More good news from Soul City Cafe: ArtBeat artists will continue to take
the stage through Jewel's solo acoustic New Wild West tour. Two familiar
faces have signed on as openers, offering half hour sets of their own solo
acoustic material. Scooter Scudieri, who played in all eight This Way Tour
ArtBeat events, is slated to open seven shows. His heartfelt performances
were an ArtBeat highlight all summer. Stuart Mathis has also been blowing
away audiences on the tour as one of Jewel's heavy-hitting guitarists.
Anyone who's seen him (or heard the live version of Love Me Just Leave Me
Alone) knows he's a monster shredder on the ax. He's also a songwriter of
exceedingly cool tunes, which he'll be performing eight nights of the New
Wild West Tour. To learn more about both these incredible artists, visit
their profile page on soulcitycafe.com (go to ArtBeat and click on their
banner). More SCC artists will be announced as New Wild West Tour openers
soon!
In general hits to this website have increased. Over 6 gig of information has been transfered this month alone. The majority of that is HTTP traffic (web pages). I am using all of my disk space at the moment so I can't upload a lot of new stuff. I'm trying to get more space to upload some new pictures and multimedia content.
Here is an excert from an official mailing... "wave" was first mentioned in a Chicago newspaper.
"Wave" is the story of the chaos that ensues in a small island community when an estranged mother and her son reunite. It is an ensemble piece that Jewel's production company, Magic Lantern Entertainment, has purchased. It is in packaging at Creative Artists Agency, where they are very excited about the project. And there is a spicy featured role in it for Jewel.
Visit the official site for more info at www.jeweljk.com
***SATURDAY
27 MTV:
2001 MTV Video Music Awards
(Rerun. Taped on September 6, 2001 at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC.
Jewel was a presenter. Broadcasts from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. EDT.)
***MONDAY
29 Comedy Central:
Saturday Night Live
(Rerun at 11:30 PM EDT. Jewel is the musical guest.)
***TUESDAY
30 VH1:
Mojo 40 Countdown
(Rerun. Jewel segment at #34. Broadcasts at 4:00 p.m. EDT)
30 USA Network:
Movie: Ride With The Devil
(Ang Lee's Civil War movie starring Jewel as Sue Lee Shelly. Broadcast at
9:00 p.m. EDT.)
***WEDNESDAY
31 USA Network:
Movie: Ride With The Devil
(Ang Lee's Civil War movie starring Jewel as Sue Lee Shelly. Broadcast at
2:30 p.m. EDT.)
31 CBS:
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
(New! Jewel will perform with Mark Oakley on guitar. This show follows
David Letterman in many markets at 12:35 p.m., but check your local listings to be sure. Technically August 1st.)
For fun, Jewel recently dropped by the home of a young man named Michael
Essany, who has his own local access cable TV show (Tonight Show style)
from his home in Indiana. This Friday night, July 19th, CNN's NewsNight
with Aaron Brown is doing a feature on Michael and they covered his
interview with Jewel. This edition of NewsNight is scheduled to broadcast
at 10:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. Pacific on Friday evening, with a replay at
1:00 a.m. EDT/10:00 p.m. Pacific.
Jewel may have been nursing a broken collarbone and ribs, but there was
nothing ailing her voice Sunday night at the Chicago Theatre. Backed by a
five-piece band, the singer-songwriter captivated the sold-out crowd with
a two-hour plus concert that showed off her flexible range. She sang all
the expected hits from her three studio albums (excluding her Christmas
CD, for obvious reasons).
But it wasn't the charttoppers that were the most memorable selections of
the evening. It was the songs from her latest album, "This Way," that
introduce a confident young woman who doesn't need to rely on a
little-girl persona to keep an audience engrossed.
Jewel certainly hasn't lost her sweet, girlish touch, as was apparent on
a bell-like rendition of "Standing Still." But listen to her growling
take on "Jesus Loves You," and you wonder why she didn't rock out earlier
in her career.
Jewel was just 20 in 1994 when she released her debut album, "Pieces of
You." Many of those songs were written while she was still a teenager who
couldn't even dream of the type of success and fame that was awaiting
her. But you hear in them the promise of the songwriter she would become.
One minute she'll be enticing a lover to "catch a cold with me." The
next, she's paying a hushed, gorgeous homage to a friend who died of
cancer. And as for the jazzy blues arrangements that found their way into
the production, they were well done, though she went overboard on the
extended, jazzed-up "Who Will Save Your Soul?" (which went on for at
least two minutes too long). But that was forgiven by her first encore,
when she performed a haunting version of "Foolish Games."
Dressed in a bright white halter top and snug faded jeans, but without
her guitar for most of the evening, Jewel at times looked like an
endearing little kid who didn't know what to do with her hands. Because
she has another month to go before her injuries--suffered in April when
was thrown from a horse at her boyfriend's ranch--heal, she played her
guitar sparingly.
Though she jokingly said, "As great a dancer as I am, you really won't
miss my guitar," she was right. Though she seemed relieved to accompany
herself with an acoustic guitar for such numbers as "You Were Meant for
Me" and "Little Sister," she rose to the challenge of playing the role of
just the singer that night.
