16/03/2026
Hey Eilen fans. Jason Beek here, your 20+ year veteran of the drum and management departments at EJ HQ. I would like to personally thank each of you for your support over the decades and specifically the last few weeks in the wake of Eilen's hiatus statement.
I wanted you all to know that we have seen your anecdotes, heartfelt comments and wishes for us to bring the tour to your town. I can report that Eilen spent several tear-filled days reading those comments. We talked about how one of us should start responding to you all. I tried. I went in there and read about 10 comments before becoming a sea of tears. I couldn't even look anymore or send a like let alone comment.
So, I am hoping that you will accept this instead as a big reply to all of you. Personally, I am grieving and also like so many of you, I support Eilen. I can't tell you l agree with all of the decisions she has made in the time I have known her. But I trust that she knows what she needs at this time in her life. 20 years of touring is a long time. People take breaks. She certainly deserves one. I am hopeful that some day we can return to so many of these towns that want us. While we are playing a fraction of those places in 2026, I am hopeful that it scratches the itch well enough to get us all through the hiatus without touring. I am hopeful that we will in fact continue playing in 2027, if only in Boise, Idaho and that you have to tour to see us instead of the other way around as it has been all these years. Hopefully in 2028 or —, we'll hit the road again in some way in earnest.
It has been a unique honor to do what I have done all these years. Eilen and the people in her band and on her team have been some of the most genuine, honest and hard working people I have ever known. What an amazing bunch of funny and funny folks who also kick ass!! I make art and I have been able to perform from Melbourne to Madison to Manchester. What a lucky so and so. You, the fans, have given me some of the warmest interactions I've ever experienced. We've shared in the communion of the music together.
Played off of one another. Not every night. But you know it if you were there on the nights when it happened. You also interpret these songs in your own way and make meaning for them that we never could have imagined. You make them into something else entirely sometimes really. That is such a powerful and special thing to be a part of once never mind many times over many years. The things you have told us and how the music has effected you and your story... Loved ones lost who shared in this music with you....A loved one who loved Eilen's music so much and the music is one of the few connections that have lasted...How the music has helped you through hard times, happy times, the worst times...Wow. I can only say thank you. I can only say humbly that we appreciate you so much. We see, acknowledge, and deeply feel your comments and wishes to come to your town. There is so much more to say and so many better ways of saying it. But for now, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Love and deep gratitude to you all.
