon Tree. It was produced by the legendary Alice Gerrard and pressed by Third Man Pressing in Detroit. It’s only available on limited edition vinyl with a digital download and liner notes. Cinnamon Tree landed #7 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chartsthe 2nd week of its release.

Brown plays solo regularly and also as duet with fiddler Stephanie Coleman and fiddler Jackson Lynch. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.