If there's one thing all the years of touring have taught her is that
when mishaps occur, just go with the flow. When the sound faded out
during a couple of numbers, making her completely inaudible for half a
minute, she didn't stop the show and restart the number. She kept on
singing until the sound engineers caught up.
The show must go on, and it did. Nothing perturbed her. Not the catcalls
from the audience. Not the fans who sang along with her. And not even her
broken bones.
On the Warhol-inspired backdrop that adorned the stage, one sign read,
"Are you doing all you can?"
Please note copyright info is at the bottom of this post. I found this on a jewel mailing list. More info on the misc page.
"The Chicago Sun-Times"
Friday, July 12, 2002
Speaking with ... Jewel
BY JAE-HA KIM STAFF REPORTER
When Jewel performs cuts from her latest album, "This Way," at the
Chicago Theatre this Sunday, don't expect the singer to strap on her
electric guitar. Her collarbone and ribs are still tender from when she
was thrown from a colt at her boyfriend's ranch in April.
"[The accident] hasn't really inhibited my show a lot," Jewel says.
"Touring Europe was a little painful 'cause the ribs were still tender.
But it didn't get in the way of the show. It just wasn't a lot of fun."
She'll strap on the acoustic guitar for the first part of the set.
"I have to put more shoulder [movement] into it when I play electric,"
she says. "I'm not ready for that yet."
Much has happened since 1995, when Jewel's debut album "Pieces of You"
slowly climbed the album charts, making her a bona fide rock star. Her
folksy voice, endearing yodel and all-American girl good looks won her a
die-hard fan base that is there for her regardless of how well her songs
are doing on radio of MTV.
She's doing her part to give back to other artists who haven't been as
fortunate.
"I started this thing called Soul City Cafe [www.soulcitycafe.com] to
showcase talented artists who may never get recognition otherwise," says
Jewel, 28. "I think if Tom Waits was trying to get signed today, it
wouldn't happen. This is my way of giving unsigned bands a chance to get
a fan base going.
"I'm very fortunate that I have about 10,000 fans who are members of
street teams and they call and request my songs. The reason I debuted in
the Top 10 is because of them. I don't have to rely on radio as much."
For the past three years, Jewel has been dating champion rodeo cowboy Ty
Murray. He is the latest of her boyfriends who has a starring role in
her videos. He plays her romantic lead in "Standing Still." When she and
Sean Penn were dating, the actor directed the video for "You Were Meant
for Me." After the two broke up, she had a second version made starring
her ex-boyfriend Steve Poltz, who co-wrote the song with her.
Besides penning a string of books, Jewel made a strong acting debut
three years ago in Ang Lee's "Ride with the Devil."
"I couldn't have asked for a better coach than Ang," she says. "I like
all types of film genres--comedy, drama, whatever. But it has to be a
well-written story that's complete."
Right now, she's producing a film called "Wave," which includes a small
role for herself.
"I like acting, but I can wait for the right part," Jewel says.
"Luckily, I have a good day job."
HERE'S WHAT ELSE JEWEL HAD TO SAY:
What she's reading: A trilogy written for children, but with religious
and spiritual implications. It's beautiful. I can't remember what it's
called right now, though. I'm also reading Seabiscuit [by Laura
Hillenbrand] because I have a friend who's a horse wrangler.
Why have your boyfriend co-star in your video? It was fun to have some
chemistry with the guy I was kissing. It was nice not having to kiss a
model.
Favorite on-the-road food: It's kind of the whatever you can get type of
thing. I haven't eaten a hamburger in a long time. I eat a lot of fish.
I used to eat pizza, but I don't like a lot of cheese now. It's one of
those things that's not too professional to eat 'cause the cheese isn't
that great for my voice.
Thoughts on marriage: I never think about it.
Bungee jumping or sky diving? I would never do either.
Most memorable Chicago experience: I remember playing week after week at
a small club when I was about 20 years old. It was before my songs got
popular and that's how my fan base built [in Chicago]. Some of those
fans still come out to my shows.
Favorite Chicago souvenir: I try to get those little fridge magnets with
the Chicago skyline. They're terrible gifts but they're better than a
bunch of dried up flowers.
Favorite Chicago sports team: I've been to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs
play. [Steve] Poltz took me there. It's his church. He explained the
game to me and got teary eyes. I even ate a hot dog there, though I hate
hot dogs.
Copyright 2002 "The Chicago Sun-Times." All rights reserved.
Long stretch on road nearly did in career
By G. Brown
Denver Post Popular Music Writer
Friday, July 12, 2002 - The lore of is well recognized. Discovered singing
in a San Diego coffeehouse, the Alaskan hippie was, at that point, living
out of her VW.
She was just 19 when she recorded "Pieces Of You," which spawned three
hits - "Who Will Save Your Soul," "You Were Meant For Me" and "Foolish
Games" - and shook the record biz by going on to sell 10 million copies, one
of the top debuts of all time.
Her only commercial mistake was too much success - it created impossibly
high expectations for her second record, "Spirit." The singer-songwriter
teamed with erstwhile Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard, who added
synthesizer auras, an undercurrent of percussion and other pop sheen onto
her music.
