jan bell

jan bell

Jan Bell hails from South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, and has been based in New York City since the late 80's. Following four years on the road, she has returned to Brooklyn, where she plays and produces the Urban Cowgirl Cabaret (with Superfine Restaurant). Her debut CD, Between the Bridges, is named after the neighborhood where she lives and plays, home to one of the largest arts communities in the country.

It was whilst travelling that Jan began to put her theatre, writing and performance skills to work through music. Her influences include Lucinda Williams, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Memphis Minnie and Emmylou Harris, and so her style reflects the country blues that root them all.

Most of the time, she plays acoustic guitar, although the banjo and mandolin often help her invoke the spirit of the mountains and the prairie. It has been said that she must have hillbilly blood, but really its just the unmistakeable twang of a Yorkshire lass living and writing in New York City today. Her songs run from lonesome ballads, to attitude blues, to runaway trains that shoot from the heart, with plenty of laughs in between.

'Like the owners of these two establishments [Between the Bridges and Superfine], Jan Bell's heart is as wide as the space between the bridges and as long as her funnybone'--Brooklyn Daily Eagle

'Brief, brave and a breath of fresh air, Between the Bridges is a hugely enjoyable tribute to the strength of the human heart and the woman from whose heart it comes.'--Mike Lyon, Lincoln England

"Maybe growing up in Nottinghamshire is what sets Jan Bell apart from the run of local lady folkies. Or maybe its the slide guitars,harmonicas, mandolins and banjos. Either way, the dark old-timey spareness of her Between the Bridges often suggests a Renaissance faire in the Mississippi Delta, and its title cut isn't even as gorgeous a New York ode as "I Want No Country," one of the saddest, most skeptical,most plainspoken songs anybody wrote about 9/11/01."-- The Village Voice, June 2002