BY ANDREW BAILEY
BG Independent News Correspondent
Singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell and her band are using the third set at the Black Swamp Arts Festival as a chance to show a live Bowling Green audience their 2019 album “Gypsy.”
With last year’s festival, Jewell didn’t have the packed Main Stage audience to listen to her eighth studio album.
Now, she’s setting out on her “unofficial ‘Gypsy’ tour,” stopping in Bowling Green on Sept. 10 for a 6:30 p.m. set.
Her “’50s sound” mixed with a “modern take on vintage rock & roll, blues, country, surf (rock), and rockabilly” is the drawing point for audiences, she said. She’ll be playing from the 12-song “Gypsy,” tapping into hits from her back catalog like “High Shelf Booze,” and maybe taking audience requests, too.
“Fans who have come to see me before will know what to expect,” she said. “We’ll be onstage with a sound all our own, taking elements from all sorts of genres.”
The Boise, Idaho native’s inspiration comes from a variety of artists too, from country legends like Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn, to rock outfits like The Kinks and The Zombies.
After performing at BSAF in 2008 and 2012, she’ll be accompanied by three bandmates this year: Jerry Miller on electric guitar, Matthew Murphy on upright bass, and Jason Beek on drums and backup vocals.
For the past year, she’s been playing livestream and the rare live show when she had the opportunity, but she wasn’t “capturing the same magic.”
“I always felt grateful to be doing the livestreams and being supported by my fans. I still got to perform for my fans and do what I love, but it wasn’t the same as a live show, there’s really no substitute. There’s something about being up on stage and seeing so many people out in front of you, it’s a feeling that I couldn’t get for a whole year,” she said.
“I had a lot of grief about the loss of live shows.”
But, every passing day without a live show made her understand what they meant to her career. She reflected on past shows, and realized it was seeing fans in person and hearing their cheers that kept her coming back.
Now, Jewell is ready to return to the live stage.
“(The pandemic) made me appreciate live shows even more, especially my live shows,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever take it for granted again, making music with my band, and performing it in front of big audiences. After a year off, we’re ready more ready for BSAF than we’ve ever been.”
