Let’s just start with this: Eilen Jewell has one of the smoothest voices in popular music; she sings with a jazzy tinge; she can sing honky-tonk without a twang; she can interpret rock’n’roll or country or blues, with a powerful voice that can soar when necessary and whisper softly too. Perhaps the closest voice to hers might be Madeleine Peyroux, but throughout her catalogue, you can hear any number of other influences from Judee Sill to Bonnie Raitt to Billie Holiday. She has made ten classy and clever albums, seven of largely original songs that she has written, solo, or with a co-writer, two albums of covers, one blues and one an exclusive tribute to Loretta Lynn, and one quite superb live double CD that demonstrates how her recorded music is transformed in a live setting. And she has had a remarkably stable backing band, most notably the magnificent Jerry Miller on electric guitar, a guitarist who delivers the retro sound that Jewell thrives on (as well as virtually any other style of guitar picking that you can think of). Jewell herself is a competent acoustic guitarist, harmonica and organ player.
Eilen (rhymes with feelin’) Jewell is not so much an unknown quantity, but her success is largely built around a loyal fan base rather than commercial sales. But she has built up a body of work that has been universally praised, from her debut, Boundary County, in 2006 (in fact, she had virtually finished an album in 2003, but a fire destroyed the recordings). And her band members over the years have been uniformly top quality. Her music falls fairly and squarely in the americana genre, with her reach extending to its limits; country, blues, jazz influences, folk blues, rock’n’roll. honky tonk, swing and rockabilly. And everything she plays is touched with a subtle modernised retro tinge. The fact that she can write songs for any style is remarkable, and fans thrive on her storytelling, whether it involves third-person characters or her more personal and introspective writing. She is ‘famous’ for writing in a minor key, reflecting the more downbeat aspects of her songs; ‘queen of the minor key’ is a moniker that was penned by a musician at a show of hers and stuck over a period of albums and live appearances, lending the name to the title of her most beloved album.
She was born in Boise, Idaho. She was given piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing and recording songs when she was eight. In her mid-teens, she picked up a guitar and started to learn from her father’s record collection of blues artists, Mississippi John Hurt and Howlin’ Wolf, in particular. From college in Santa Fe, she took to busking there, then on Venice Beach when she moved to LA, and subsequently on the subway stations in Boston after a move there. It was in Boston that she met Jason Beek, drummer, and subsequently Jewell’s husband and co-producer; he introduced her to Jerry Miller and to Johnny Sciascia, bass, who together developed into one of the most impressive backing bands around. Only the bass playing has been taken over by Shawn Supra in a career spanning more than 20 years. On a side project started by her husband, she became part of the Sacred Shakers, an acoustic quasi-gospel group that released two albums in 2008 and 2014 (not featured in this article).
After several years in Boston, she returned to Boise. In 2020, she and Beek separated (though their professional partnership remained intact) and moved house with their young daughter, Mavis. The COVID period took its toll on her: limitations on playing and recording, divorce from Beek, the death of a couple of people close to her, and she almost decided to pack up the business altogether, after falling into periods of excessive drinking. Fortunately, she roared back in 2023 with her latest album Get Behind the Wheel, in which she explored the events of the then-recent past. Sadly, there are again strong rumours that she is going to give up touring, though one hopes that hiatus does not include recording, especially as in 2026, she has released a new single, a brilliant take on the Woody Guthrie classic Deportee.
As most writers are prone to say, placing a body of work in order is not an easy process, but here are Eilen Jewell’s ten albums, essential if you are a fan, and, I hasten to add, essential to listen to, even if you are not. At any given time the order might change, but for now it stands as follows:
Number 10: Live at the Narrows (2014)
I am reluctant to place this at number 10, but it is a live album that includes virtually no new material, largely live versions of her previously studio-recorded songs. I say merely, but it showcases, in one 2-CD package, one of the tightest, most versatile bands playing a blend of retro rock, swing, jazz, country, and blues. At this stage of her recording career, the band had recorded 5 studio albums without any significant additional players, so they were at their peak. And it shows: with a rock-solid rhythm section and the almost unbelievable Jerry Miller seemingly able to play anything. The album is immaculately recorded and mixed with virtually no audience background noise, and Jewell’s voice is clear and forward. The track that follows is her retro Buddy Holly- style take on a Lucinda Williams/Sleepy John Estes quasi-blues, one of the very few covers on the album.
