Saturday Night at Skipper's Smokehouse with Eilen Jewell!

Last night marked the third time that Linda, Duane and I have seen Eilen Jewell and her band in concert at Skipper's Smokehouse.  It's always nice to 'pig out' on fresh seafood at Skipper's before the entertainment.  I couldn't resist their fried shrimp with hush puppies and a side of black beans and yellow rice.  Dessert is always a nice way to top off dinner.  All three of us decided to go for it with double chocolate cake for Duane and me and pecan pie with bourbon for Linda.  Yum!

It was kind of nice that Eilen Jewell actually went on first due to some
scheduling problems, since she was the headliner.  As usual, she put on a great show.  Her band is really good but, for me, it's her voice that makes her stand out of from other female artists.  Linda is probably her biggest fan of the three of us -- she has all of Eilen's CDs.  

Skipper's was packed.  Many people were standing all evening but didn't seem to mind.  The humidity was... well, this is Florida so it was pretty bad.  Eilen commented on it since she lives in Idaho which has basically zero humidity and is very dry.  She noted what the humidity does to one's hair among other things.  We know, Eilen, we know...  After playing Decatur, Georgia tonight, the band was heading for a European tour so it was nice that they played Skipper's.

It was a great night out and I didn't even notice any mosquitoes.  They can be a real problem around here.  Guess we got lucky all around.  'Til next time.

    

Eilen Jewell and her band return to Skipper's Smokehouse!

Duane, Linda and I last saw Eilen Jewell and her band perform almost exactly two years ago at Skipper's Smokehouse.  When we heard she was coming back, we knew we wanted to see her show again.  Besides her terrific voice and songwriting, Eilen has a top-notch band.  We had all noticed when we last heard them that the guitarist, Jerry Miller, was a stand-out.  This time around, Jerry Miller and the rest of Eilen's band played as the second act after a group from Gainesville called Nook & Cranny played.  Nook & Cranny was a good band for an opener.  The girl singer had a big voice and the band featured some nice solos from the violinist (or I guess I should say 'fiddle player'). 

Jerry Miller has released a CD of his own music -- mostly instrumentals -- and his songwriting ability is on par with his playing.  Really enjoyed his part of the show.  Then Eilin came on and joined the band.  As usual, her distinctive voice rang true and clear in the night air.  She sang a mix of songs from all of her records and took requests.  A great show by all involved.

Eilin on the right.

Before the concert, we had our dinner at Skipper's.  Nothing like a good reason for some fried shrimp, hush puppies and key lime pie.  REAL key lime pie with graham cracker crust.  Yum.  The three of us were pretty stuffed by the time we finished eating.  It's a good thing we don't go to Skipper's too often.  Our waistlines couldn't handle it.

While eating we noticed that Eilen and her band were having dinner on the outside area of part of Skipper's.  I had my back to a screened window on my side of the booth but Linda got a quick shot of Eilen waiting for her dinner.  That's her on the right.  We're so subtle.



I wish I had remembered to bring my camera -- not that that means I would have gotten any good shots -- but Linda did get close to the band with her phone and shot several.  The pic below was the best of the ones she took during their performance.   If Eilen and her band come your way, they're terrific in concert, so make a point to check them out.

Eilen and her band performing. 

Good food, good friends, great music

Met some friends at Skipper's Smokehouse for dinner and a concert last night.  Great weather for it!  Finally starting to cool down in the evenings here.  My friend, Linda, is a big fan of singer Eilen Jewell and her band and talked us into going to see her perform.

Skipper's is known for their seafood and we all pigged out on their fried shrimp, hush puppies, fries and cole slaw.  Of course, there was some imbibing as well. Two bands opend for Eilen Jewell's band.  The first was Barren River Trio, a local band, then The Nouveaux Honkies.  Nice bands for the lead-up to Eilen.  She and her band put on a terrific show.  Her guitarist is incredible.  Linda and Duane got their CDs signed by Eilen Jewell after the show.   Happy campers.

Eilen autographed Linda's CD

Here is Eilen and her band performing Warning Signs.