By Kathy Sands-Boehmer
Eilen Jewell (Photo: Jennifer Lucey-Brzoza)
Musical influences? Your latest CD, Sea of Tears, suggests a multitude of artists to me but I’d love to hear your response.
The musicians who inspire me the most today are the ones who inspired me first. Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday are the king and queen of my scene. There are many others in the royal family with them: Lucinda Williams, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Bessie Smith, the Kinks and Van Morrison’s first band Them, just to name a few.
How did a girl from Boise end up in Boston? That’s a highly atypical journey. Do tell.
I came here for the music, mainly. I had moved to the east coast, the Berkshires, to be with two friends of mine who I met in college in New Mexico. When I decided to get serious about performing, everyone in those parts told me that Boston was the place to go, so I went, and they were right.
If you had to describe the Boston music scene, what would you say?
It’s very diverse, welcoming and yet competitive in all the right ways.
Can you explain the difference between the Eilen Jewell Band and the Sacred Shakers?
The Sacred Shakers is my gospel side project. The band I play with when I’m just performing under my name might play a gospel song or two during one of our shows, but the Shakers play only gospel music. Everyone who is in my band is also in the Shakers, but the Shakers also have four additional members, for a practically-big-band grand total of eight. There are five lead singers. We all take turns leading songs, both on the record and at our live shows, and just about every song has harmonies. As for the instruments, the Shakers have a banjo, a fiddle, an upright bass, an electric guitar, three acoustic guitars, and a drum set. Like my regular band, we’re influenced by a mix of blues, rockabilly, bluegrass and country, and it’s a lot of fun.
What’s on the near and far musical horizon?
Well, I’m going to take a break shortly before Christmas and do some writing somewhere in the woods in Idaho. I’ve been touring almost non-stop with my band this year and haven’t been able to find much time for writing. I hope to find some inspiration in the ol’ homeland to help with the conception of a new record. It seems like Sea of Tears just came out, but it’s always time to think about the next thing. Time really flies. After that, the next big plan for us is our first tour of Australia.
Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with recording artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blog/txp/blogspot/, while some also appear in the Features section here on AcousticMusicScene.com.
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