Honky–Tonk Heroine Eilen Jewell
by Peter Aaron
We opened up for her at the Calvin Theater in Northampton [Massachusetts] one night—Sept. 13 of last year. But what a great night it was! I got to meet her very briefly backstage, and she was just as charming and sweet as could be. She signed my guitar, so hopefully that will prove to be a good luck charm for me and the band.
Your rhythm section (bassist Johnny Sciascia and drummer Jason Beek) are fantastic players in their own right, but your guitarist Jerry Miller is so darn great that watching him play is at times almost impossible for the mind to process. How did you hook up with him and the rest of the band?
I met Jason first, at an old–time country music jam that a mutual friend of ours was hosting every week. Jason was instrumental in convincing me to move to Boston. When I did, a couple of months later, we decided we wanted to start a band. There were a couple of [previous] formations of this band, always with myself and Jason as the common threads. When it came time to record Boundary County, the first record, we were without a steady band. So Jason suggested Johnny and Jerry to record with us. He’s been a big fan of their other projects for a long time (The Spurs, The Cranktones, and The Coachmen). Of course, when I heard these bands I became a big fan, too. They agreed to record with us, and then somehow or other we just kept on playing together. Now I can’t imagine playing without them, they’re as much a part of the sound as I am.
You and several members of your band also have a side project called the Sacred Shakers. Tell us about that group.
It was Jason’s brainchild. He came up with the concept of doing a country gospel brunch every Sunday at a local bar. The bar would serve up the brunch and we would provide the gospel music in a country/bluegrass style. We had musical guests every week to help draw people...
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