About Me
Dirt Road Sweetheart is a father-daughter group that has been 22 years in the making. Jane and Al Struthers deliver that good old family harmony, performing forgotten brother duets, old-time music, gospel tunes, traditional bluegrass, and even the occasional polka. With impeccable taste, spot-on harmonies, and an ever-sunny demeanor, Dirt Road Sweetheart will get you tapping your feet and leave you smiling. In August 2007, at the 72nd Annual Old Time Fiddler's convention in Galax, VA, Dirt Road Sweetheart won 11th place (out of over 170 entries) in the Bluegrass Band competition and couldn't be more thrilled and honored.
Al Struthers plays guitar and 5-string banjo. As the banjoist and singer with the innovative bluegrass band, the Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Al played with Peter Ostroushko, Rudy Darling, Steve Block, and John Niemann and opened for Doc Watson, Norman Blake, and John Hartford. In addition, he appeared on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion†numerous times and toured with the show. As a songwriter, Al was honored (and surprised) to have one of his compositions, “William,†be adopted by rock bands. The song reached the Top 10, has been covered by bands on two continents, and is now included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the top psychedelic songs of all time.
Al’s daughter Jane has been singing with her dad for as long as she can remember and took up guitar at the age of 15. A classically trained soprano—she soloed in the New Jersey State Opera Festival in 2000—Jane has an impressive vocal range and technical ability that she uses to great advantage singing and yodeling with Dirt Road Sweetheart. As a singer-songwriter, Jane has performed at New York City venues including the C-Note, Apocalypse Lounge, Pianos, The Cutting Room, and CBGB’s.
Classic Americana, Dirt Road Sweetheart inhabits the territory of families gathered around the radio, steam locomotives, whimsical hobos, red-clay footprints, white clapboard churches, and blue-sky days.
