Eilen Jewell

The Evening Muse

May 12, 2009

Photos coming soon!

The Deal: Boston-based Eilen Jewell performs hour-and-a-half-long set for small crowd. (Listen to two CD tracks in the review.)

The Good: There may have been a small crowd at The Evening Muse on Tuesday night, but those in attendance were either fans or left as one. Jewell's brand of Americana combines elements of country, blues, rockabilly and jazz into an area that at one moment sounds like Squirrel Nut Zippers minus the horns, another sounds like Billie Holiday or even like classic '50s rock at another.

Jewell opened up the night with "Rain Roll In" off of her latest album, Sea of Tears which foretold a bit of the setlist as she played most of the songs from the April-released CD. Jewell's vocals had a nice tone that fell somewhere in that Katherine Whalen/Holiday range. The band rolled between the slow swing of "High Shelf Blues," the mid-tempo "Sea of Tears""Sea of Tears" and the upbeat groove of "Shakin' All Over.""Shakin All Over."

The music of the night was highlighted by a good bit of stand-up bass, but mostly the light shined on guitarist Jerry Miller. Jewell found time to perform every request including "Heartache Boulevard" and Loretta Lynn's "Fist City" and returned for an encore, as well. She also played a great Western swing version of Lynn's "You Wanna Give Me a Lift." No surprise that Jewell's guitar is signed by Lynn.

The Bad: Granted it was a Tuesday night, but there were only about 40 people there.

The Verdict: You should definitely check her out the next time she's passing through town.