{"id":17576,"date":"2019-09-30T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17576"},"modified":"2019-09-30T15:02:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T19:02:25","slug":"eilen-jewell-multigenre-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/30\/eilen-jewell-multigenre-master\/","title":{"rendered":"Eilen Jewell: Multigenre Master"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Those who heard Idaho-born Eilen Jewell’s 2005 debut album Boundary Country<\/i>, may have thought of her as merely the latest in a long line of Americana\/country singer\/songwriters. Clearly talented, she displayed a fine voice and incisive approach to songwriting. That recording is best characterized as subtle, laid back and relatively unassuming. But Jewell’s 2007’s follow-up, Letters to Sinners & Strangers<\/i>, showcases a looser, more self-assured artist. It features a dozen tunes that are more varied while leaning more upon a honky-tonk aesthetic. The unassuming character remains, but it’s placed into a wider context. And the arrangements are more satisfying as well.<\/p>\n

Those two releases were only the beginning; Jewell has been on a creative upswing ever since. The jangly \u201cRain Roll In\u201d opens 2009’s Sea of Tears<\/i>, and it conjured warm memories of The Byrds and Jackie DeShannon. Jewell’s version of the oft-covered \u201cShakin’ All Over\u201d feels a bit like the manner in which Chris Isaak might approach it. Jewell manages the trick of exploring various genres without once sounding less than fully immersed and sincere; she wears that variety like a set of comfortable clothes.<\/p>\n

Queen of the Minor Key<\/i>, (2011) pushes things even farther as Jewell brings listeners her take on rhythm and blues, surf rock and more. Yet she keeps one foot firmly planted in country traditions: \u201cReckless\u201d is cast in a pure classic country mold.<\/p>\n

In 2015 Jewell released a 2CD live set. Live at the Narrows<\/i> is varied yet cohesive, and offers the energy of a concert with the eclecticism of a musical travelogue. The band approaches \u201cShakin’ All Over\u201d at breakneck speed, drawing subtly from bluegrass and punk approaches.<\/p>\n

Nearly simultaneous with Live at the Narrows<\/i>‘ release was the comparatively subdued studio set, Sundown Over Ghost Town<\/i>. A decade into her recording career, Jewell sounds even more self-assured, with nothing to prove but plenty to offer.<\/p>\n

Even against the varied backdrop of her previous body of work, Down Hearted Blues<\/i> came as a bit of a surprise. Though she’s an accomplished songwriter, here Jewell digs into obscure blues tune by well-known artists, giving them a slow-burn reading that brings them beyond the boundaries of the blues idiom.<\/p>\n

Jewell’s most recent release, Gypsy<\/i>, debuted in August. Described in advance press as \u201cpersonal and sometimes political.\u201d The first single \u201c79 Cents (The Meow Song)\u201d is twangy and musically playful in a singalong way, but its lyrics are sharp as a dagger as they make a sly yet pointed reference to the current occupant of the White House (\u201che’s grabbin’ us right in the meow\u201d). Come for the music, stay for the lyrics; either way, Jewell’s best work seems yet to come.<\/p>\n

This essay appeared previously in NewCity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who heard Idaho-born Eilen Jewell’s 2005 debut album Boundary Country, may have thought of her as merely the latest in a long line of Americana\/country singer\/songwriters. Clearly talented, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3236],"class_list":["post-17576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-eilen-jewell","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17576"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17635,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17576\/revisions\/17635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}