Friends, today we remember Jewell’s husband, Charles “Charlie” House, on what would have been his 98th birthday. Jewell had no better or more important partner or friend in her songwriting career than Charles. Red Sovine and Shot Jackson loved him as did Webb Pierce, the Wilburn Brothers and other artists. Charles was Jewell’s driver on […]

Aloha, friends. Did you know there’s a rich and longtime relationship between Country and Hawaiian music? Ever wondered how steel guitars gained such iconic stature in Country music? We were vaguely aware of such roots when we recently visited Hawaii, but we looked more into it all after hearing and admiring local bands’ excellent work […]

Jewell’s songwriting focused mostly on relationships, so this is important to know about her: Jewell loved and was deeply devoted to her three brothers, four sisters and their families, but she and her baby sister, Zona Hancock, were exceptionally close throughout their lives. Brunette, brown-eyed Jewell was next-to-youngest, red-haired Zona with brown eyes was five […]

Please join us in sending up Happy Birthday thoughts to Jewell, who would have turned 97 on June 22. She was born June 22, 1920, in Delta County, Texas, to James and Minnie Hancock and grew up on her sharecropper father’s farms in Delta and Red River counties near Annona. Her parents were no-nonsense, hard-working […]

Friends, this is Part 1 of “Remembering Jewell,” an occasional series based on memories of her beyond songwriting. We hope these little stories will give you a more personal sense of what Jewell was like. Knowing Jewell was to know a gifted gardener. Jewell had a great green thumb and knew how to contend with […]

1956: “Cowboy Songs” magazine features Jewell in its “Women In The News” roundup (pictured at lower right on the page). They write: “Radio Station KCMC, Texarkana, Texas, lays claim to being first for one of the best Country-Western d.j. shows in that part of the country. The show we’re referring to is the ‘Jewell House […]