Nashville-based singer-songwriter Nora Jane Struthers has announced her forthcoming LP, Back To Cast Iron, due out on October 27th. She has also released its lead single, “Is It Hope,” an uplifting Americana ballad about finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In it, Struthers sings of sunlight, red birds, and blooming plants – painting an audiovisual picture of optimism. Vibrant and deeply relatable, “Is It Hope” reminds the listener that life truly does get better.

Struthers wrote “Is It Hope” in the isolation of 2021, two months before her son’s birth. With a two-year-old at home then, she and her husband knew they would need family/community help during the birth and recovery process. “I remember so vividly hearing President Biden say that by July 4th he believed we would be able to safely gather with our families,” she recalls. “This hope glimmered on the horizon like a sunrise over the ocean for me.”

In early 2020, as she hit the road in support of her last album Bright Lights, Long Drives, First Words, Struthers was successfully balancing her two dreams. The way forward seemed clear, though not without its difficulties. Ten days into the tour, the entire world shut down. Losing your livelihood and professional momentum can be humbling, but it can also be transformative, altering your perspective on life and the world at large. And for Struthers, it became the well-spring for a strong return with her emotionally bracing new release, Back To Cast Iron.

“Letting go of something that I loved so much and trying to come to terms with what I was going to put in its place – that’s the story of the album,” Struthers says. “And the story of my life right now. I’m navigating what it looks like to be a full-time caregiver to two children and trying to figure out how to balance that while finding new ways of seeking joy.”

Photo Courtesy: Bree Marie Fish