Eilen Jewell

Biography

Eilen Jewell ( EE-lin; born April 6, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from Boise, Idaho. She has released nine studio albums and one live album. Her musical style crosses several areas of Americana music, ranging from blues to gospel, country, rockabilly, and honky-tonk. Given during an on-stage introduction at a show in Boston by a fellow musician, she has taken the title "Queen of the Minor Key×Queen of the Minor Key28 June 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Radio City1:362I Remember You3:513Queen of the Minor Key2:034That's Where I'm Going2:145Santa Fe4:326Warning Signs2:327Reckless2:078Over Again4:029Bang Bang Bang1:4510Hooked2:2611Only One3:4512Long Road2:5113Home to Me2:5514Kalimotxo1:19".

Early life and education

Jewell grew up in Boise, Idaho. Demonstrating an early interest in music, she requested piano lessons at age seven, and began writing and recording her own songs a year later. She began learning guitar at fifteen, with her father's record collection raising her interest in learning how to play like blues performers Mississippi John Hurt and Howlin' Wolf. Jewell attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Career

Jewell began her musical career busking on the streets of Santa Fe while attending college. She then moved to Los Angeles and performed on the streets of Venice Beach. Jewell subsequently moved to Massachusetts in 2003, first living with friends in Great Barrington before moving east to Boston. There, she briefly busked in subway stations which she called "the opposite" of Venice Beach, saying the cold, underground atmosphere compelled her to give up busking and seek to perform at local music clubs.

Boston: 2003–2012

Soon following her relocation and decision to try performing on stage, Jewell met drummer Jason Beek. Recording a "live demo" album in 2005 called Nowhere in Time, Jewell landed a Saturday residency at the now-closed Tír na nÓg pub in Union Square, Somerville. Beek introduced her to guitarist Jerry Miller, and with the addition of upright bass player Johnny Sciascia, the core of Jewell's band for over a decade was formed. Beek and Jewell married, and Beek served as Jewell's manager as well as being her drummer and husband.
During an interview with Cape Cod Times in 2017, Jewell remarked: "If it weren’t for Boston and the Boston music scene and Boston being a magnet for great musicians, I don’t think I would have a musical career.” Prior to performing a show during that time, she was introduced to patrons by a fellow musician who, remarking on her penchant for writing songs in minor key, dubbed Jewell "The Queen of the Minor Key".
Jewell's first studio album Boundary County×Boundary County30 March 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Boundary County3:462Till You Lay Down Your Heavy Load3:163Hey Hey Hey3:134Fourth Degree4:045Mess Around4:246Back to Dallas3:197No Place to Go3:438So Long Blues3:409Gotta Get Right2:3810The Flood4:3111Blow It All Away5:5512Someone's Arms3:5013You Can't Take My Song Away2:15 was released in 2006. Americana record label Signature Sounds Recordings founder Jim Olsen was captivated by the album, later remarking that listening to it “feels like reading a long letter from an old friend”. Olsen signed Jewell to his label, releasing the follow-up Letters from Sinners & Strangers in 2007.

Jewell, along with other members of her band and members of the Tarbox Ramblers, formed The Sacred Shakers for Sunday gospel brunch performances at The Plough and Stars pub in Cambridge in 2008. The band performed decades-old gospel blues songs mainly found in the public domain. In early 2009 Jewell released the album Sea of Tears×Sea of Tears21 April 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Rain Roll In2:472Sweet Rose3:103Shakin' All Over3:044Sea of Tears2:465Fading Memory3:436Nowhere in No Time3:127I'm Gonna Dress in Black4:038One of Those Days3:579Final Hour3:0110The Darkest Day2:3211Everywhere I Go2:5712Codeine Arms3:38.
In 2010, Jewell released Butcher Holler, a collection featuring the band covering songs Loretta Lynn wrote and sang in the first dozen years of her career. Referring to her adopted nickname, in 2011 she issued her fourth album of original music, Queen of the Minor Key×Queen of the Minor Key28 June 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Radio City1:362I Remember You3:513Queen of the Minor Key2:034That's Where I'm Going2:145Santa Fe4:326Warning Signs2:327Reckless2:078Over Again4:029Bang Bang Bang1:4510Hooked2:2611Only One3:4512Long Road2:5113Home to Me2:5514Kalimotxo1:19.
Jewell and her band have toured the U.S., Canada, Europe, the UK and Australia, including performances at South by Southwest and NPR's World Cafe. The album Live at The Narrows×Live at The Narrows11 November 2014 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 29 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Where They Never Say Your Name3:282Sea of Tears2:283Bang Bang Bang2:294Dusty Boxcar Wall3:555Reckless2:056Too Hot to Sleep2:187Rich Man's World3:428Mess Around4:069Santa Fe5:1110Rio Grande3:4711Rain Roll In2:3712High Shelf Booze4:1813In the End4:1514Warning Signs2:32Disc 21I Remember You4:542Heartache Boulevard2:453Back to Dallas3:294Why I'm Walkin'2:485Sweet Rose3:146Blue Highway2:367Drop Down Daddy3:288Boundary County3:479Everywhere I Go3:1810Fading Memory3:2211Head Over Heels3:0512The Flood5:0813Thanks a Lot3:0214If You Catch Me Stealing5:2415Shakin' All Over8:52, recorded in Fall River, was released in 2014.