Number 9: Butcher Holler- A Tribute to Loretta Lynn (2010)
A dozen respectful and beautifully interpreted songs written by Loretta Lynn, for whom Jewell had opened in concert. One or two are classic Lynn songs (Fist City and Don’t Come Home Again Drinkin’), but the majority, drawn from Lynn’s prime years (1966 to 1972), highlight Jewell’s interpretative skills, her clear, pristine voice, somewhat different from Lynn’s Kentucky twang. The arrangements are similar to the originals, notwithstanding that they come from just three musicians. As usual, Jerry Miller delivers some outstanding guitar licks and solos (his riff on the following video is just lovely on a gospel-tinged song. There is a beautiful song that Lynn wrote just after the death of Patsy Cline; This Haunted House is a veritable treat.
Number 8: Boundary County (2006)
Jewell’s debut album is a rather folksy affair but demonstrates her burgeoning songwriting talent. It has echoes of Lucinda Williams and maybe Gillian Welch, opening with the title track (a standout), a reference to the northernmost county in Idaho, which Jewell was missing, being located at the time in Boston. It has a haunting violin (Daniel Kellar, quite a feature on this first album) circling over the mournful lyrics and Jewell’s empathetic vocals: “I miss those violet hills / And the sweet smell of the fields / Reach their arms out so wide / Like heaven’s only bride / Why I left I can’t say why / I can’t say why”.
The album has a nice balance, with Jerry Miller taking turns on mandolin, steel, dobro, lap steel, and acoustic guitar as well as his electric guitar, which alone dominated the live album above. There are some nice bluesy tracks: No Place To Go dissects feelings of loneliness and displacement, which feature in quite a few of Jewell’s songs, or So Long Blues, which bemoans an up-and-down relationship. Gotta Get Right is a short country shuffle with some fine banjo courtesy of guest Greg Glassman. The Flood is worth mentioning, as it is one of Jewell’s early political statements challenging Government inaction after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She returns to politics at a later day. And the lilting Blow It All Away shows off her skills on harmonica in the outro.
Number 7: Get Behind The Wheel (2023)
It should be noted that Jewell has never made a bad record, which makes ranking them genuinely difficult, and for many, this comeback album in 2023 (her latest) was a career highlight. If by that, commentators meant the bravery entailed in detailing the end of her marriage, and/or developing a wider sonic palette in the arrangement of the songs by inviting Will Kimbrough to produce and add not only his excellent electric guitar but a multitude of keyboard and percussion sounds, then these are valid reasons. And there are some truly excellent songs on the album; Crooked River is possibly the most upbeat in tone, as Jewell spent time there assessing the path her life had taken and looking at nature as a way to move forward. Shimmering steel wafts over acoustic and electric guitars to create a sound that is not unlike CSN&Y. “Well, ol’ loneliness, she’s haunted me forever / But I’ve learned to look her straight in the eye / And when she sneaks up on me down by crooked river / Well, she hardly ever even makes me cry”.
Closer The Bitter End has a quasi-psychedelic Jefferson Aeroplane sound. And, I guess that, therein, for me is the crux of the problem with the album despite its acclaim: it leans a bit too far away from her americana roots (the surf noir sound that defined her Queen of the Minor Key period, see later). This feeling is reinforced by the covers of Van Morrison’s Would You, Could You (recorded by Them) and Jackie DeShannon’s poppy Breakaway. In between are the very gorgeous country blues Come Home Soon, and the slow country ballad Silver Wheels and Wings. With a recent past of grief and depression, it is amazing that Jewell sounds so ‘Alive’ (the first track), especially on the opening half of the album. It is superbly produced, and the steel guitar of Fats Kaplin on a number of tracks is inspired.
