Who is Jewbilee?:

Jewbilee is a band based out of Everett, Washington. We play traditional Jewish Music in a nontraditional way. We play it as Jazz, Swing, Rock, Ladino, what we call Jewgrass, and even, occasionally, as traditional Israeli music. This ain't your Bubbe's Klezmer.

Jewbilee is a diverse group of Jewish and non-Jewish musicians. We are proud to be involved with the local Interfaith group here in the Pacific Northwest and play regularly at interfaith services with the hope that we can help bring about an understanding among the varied faith groups and promote nonviolence. Plus the music rocks and we dig it!

Of course, we are not above playing the occasional wedding, bar mitzvah, party, coffee house, Folklife, The Seattle Center, or pretty much anywhere someone will let us play. We're just easy that way!

Shirel Smith started playing guitar when she was 12 years old, having been primed for it by listening to Chet Atkins albums given to her by her Grandfather as part of an elaborate plan to get her interested in continuing the family tradition of being a starving musician. She started singing much much earlier as a result of being crammed into that little cubby hole behind the back seats of a Volkswagen bug on family trips and needing something to pass the time. Plus, all of the hot air generated by her singing doubled as a rear window defroster. Now she feels that if she's breathing, she might as well be singing, otherwise it is just a waste of air.

Her early influences include Marianne Faithful, Melanie, Doc Watson, and her Grandfather. The old Gibson she plays used to belong to him. She is a dyed in the wool bluegrass musician having once played the same stage as Bill Monroe, but also dabbled in folk, country, jazz, rock, and opera. Shirel is also the lead singer for Midnight Hour, a smokey hot R&B band.

She is the creator of Jewbilee, and like her fellow Jewbillies, Jewbilee is her first experience with Jewish music in a band setting although she served as Cantorial Soloist to a local synagogue for several years.

Mark Rainey was raised by squirrels in a public park. After being told collecting nuts was not an appropriate hobby, he went nuts and took up the drums. Mark left the park for Seattle in the early 1980's, and began playing in local rock and blues bands, working with Fat James, Jack of Roses, Henry Cooper, and others. After attending the first WOMAD (world music) festival in the early 90's, he became interested in ethnic percussion, taking him on a winding path that has led to Jewbilee. Mark also currently plays with MSM, a fusion trio as well as Midnight Hour which allows him to give his drumset a workout. With the exception of Shirel, there is no truth to the rumor that Mark picks up nuts in public parks. The police won't let him.

Ron Averill lives, composes and plays a stunning array of instruments in Everett, Washington. His works have been performed on five continents and have won multiple awards. Currently he plays lead guitar, mandolin and banjo with Jewbilee and Ludwig's Van. Ron's mandolin helps make the Jewgrass sound as well as some of the slinky bits of some of Jewbilee's love songs. His music has been recorded on the CDCM label.

Bruce Chapman was captivated by the Little Fugue in G Minor and decided at an early age that he wanted to be just like Johann Sebastian Bach. When somebody told him that Bach was dead, he quickly switched to rock music, noticing that many rock musicians were still alive -- and some appeared to be positively pickled, and likely to be preserved indefinitely. Bruce is currently convinced that he's on an incredibly strange group tour of the US, one that requires that he and his companions play whenever he wants a beer. If you can, buy a beer and bring it up to him on stage -- it'll help us keep the scam going....Bruce also plays keys for Midnight Hour. He tried to escape, but Shirel threw a full body check on him before he made it to the door.

Ken Cofield (bass): Ken sez, “Fiction is the art of lying to tell the truth.” He has been playing music (and telling lies) in Seattle-area bands since 1977, but his heart belongs to the desert country of the inland American West. He thinks it's one of the harshest but most beautiful places on earth. But he also thinks anyone who tries to eke out a living there is half crazy. In the last few years he has found his songs have acquired that 'cowboy' twang. This must mean he's getting in touch with his crazy half and has led him to create the band Idaho Boy.

But cowboy/blues is not enough to float his musical boat, so one day he answered a “musicians wanted” ad and found himself in the neo-klezmer-folk-jazz-world-beat conglomeration that is Jewbilee. What a long strange trip it’s been …

CD's of our live recordings are now available! Only $5 plus $2 shipping and handling! Drop us a note at the email address below for more details! Own the same CD that is being played on Radio Sefarad in Madrid Spain!

Check out these recordings of Jewbilee's Classic Rock/R&B alter-ego: Midnight Hour:

Special Thanks to Mike of MJBstudios.com for recording us and letting us use those recordings in any way we wish and to Eric at owljester.com for photographing us and letting us use the pictures anyway we see fit. And also to Greg at Moringdesigns for the rest of the photos!