Return to Boise: since 2012

After living in Boston for several years, Jewell returned to Boise with Beek in around 2012. Her 2015 album, Sundown Over Ghost Town×Sundown Over Ghost Town26 May 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Worried Mind3:162Hallelujah Band2:543Rio Grande3:234Half-Broke Horse3:275My Hometown3:246Needle & Thread3:417Down the Road2:368Some Things Weren't Meant to Be3:079Pages2:3110Green Hills2:2411Here With Me3:2412Songbird3:10, was largely inspired by her return to Boise. The 2017 album release of Down Hearted Blues×Down Hearted Blues22 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1It’s Your Voodoo Working3:012Another Night to Cry2:543You’ll Be Mine2:374Down Hearted Blues3:415I’m a Little Mixed Up3:026You Gonna Miss Me2:447Walking With Frankie3:518Nothing in Rambling3:059Don’t Leave Poor Me2:3510Crazy Mixed Up World2:2911You Know My Love4:2412The Poor Girl’s Story3:42 marked Jewell's second set of cover songs, featuring compositions by vintage blues artists such as Alberta Hunter, who penned the title song. This was followed in 2019 by Gypsy, which featured Jewell on electric guitar for the first time.
Jewell and Beek's marriage began to fall apart in 2020, and the couple divorced. Jewell's 2023 album release Get Behind the Wheel×Get Behind the Wheel5 May 2023 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Alive4:242Crooked River3:533Lethal Love3:064Come Home Soon2:445Winnemucca4:176Could You Would You3:167Breakaway3:378You Were a Friend of Mine3:389Outsiders3:5010Silver Wheels and Wings3:1911The Bitter End5:23 chronicles the breakup with the closing song "The Bitter End". In late 2024, Jewell released a vinyl LP version of Butcher Holler featuring new cover artwork, new live versions of two songs, and a cover of Loretta Lynn's 1975 single "The Pill".
In a post on her Facebook page on February 15, 2026, Jewell announced she would be taking a possibly permanent break from touring, writing "A gut feeling is telling me to get off the road, at least for now. After 2026, touring and I will part ways for a year, maybe two, maybe fifty...it’s hard to say at this point." After featuring the song in her shows during the past year, Jewell released a single version of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" on March 24, 2026. The song comments on dehumanization, and laments that the nameless label 'deportee×Deportee24 March 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Deportee4:11' was used in reporting about farm workers who died in a plane crash while being expelled from the United States in 1948, a situation the lyrics seek to repair by having the singer voice victims' names. Commenting on the song, Jewell said "It’s disheartening to think that Woody Guthrie wrote 'Deportee' nearly 80 years ago and it still rings true. What can I do but join him in fighting fascism the only way I know how? With my conscience, with my guitar, with my voice".

Personal life

Jewell was married to her drummer and manager Jason Beek between 2003 and 2020. After a first mention in a social media posting about her "fiancé" in June 2023, Jewell married actor Blake Shields in November 2024. The couple collaborated on an event dubbed "Boise Art Happening", with storytelling, music, and poetry reading, in March, 2026 in Boise.

Studio albums

Boundary County (2006)
Letters from Sinners & Strangers (2007)
Sea of Tears (2009)
Butcher Holler: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn (2010)
Queen of the Minor Key (2011)
Sundown Over Ghost Town (2015)
Down Hearted Blues (2017)
Gypsy (2019)
Get Behind the Wheel (2023)

EPs and singles

Heartache Boulevard (2008) EP
"A Satisfied Mind×A Satisfied Mind3 April 2020 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1A Satisfied Mind5:04" (2020)
"Green River" / "Summertime" (2020)
"Pretty Paper×Pretty Paper14 December 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Pretty Paper3:39" (2021)
"Deportee×Deportee24 March 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Deportee4:11" (2026)
"Soul Kitchen" (2026)

with The Sacred Shakers

The Sacred Shakers (The Sacred Shakers) (2008)
Live (The Sacred Shakers) (2014)