Eilen Jewell

Eilen Jewell (/ˈiːlɪn/ 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".

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.

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.

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 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.

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.