She is often categorized as contemporary folk, but in truth there seems to be no American musical style that Eilen Jewell can’t make her own.  With her wonderfully enticing and soulful voice, she infuses everything from country weepers to rockabilly ravers, blues torchers to seductive lounge-noir gems with feeling and taste.  A native of Boise, Idaho, Eilen comes to the 2019 Sugar Maple Festival by way of Santa Fe, Los Angeles and Boston, tours in North America, Europe, the UK and Australia, appearances at SXSW and on NPR, and a series of well-received albums dating back to 2005, including a new album of originals forthcoming in late summer of 2019.

Eilen and her band, which includes husband Jason Beek on drums, combine strong original material with familiar and obscure classics plucked from a surprising range of blues and country subgenres.  By turns wistful, jaunty, scorching or heartbreaking, Eilen finds the beating heart of every song and delivers it with unflappable elegance and with a voice described by NPR as “sweet and clear…with a killer instinct lurking beneath the shiny surface.”

~written by Brad Wolbert