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โ€œThey say things have to get worse before they can get better,โ€ Eilen Jewell reflects. โ€œAnd for a while there, everything got worse.โ€

Indeed, in the span of just a few months, Jewell watched as her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fell apart in a series of spectacular, heartbreaking implosions. By the time the dust had finally settled, the critically acclaimed singer and songwriter was grieving and shocked, living in a remote cabin in the mountains and unsure if sheโ€™d ever get to make music again.

โ€œUp to that point, Iโ€™d just been going with the flow and letting outside forces dictate the path of my life,โ€ Jewell explains. โ€œLosing so much so fast forced me to figure out what really mattered. It made me realize that Iโ€™ve only got this one life, and Iโ€™d better get behind the wheel if I want to make the most of it.โ€

With Get Behind The Wheel, her ninth studio album, Jewell does precisely that, planting herself firmly in the driverโ€™s seat as she picks up the pieces and finds new purpose and meaning in the process. Co-produced by multi-instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the collection pushes Jewellโ€™s trademark blend of vintage roots-noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption. The bandโ€™s performances are truly electrifying here, blending elements of early rock and rockabilly with old school country and soul, and Jewellโ€™s delivery is timeless to match, her voice effortlessly moving from unguarded intimacy to icy cool and back, sometimes within the very same song. The result is Jewellโ€™s boldest album yet, a powerful work of artistic alchemy that transforms heartache into genuine creative rebirth.

โ€œI never wanted to make something that just wallowed in its misery because thatโ€™s not what I got from this whole experience,โ€ Jewell says. โ€œIโ€™d be lying if I said it wasnโ€™t tough, but I survived and Iโ€™ve come out so much stronger and more in tune with myself, and thatโ€™s the journey I wanted to capture in these songs.โ€

Hailed as โ€œone of Americaโ€™s most intriguing, creative, and idiosyncratic voicesโ€ by American Songwriter, Jewell built her career the old fashioned way, touring relentlessly with the kind of undeniable live show that converts the uninitiated into instant acolytes. Over the course of nearly two decades on the road, the Idaho native has crisscrossed the US, Europe, and Australia countless times, playing an endless series of headline and festival dates in addition to sharing bills with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Loretta Lynn, Mavis Staples, Wanda Jackson, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Rolling Stone lauded Jewellโ€™s โ€œclever writing,โ€ while NPR declared that she has a โ€œsweet and clear voice with a killer instinct lurking beneath the shiny surface,โ€ and The Washington Post mused that โ€œif Neko Case, Madeleine Peyroux and Billie Holiday had a baby girl who grew up to front a rockabilly band, sheโ€™d probably sound a lot like Eilen Jewell.โ€

โ€œFrom the outside, Iโ€™m sure everything looked very fun and exciting,โ€ Jewell reflects, โ€œbut somewhere along the way I started to feel like I was stuck in a life that wasnโ€™t my own, and I started drinking too much to escape all the stress.โ€

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic brought touring and recording to a grinding halt, things were nearing a breaking point at home, and Jewell and her husband of roughly a decade decided to call it quits.

โ€œMy husband was also my drummer and my manager,โ€ Jewell explains, โ€œso in one fell swoop, it felt like Iโ€™d lost everything.โ€

The untimely deaths of several close friends and family members followed shortly after, and Jewell soon found herself in the midst of a painful period of transition and self-examination. She left her home in Boise for a small cabin in the Idaho mountains, where she dove deep into meditation. She went for long hikes in the wilderness to stave off the constant threat of panic attacks, and she began experimenting with psychedelics in a search for clarity amidst the chaos.

โ€œWhen Iโ€™m going through something big, I just instinctively start writing,โ€ says Jewell, who began documenting her journey through lyrics and melodies. โ€œI didnโ€™t think Iโ€™d get to make another record, but I needed to write anyway just for the catharsis of it.โ€

The songs proved to be some of the finest, most arresting and emotionally nuanced writing of Jewellโ€™s careers so far. Her ex-husband agreed

โ€œHe really loved the songs, too,โ€ Jewell explains, โ€œand he ultimately decided to stay with the band and come back on as my manager. Weโ€™ve always worked well together, and we co-parent really well, too, so when it was time to record, I think we were all just excited to get back to something that felt like normal.โ€

That excitement is palpable on Get Behind The Wheel, which opens with the slow-burning โ€œAlive.โ€ Raw and brooding, the track builds from a whisper to a gritty roar as it revels in the crucible-like quality of complete reinvention. โ€œYou gotta get behind the wheel / You gotta drive,โ€ Jewell sings over blistering guitars. โ€œBaby how you feel? / I feel so alive.โ€ Like much of the album, the song grapples with a complicated swirl: longing, sadness, freedom, and fierce determination all churn just beneath the surface. The searing โ€œLethal Loveโ€ reckons with the dark side of romance, while the bittersweet โ€œYou Were A Friend Of Mineโ€ contemplates loss and regret, and the soulful โ€œCome Home Soonโ€ finds new faith in the power of human connection.

โ€œI used to think I was a natural hermit,โ€ Jewell reflects, โ€œbut I had some really profound experiences with complete strangers over the past few years that made me realize how important the bonds we share with other people are. Weโ€™re all social creatures just trying to find home, and we need each other for that.โ€

Such revelations help keep the album from ever drifting too far into despair. The playful โ€œWinnemucca,โ€ for instance, embraces an openhearted joy. The instant classic โ€œCrooked Riverโ€ finds fervent hope in the possibility of a fresh start. The dreamy โ€œSilver Wheels and Wingsโ€ sheds the trappings of the self to find buried spiritual treasure.

โ€œI recently got engaged to someone Iโ€™ve known since I was a kid,โ€ Jewell says, โ€œand I think thatโ€™s a big part of the joyful element in this record. Sure, thereโ€™s a lot of heaviness and loss here, but thereโ€™s also a lot of hope and love and redemption, too. Thereโ€™s a phoenix rising from the ashes.โ€

Things had to get worse before they could get better, and for Eilen Jewell, the best, it seems, is still to come.

Sfm101

Steve Fulton Music

A bottomless barrel of musical ear candy, Steve Fulton Music is reminiscent of the heydays of folk rock and Americana. His high-energy performances (duo, trio or more) transport audiences back in time as Steve Fulton Music blends musicianship, creativity and tradition. The smooth vocal stylings, string instruments and electric guitar will keep you dancing, singing and wanting more!

Performing solo, duo, trio or a larger combo up to 9 players when the need arises. Steve Fulton Music is reminiscent of the heydays of folk rock and Americana. High-energy performances transport audiences back in time as Steve Fulton Music blends musicianship, creativity and tradition. The smooth vocal stylings, string instruments and electric guitar will keep you dancing, singing and wanting more!

Steve Fulton is a longtime singer-songwriter, producer and recording engineer based in Boise Idaho, where he owns and operates Audio Lab recording studios (www.audiolab.org).

For 12 years Fulton was singer, guitarist and principal songwriter in the group House of Hoi Polloi in which time they released five albums and toured the northwest extensively.

Steve currently performs under the name Steve Fulton Music having released 3 Records on his Uncommon Records label, Shock Remission, Said & Heard and, Eponym. Eponym was the #1 seller at independent record store, The Record Exchange in 2016.

Fulton has also opened for Bruce Cockburn, Tori Amos, Jewel, Shaun Colvin, John Hiatt, Michael Franti and the Wallflowers to name a few.

Pride Summer 2025