Number 6: Sea of Tears (2009)
The third album, sometimes a tricky one to get right, but Jewell was on a roll now as her style became more established, darker, more atmospheric and leading into what was becoming known as noir–country, and in which she started to become known as the singer who wrote in a minor key (courtesy of the aforementioned musician). The album is often quoted as a fan favourite, probably for three songs, the title track with its retro rock feel and an outstanding guitar break, Rain Roll In, the opener with its loping beat and somewhat resigned lyrics “There’s only one constant in this whole world / And that’s nothin’ ever stays the same / Some day my life will be over / And no one will remember my name”; and the dynamic cover of Johnny Kidd’s 1960 smash hit Shakin All Over, with its virtual copy of that song’s guitar riff and a respectful lyrical take on the sentiment. The album title evidences the somewhat downbeat tone of the album, with much of the arrangements harking back to the 60s rock era, while the lyrics deliver their americana credentials.
Number 5: Down Hearted Blues (2017)
Between albums of original material and following a move back to her home in Boise, Jewell researched pre- and post-war blues catalogues for songs that she felt would be worth recording, and she unearthed a pile of largely unknown gems. Blues enthusiasts may well be aware of the title track, written by Alberta Hunter in 1922 and a hit for Bessie Smith; Jewell’s version is acoustic with a great bass solo from Shawn Supra, who had recently joined the group, and Jewell’s voice is as close to Billie Holiday’s as she came. Willie Dixon wrote three of the songs in the late 50’s, most notably the upbeat You’ll Be Mine, which was covered more than 20 times, and You Know My Love (first recorded by Otis Rush) with its wonderful sax from guest Curtis Stigers. This is an album that truly shows Jewell’s interpretative and arranging skills – there are diverse styles throughout, even an acoustic fiddling country blues, Father John Carson’s The Poor Girl’s Story from about 1930. Jonah Shue shines on violin. It is a joy from beginning to end.
Number 4: Letters from Sinners and Strangers (2007)
Jewell’s sophomore album was a quantum leap from the already well-formed debut; Jewell’s original songs were sophisticated and mostly took their style from a bygone age, a jazzy 1930’s Paris (Heartache Boulevard, with its Stephane Grapelli violin), Depression-era New York (the exhilarating High Shelf Booze with Eric Spiegelman’s wonderful clarinet), 1950’s country with Charlie Rich’s Thanks A Lot, or the country swing of the traditional If You Catch Me Stealing. It is really extraordinary how the small combo is able to turn its hand to any style, with the help from then band member Dan Kellar on violin and the aforementioned Spiegelman, who lends his bass clarinet to the wonderfully sultry Too Hot to Sleep, a country shuffle with a ’50s surf-guitar backing. She not only covers Dylan’s Walking Down the Line but the first track, Rich Man’s World, even has a Dylanesque vibe. The absolute highlights are her lively but understated version of Eric Andersen’s song of longing and regret, Dusty Boxcar Wall, and the lovely, lilting ballad, In the End. This is an album that highlighted not only Jewell’s songwriting skills but her gift for pacing that runs throughout her catalogue.
Number 3: Gypsy (2019)
After a 4-year gap Jewell released Gypsy, which divided opinion; some critics saw it as a real step forward, as Jewell invited some gifted musicians to create a wider sonic soundscape, but others felt that it was too diverse, especially as she unexpectedly introduced politics into her songs – 79 Cents (The Meow Song) for example was a thinly disguised dig at some of the President’s female-oriented comments and the gender pay gap that exists, Crawl is a nostalgic swampy look back to times when the socio political outlook was more ‘stable’ and features searing fiddle from Katrina Nicolayeff (brilliant throughout), and Beat the Drum, a call to action, promoting protest in the absence of which ‘all hope will die“. Overall it is a heavier than usual sound, with the addition of Jewell’s own electric guitar for the first time, but does not forsake the country, blues and jazz stylings of her earlier albums; You Cared Enough To Lie is a cracking honky tonk swing (from the pen of Pinto Bennett and Mark Webb (1988)) that has duelling fiddle and steel guitar (Dave Manion), while These Blues is a lovely country shuffle), Working Hard For Your Love is a soulful blues that ramps up the reverb guitar, Witness has a gospelly sound with punchy trumpet and trombone, and Who Else But You has a very retro folksy sound with Jewell’s organ floating in the background. Hard Times sounds like a 1960s folk-blues, a reworking of Stephen Foster’s Hard Times Come Again No More.
