Customer Reviews

Boundary County

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A very laid back Album, very easy on the ear, definately a star in the making.
Very dificult to package a little bit folky and a little bit country roots/americana, very bare sound just a lot of voice, and little bit of guitar and drums very nice indeed especially later in the day after a bad day at work, relaxing music for adults.

I originally wrote this review for Rate Your Music on May 10, 2006

So sometimes my tendency to be early when I want to be somewhere works out for me. It was the Harvard Square May Fair last weekend, and I was excited because the lead singer of Clem Snide was playing, and I'd heard great things about them. I was well early because I wanted to walk around the fair a bit. I picked up a couple of cd's at one booth and had a terrific Indian meal of chicken tikka and goat curry (a first for me).

Anyway, when I got to the main stage, a local hip-hop band was playing, but I wasn't into it, so I walked back around the fair. When I got back, the next band was setting up, and there was a fairly cute girl who was the lead singer, apparently, so I decided to stay. A truly fortuitous moment, because by the time she had finished her second song, I decided that I had found the next big thing.

Eilen Jewell has a voice a smooth as silk, somewhere between Billie Holiday and Norah Jones, and sings songs that sound just like Gillian Welch or Lucinda Williams. A big standup bass and fiddle in the background completed the scene. I was immediately taken and rushed over to buy this cd. I was shocked to learn that she was a local artist (albeit transplanted from Idaho - Boston doesn't have much of a country scene), and performed regularly at a tiny Irish pub in Somerville named Tír na nÓg.

As good as her show was, this is even better. Terrific production values and even better songs, which sound like drinking a sloe gin fizz while watching the Mississippi roll by. Although this is credited as a solo release, she employs a full band and was labeled on the fair guide as "The Eilen Jewell Band." Brush drums, banjo, violin and upright bass, along with her smooth voice make for a relaxing, laid-back feel, but it is never dull, even upbeat at times, as on Track 6, "Back to Dallas," or especially on Track 9, "Gotta Get Right."

Neither is she afraid to tackle controversial subjects, Track 10, "The Flood," rips the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "The water takes them/Not one life line/Everyone just standing/Ringing their hands and crying//Can anyone among us please explain/What went down on the banks of the Ponchartrain?/No sir I don't believe it was the hurricane/That lay New Orleans to waste."

I consider this to be one of the finest, most enjoyable, alternative country albums of the year, and in contention for my favorite album of ANY genre of the year. Highly recommended.

What a treat this album is. The voice resemble something you may have heard on your parents turn-table. It is the album that when played demands all who are in earshot to stop dead and try to place which emotion this brilliant singer has tapped into. There is not a bad song in the bunch. Reminiscent of a cliche smoky bar where the beautiful singer who can actually sing throws sad and correct notes glitzy and demanding audiences. Backed by slinky, sometimes twangy acoustic guitar, throbbing bass, and a dash of electric cut, this album is fresh, and at the same time familiar with what you always knew great music should and could be.

I heard Eilen first on public radio and like her style.Queen of the minor chord. Her guitarist Jerry Miller,(not Moby Grape) is fantastic. I described them to friends a Norah Jones Meets Link Ray. I was able to get, "Letters from Sinners and Strangers at my local library. After that I was hooked. I downloaded, "Sea of Tears", from Amazon. I saw there show live in Hardwick Ma. and had to have all of her CD's. I just purchased "Boundary County" From Amazon, her first recording. No mp3s available so I had to order the CD. Although I liked her latest efforts more I was not disappointed. If you ever get to see them live do so.
Huricane Jerry

I've described Eilen Jewell a cross between Johnny Cash & Billie Holiday. She's got some of Johnny's sensibility and songwriting ability and some of Billie's amazing voice. Her backing band is excellent, especially her guitar player.

I am very fond of all her CDs to date; if I had to choose one it'd be Sea of Tears but this one is great too.

Her live performances are great, too, btw.

She is amazing. What a voice, what a sound, great band, great songs. Buy this and all Eilen Jewell albums at once, and go see her live.

I liked Eilen Jewell when I first heard her about 6 months ago. But I purchased Boundary County yesterday and wasn't happy to find politics when I got to the song The Flood. I don't mind music from people that I disagree with politically, although I don't want to hear it in their music. However, saying I wasn't happy in this case was putting it mildly...it was totally ignorant and irresponsible to include accusations of racism in The Flood, especially when it was directed at a president. Her music went out in my trash.