Eilen Jewell had to move back to her hometown of Boise, ID for ‘Sundown over Ghost Town’ (May 26
/ Signature Sounds) to turn out as her most personal record to date, a
meditation on home. Written north of Boise in the mountains of Idaho,
Jewell’s fifth album sees the songwriter coming into the most emotional
writing of a career filled with vivid, evocative, metaphorical imagery.
Jewell says, “I’m more comfortable in my own skin, have a clearer sense
of who I am and the kind of music that I want make.”
Check out the first single “Rio Grande,” as premiered by CMT Edge, here.
The wide-angle landscapes where she wrote and recorded ‘Sundown Over
Ghost Town’ seep into the music: waters rush through gorges and canyons,
falls plunge down rugged cliffs, and Rocky Mountains towering above
wide-open vistas. With influences that range from Mavis Staples to Marty
Robbins and from Sleepy John Estes to Loretta Lynn, her broad-eared
approach to Americana lends itself to a cinematic sound.
Jewell’s influences come from the literary world as well as the musical
world. She cites poets Mary Oliver and Miller Williams along with
novelists John Steinbeck and William Faulkner as favorites who’ve made
an impression on her style. “One can use imagery as vehicle for talking
about anything,” she says simply. A pair of those images stand out on an
album full of them:
“A lucky horseshoe in a pile of junk…”
“A half-broke horse… too wild for this world, too tame for mustangs…”
Jewell has opened for Loretta Lynn and Lucinda Williams and sold out
headlining concerts this winter in NYC, Boston, and DC. NPR.org has
said, “She’s got a sweet and clear voice with a killer instinct lurking
beneath the shiny surface.” USA Today has proclaimed, “Give me more of
that voice… Dark and haunting… but alluring just the same.”
Stay tuned for announcement of a nationwide tour.
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