When: 7.30pm on Thursday 28 May 2026
Where: YES Basement, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re excited to be working with Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman for the first time!

Nora Brown is the ‘brightest young star in old-time music’ (Songlines), playing traditional music focused on southern Appalachian banjo and guitar, with her singing revealing her ‘thirst for storytelling’ (NPR). She digs deep: ‘A reverent nod to deeply-rooted ole-time traditions, and an exhibit of sonic heirlooms carefully amended to meet a modern moment with vintage elegance,’ according to American Songwriter. The New Yorker called her most recent solo record Long Time To Be Gone ‘a disarming collection of traditional laments and exquisite banjo instrumentals’.

Nora will perform in a duo with award-winning fiddler Stephanie Coleman. First brought together by Brooklyn’s tight-knit old-time music community, Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman share a rich musical partnership that belies their 20 year age difference. Stephanie is a master old-time fiddler, having recorded with and toured internationally over the last two decades with celebrated artists including trailblazing all-women string band Uncle Earl.

Beginning at age six, under the tutelage of the late musician and scholar Shlomo Pestcoe, Brown also counts Alice Gerrard, George Gibson and the late John Cohen, Lee Sexton and John Haywood among her teachers and mentors. Just 19 years old, Brown has released three albums, a single, and an EP on Jalopy Records – all of which have charted on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts during the first week of release. Across each haunting collection of traditional music, Brown’s playing is lucid, confident, and full of grace.

She has toured across the US, Europe, and Japan, playing renowned festivals including the Newport Folk Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival, Roskilde Festival in Denmark, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Live Magic! in Tokyo. She has performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk twice, TED Salon, WNYC’s Dolly Parton’s America and an official showcase at the 2022 Americana Fest in Nashville.

‘A disarming collection of traditional laments and exquisite banjo instrumentals’ –  The New Yorker

Book tickets now.

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