Coal Miner's Grand daughter - A Biography
Jan Bell performs solo and with her Brooklyn based band -
The Maybelles.
At barely twenty years old, Jan Bell came to America from northern England to teach theater and story telling. As far as music, she first set out playing in her newly adopted neighborhood - d.u.m.b.o. (down under the manhattan bridge overpass) by the Brooklyn Bridge. Jan landed in a burgeoning artist neighborhood, where the only bar was an iron workers tavern that had stood there for a century. As soon as she figured out that a lot of the bridge workers were Johnny Cash and Hank Williams fans - she launched The Urban Cowgirl Cabaret!
Pedal Steel, violin, banjo and upright bass would squeeze onto a pick up truck stage singing original country blues, and songs by their honky tonk heroes. Three part harmony sailed up toward the Brooklyn Bridge, and roof top water towers.
An accelerated rate of gentrification has since led to the demolition of the old 'Between the Bridges' bar to make way for luxury condominiums - and its hard to find a place today where young artists and older working men and women can sit and get to know each other - although 68 Jay street BAR is now carrying the torch! In the ten years or so since those halcyon days, the area has seen an influx of high rise condominiums, high end retail stores, and exclusive restaurants.
Jan had already spent several years on the road, alongside folk singer songwriter Jason Eklund, who introduced her to the folk festival world outside of the big city. Their itinerant life took them deep into the woods, back roads, mountain ranges, south western desert lands, and the streets of New Orleans. Jason introduced Jan to the music of Woody Guthrie, The Carter family and many other American legends, besides teaching her how to drive and play guitar along the way!
Jan was born into a coal mining family in Yorkshire, England. In her song 'Yorkshire Water', she sings her Grand father's words about a life spent down the mine. Her song 'Aunt Molly Jackson' chronicles the life of the outspoken union woman from Harlan County Kentucky, who went on to make a mark on the Greenwich Village Folk revival, inspiring a very young Pete Seeger. Jan also loves to sing songs by American folk singers such as Jean Ritchie, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. Although Loretta Lynn was the first one she knew.
Jan's current shows trace the path of anglo-american folk song, celtic tunes and stories - and their journey to the Appalachian region.
When she first heard the way people talked and related in places like Kentucky and Virginia - she felt right at home.
In the Ozarks, she met up with singer, songwriter and upright bass player Melissa Carper. They went on to sing and play together all across country with stints in the Ozarks, New Orleans and NYC. Along the way their harmonies and love of old time country has gained them a loyal following. They decided to name themselves after the motor home they named after Mother Maybelle Carter. Back in NYC they teamed up with Texan native Katy Rose Cox, whose fiery fiddle fit just perfect! Summer 2009, The Maybelles travelled back to Jan's homeland to play Folk Festivals across the British isles, including 'Moor Fest' in the Yorkshire Dales, not far from where Jan was born.
2010 will see the beginning of a new Maybelles lineup, tracing the Trans-Atlantic journey of song, and the common ground that links both sides of the pond. After being based long distance - Arkansas, Texas, and New York - the original Maybelles have decided to take an indefinite break and focus on hometown projects. Jan's Brooklyn band are stepping in to make the next leg of the journey, singing old songs and new from The Maybelles library. Spring 2010 will see the release of the new Maybelles album - 'Moonbirds In Brooklyn'.
Wherever she goes, people always ask how come an English girl is singing so many american folk songs? Jan reckons the root of many of the songs she loves, are back in the coal mining country side where she was born and raised.
"Sometimes the main difference is in the name of a river, a town, a girl or a boy - but the melodies, and the stories are often a lot alike. When folks from Yorkshire sailed across the Atlantic- especially if all they knew was mining - they often made their way to the Appalachian mountains in search of work.
For generations, they stayed there, and the music was not only kept alive - but thrived. The songs now stand as a people's history, passed down through an oral tradition.
When i first went to Virginia and Kentucky, I could hear broad Yorkshire in the way people spoke.
When i hear the songs I can hear the courage and the strength it took to even just survive. Industrialization and Privatization hit hard in Appalachia, just like it did where I come from. All those families - they had to be true dreamers, to get on the boat back then, and you can hear all that sheer hope and faith in their voices, and the songs."
Summer 2009 Jan returned to the UK with singer songwriter Will Scott, whose Southern Indiana roots,and original songs team up with Jan's Anglo-Americana set to play a string of shows across England and Wales, culminating in the Glastonbury Festival.
NYC Highlights
*New Album - Songs for Love Drunk Sinners Produced by Samantha Parton (Be Good Tanyas) wins the People's Choice Vote - Independent Music Awards 2008.
*Woody Guthrie Archives : invitation as Guest Composer for Found Lyrics.
*Playing and Producing Little Red Hen Music Stage at the dumbo Arts Festival (7 yrs running).
"Jan's stage was the highlight of the festival!" Alison Tocci (President) Time Out NY.
* Manhattan Women's prison Christmas Party, where everyone started dancing - on the chorus of 'Cowgirl Blues'
"...can't see the stars a-shiniin' - feel like bustin' loose!".
"The inmates truly loved Jan's music. Wonderful!" Carolyn Demerest, President NY State Women Judges Association.
Support/Split Bills
Support/Opening for:
*Emmylou Harris (AR)
*Ferron (NYC)
*Steve Earle (NYC)
*Jolie Holland (NYC)
*The Be Good Tanyas (NYC)
*Wanda Jackson(NYC) with The Maybelles.
*Rosalie Sorrels (NYC)
*Ray Charles & his Orchestra w/ Mary Fly (AR)
Split Bills include:
Myshkin, The Road Dog Divas, Grayson Capps, The Wiyos, M Shanghai Stringband, Jesse Harris, Mike West/Truck Stop Honeymoon.
Founder : Little Red Hen Music 1999
Booking and Tour Support.