The highlight, however, is the title track, a supremely beautiful and beautifully played country ballad (Jewell sets the dreamy tone with her electric guitar over tympani-like drums)
Number 2: Queen of the Minor Key (2011)
This album is often raved about by fans who see it as her best and the one that established her ‘minor key’ persona, which was based on the key in which she tended to write most of her songs. All the songs are sole writes by Jewell, and with the band now performing on their fifth album together, the sound is very tight and coherent. The arrangements are the most varied. Rich Dubois fills in seamlessly on fiddle for the departed Dan Kellar, Tom West takes over organ duties from Jewell herself, and David Scholl adds flavouring with his tenor and baritone saxes. Her retro stylings are very much to the fore, established early on with a 90-second instrumental opener (Radio City) with a very close nod to the 60s: raunchy sax and surf guitar. I Remember You is a lovely, smoky blues, and is followed by the scorching rockabilly title track, short but so sweet. As usual she covers blues, country, jazz and folk, launching into the upbeat Bang Bang Bang (always a live favourite) or the Buddy Holly-style Hooked, and then eases gently through the outstanding and somewhat autobiographical Santa Fe, with exquisite steel guitar from Jerry Miller and Jewell’s own sweet harmonica, or the late night lounge ballad Only One, or the jazzy swing of Home to Me (here her Madeline Peyroux comparisons come to the fore). This is a consistently excellent album and really showcases how she is able to write songs in any style she chooses, and is always the focus of the songs, clear and upfront, near the mic, despite the truly excellent backing that she extracts from her band.
Number 1: Sundown over Ghost Town (2015)
So, number one, the choice of some, though not so many, released 4 years after Queen of the Minor Key. The tone of this fabulous album was influenced by Jewell’s return from Boston to Boise, where the wide-open spaces gave Jewell inspiration for new songs and more autobiographical than she was used to writing. Jewell described the album as “a very Idaho album: in the west in general is where I draw a lot of inspiration. But this one is extra Idaho, because not only was it completely written here, it was also recorded here, and all of our guest musicians are Idahoans.” The variety of musical styles is still there: country, blues, rockabilly, retro rock, jazz all feature with the help of Jake Gardner on trumpet, Jake Hoffman on steel guitar, and Steve Fulton on a number of keys. The songs feel a little more optimistic than on previous albums, but that may just be what familiar places seem to do.
The first two lines on opener Worried Mind set the tone for the album: “Been all around this world / Just to come back to you”, a largely acoustic offering with guitar, fiddle and steel dominating proceedings, until a laid-back electric guitar solo. There are references to ‘home’ throughout: “There was a place in the pines / A little spot, I called it mine”, from Hallelujah Band, the entire track My Hometown, a highlight on an album of highlights; slow, lilting with great interplay between the players, and Needle and Thread, a melancholic and thought-provoking song that explores the idea of finding solace and comfort in one’s roots: “Home is the needle and thread / For the hole in the lifeboat”.
There are, as usual, several influences, as she uses memories and songs from the past to create her art. Some Things Weren’t Meant To Be has echoes of acoustic Neil Young, while Down the Road captures her Billie Holiday phrasing, and Pages is a gentle rocker that has a lovely cinematic Western feel to it: but the absolute standout on this album is the down south, quasi-Mexican Rio Grande, with its mariachi trumpet competing with electric guitar; it’s very cinematic and very Jewell: “This place plays tricks on me / I don’t know why I’m here / So peaceful and serene / But it only brings me tears / Good lord it only brings me tears”.
The birth of her daughter Mavis in 2014 also helped with her restored creativity, and the album closes on a lovely ballad addressed to her daughter: Songbird just has Jewell on acoustic guitar and harmonica, and brings to an end one of the sweetest, most compact and inspirational albums of that or any other year, and probably Jewell’s most fully realised album. It’s more restrained than anything of hers that went before and, being largely on the less energetic side, allows Jerry Miller (surely one of the most underrated guitarists ever) to take more delicate solos on a variety of instruments than on previous outings. Jason Beek and Johnny Sciascia (on exclusively upright bass) make a fine rhythm section (for the seventh time), but Jewell is always firmly the star, as on every album, her voice a thing of beauty and always front and centre.
