Culture
Nora Brown & Stephanie Coleman – 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival Sycamore Session
By: WOUB Culture Team
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NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) – Banjo player Nora Brown and fiddler Stephanie Coleman bring old-time music into sharp focus with a duo performance recorded at the 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival for the Sycamore Sessions.
Brown and Coleman first crossed paths within Brooklyn’s old-time music scene and have since developed a close musical partnership rooted in deep listening, rhythmic precision, and shared lead voices. Brown is widely recognized for her expressive banjo playing and original songwriting, while Coleman is a master fiddler whose work spans traditional stringband music and contemporary folk collaborations. Together, they create performances that feel both grounded in tradition and alive with spontaneity.
Their Sycamore Session set moves fluidly between traditional material and contemporary folk songs, highlighting the conversational interplay between banjo and fiddle. The performance reflects the duo’s chemistry and shared sense of space, with each tune unfolding patiently and purposefully.
Setlist
0:11 – Pretty Fair Damsel
3:30 – Copper Kettle
8:35 – You’ve Been Gone
12:04 – The Tinker
16:00 – Doc Corn’s Tune
Director – Andie Walla
Technical Director – Anna Aldis
Editors – Zach Reid and Patrick Waite
Camera Operators
Zach Baic
Martin Bradesca
Parker Phillips
Matt Quinn
Daniel Schwartz
Audio Production Team
Noelle Baker
Gavin Buchanan
Mairin Fitzpatrick
Artist Relations Team
Luka Martin
Jillian Schatzley
Mia Voice
The Sycamore Sessions are presented by the Nelsonville Music Festival in collaboration with WOUB Public Media and the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication’s School of Media Arts and Studies. The videos are created by Media Arts and Studies students under the guidance of Producer and Host Josh Antonuccio, Audio Supervisor Adam Rich, WOUB Arts and Culture Editor Emily Votaw, and Director of Photography Andie Walla. All performances were filmed during the 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival, a production of Stuart’s Opera House.