Eilen Jewell Band and Carrie Rodriguez

Event information

I am delighted to welcome back the splendid Eilen Jewell Band for the third time, on their annual visit to our shores and this time we will have the additional benefit of a full set from the lovely Carrie Rodriguez

Since her official 2006 debut album, ‘Boundary County’, Jewell has surveyed a wide range of traditional musical styles, from the folk and jug band leanings of her early recordings, through an album-length homage to Loretta Lynn and the country gospel of her work with The Sacred Shakers, right up to 2009's ‘Sea of Tears’, which bristled with the electricity of '60s UK garage rock and Chicago blues. Her latest CD ‘Queen of the Minor Key’ draws on everything from classic country to early R&B with an emphasis on sounds from the seamier side of the tracks. With dirty sax riffs and low-slung guitars, the instrumentals that bookend the album—"Radio City" and "Kalimotxo"—evoke the bump-and-grind exotica of vintage Southern California suburban saloons. Yet on the flipside, Jewell imbues slow, jazzy numbers like "I Remember You" and "Only One" with torch and tenacity that linger long past last call.

‘Queen of the Minor Key’ is also the first Eilen Jewell album to feature a significant number of guest players, even as she continues to work in close consort with her longtime trio of drummer Jason Beek, guitarist Jerry Miller, and upright bassist Johnny Sciascia. Zoe Muth and Big Sandy (of Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys) both contribute vocals. Further augmenting the sound are Rich Dubois on fiddle, David Sholl on tenor and baritone saxophones, and Tom West on organ.

Love and family have always been sources of inspiration for critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/musician Carrie Rodriguez, but never have they featured so prominently than on her brand new release ‘Love & Circumstance’, a covers album that includes songs written by her father, and once performed by her great aunt. Rodriguez' journey from teenage violin student to touring the world with the likes of Chip Taylor (famed songwriter of "Wild Thing), Lucinda Williams and Alejandro Escovedo, has resulted in a prodigious output of recordings - eight albums in as many years - for the young musician; with the new album, Carrie relies on others to handle the songwriting duties, she provides the interpretations.

Besides the contributions from her immediate family, ‘Love & Circumstance’, includes compositions from her extended musical family and friends, including John Hiatt/Nick Lowe/Ry Cooder/Jim Keltner (aka Little Village), Buddy Miller & Julie Miller, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt, M. Ward, Merle Haggard & Bonnie Owens, Hank Williams, and Lucinda Williams. As might be expected from her A-list connections, the list of players on ‘Love & Circumstance’ includes a sterling roster of music greats including Bill Frisell (guitars), Greg Leisz (pedal steel & slide guitars), Aoife O'Donovan (background vocals), and Buddy Miller (background vocals).

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