Eilen Jewell takes the 'Wheel' at World Records

Dec. 5—Singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell is a big draw in the Bay Area and Southland, both of which are hosting sold-out shows for her this weekend. Luckily for her Bakersfield fans, tickets remain for her Saturday show at World Records.

A lot had changed for the performer since Jewell played the F Street venue in 2018. When the pandemic brought touring and recording to a halt in 2020, the pressure hit home when she and Jason Beek, her husband of nearly a decade, decided to call it quits.

"My husband was also my drummer and my manager," Jewell explained in her bio on her website. "So in one fell swoop, it felt like I'd lost everything."

In "a time of deep grief and upheaval and suffering," as she told Nashville public radio station WMOT-FM, she left her Boise home for a small cabin in the Idaho mountains and engaged in self-examination.

As she had in the past, she turned to writing to process her experience. The music and lyrics touched on loss and regret as well as the need for human connection.

Jewell said on her website, "I used to think I was a natural hermit, but 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. We're all social creatures just trying to find home, and we need each other for that."

The songs, which she considered some of her most emotionally nuanced writing, brought Beek back to the band.

"We'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."

The result was "Get Behind The Wheel," her latest album released in May. Her current tour is in promotion of the new music.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Saturday when attendees can also enjoy dinner before the show at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets, ranging from $30 to $40, are available at World Records, 2815 F St., or by calling 661-325-1982.

Visit shopworldrecords.com for more information.

Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.