Jewel's energy and fire had come out during her live shows, but there were
three more tiring years on the road. After promoting "Spirit," everyone's
favorite rags-to-riches folk diva was done in.
"I fell out of love with my job, and I thought I'd have to find something
different. I got into this job at 18 because I wasn't in love with
anything - it was the first thing I loved. To lose that was frightening,"
Jewel, 27, told The Post recently. She has embarked on a three-month North
American tour in support of her new album, "This Way," including a date at
Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Wednesday.
"My health got bad - I toured so long with no break, no holiday or weekend
off. At times I was doing 40 cities in 30 days. It was quite manic - I ended
up having pneumonia when I did a Clinton White House show. My ears were
shot - hearing loss was going to be permanent if I didn't take a break.
"It made me feel ungrateful for my position because I wasn't happy. This
isn't a job you can be unhappy in - it's sort of embarrassing!"
So the songbird assessed her line of work.
"It was nice - at the end of two years, I fell back in love with it. I knew
what things to change to guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. Like
scheduling - I promoted way more than I wrote. Writing makes me happy, so
that was a bad combination. Now I tour for three weeks, and then I get days
off to write and be near my thoughts."
The question was how an introspective singer-songwriter's album would fare
on the charts dominated by teen-pop and rap-metal in recent years. But "This
Way" entered the Billboard 200 at No. 9.
"I've had such a strange career. My first record was an acoustic folk record
that came out at the height of grunge - it just shouldn't have done as well
if you look at the stats. I've always had an odd way of existing despite
what's been going on - I've never been what's happening at the time. I
honestly don't know what to attribute that to, but I've learned to trust it.
"Even if this record hadn't sold anything, I would have been proud of it. I
wouldn't have felt like, "Gee, I wish I'd done something different.'
However, if I did a booty record that became a huge hit, I would have felt
that way. The only thing I can do is make art that I believe in, that I
think is authentic. I put my little blinders on, and I try not to watch
videos and listen to the radio. I don't think about what's modern or
current. I just think about what I have to say and how I want to say it, do
what comes naturally."
Critics have praised "This Way" as a more self-assured effort. Jewel traded
in the pop slickness of "Spirit" for a rootsier approach closer to her
debut. She recorded the album in Nashville, enlisting the help of veteran
producer Dann Huff, whose credits range from Faith Hill to Megadeth.
"I was very determined. I knew exactly how I wanted this record to sound. I
wanted it to be eclectic, but I knew that it couldn't sound like I was
trying to be eclectic. I had to find somebody who was versatile.
"And I had to find somebody who was going to listen to me and my opinions,
and that I got to win every argument. That sounds arrogant, except it's my
art and it's my record. I wasn't going to let this be overly influenced by
somebody else's idea of creativity or radio."
The hit single "Standing Still" combines a lively singable melody with
melancholy lyrics.
"There's two meanings," Jewel said. "The first is love, wondering if me
moving so much in my lifestyle causes my love life to stand still.
"It also has a more cryptic meaning that nobody may get listening to it. I
wrote it about the fact that fame affords a prolonged adolescence. Unless
you're careful, you start standing still emotionally. You're a child and
you're bratty, and your writing quits developing - dangerous things like
that."
The new single is "Break Me," a stark romantic ballad.
"It's one of my favorite songs. "Standing Still' won't get off the airwaves,
so we almost can't get on with "Break Me' the way I'd like to. But I hope it
does well - I was really pleased that my label wanted to put out a song as
simple as that in today's market. It's a creative choice on their part.
"I wrote it about Ty (Murray, her boyfriend and recently retired rodeo
champion). I think the sexiest thing you can give a man is the ability to be
broken. And I think the sexiest thing a man can give you is his ability to
be broken . . . "
On April 24, Jewel was thrown from a horse when she was visiting Murray at
his Texas ranch. She suffered a broken collarbone and first rib as well as
bruises.
"But now I'm able to sing and play guitar on my tour," she said.
Jewel has sidestepped music with her first film role (in the Ang
Lee-directed "Ride With The Devil"), a book of poetry ("A Night Without
Armor") and a second book ("Chasing Down The Dawn," a collection of essays
about her life experiences).
"You have two arms and two legs, but you don't think who you are as a person
is an arm or a leg. Writing songs is a limb of my creative body. Acting is a
limb. It's all connected by a similar interest and love of invention and
creation. But ultimately, it's not what makes me a great person to my
boyfriend, or if I have kids one day or if I'm on my deathbed, it's not what
I'll look back on as being most proud of.
"Meanwhile, I feel like the more I can learn in various artforms, the
stronger I get as a whole. I think acting lends itself to my songwriting,
and learning about poetry lends itself to my acting. It's all in the
mixture."
Shining again
Who: Jewel, with guest M2M
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday (gates open 5:30 p.m.)
Where: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison
Tickets: $41.50 and $47 (Ticketmaster, 303-830-8497 or www.ticketmaster.com
[[The Denver Post's primary competitor, the Rocky Mountain News, had in it's
Friday edition the following, together with a B&W photo:]]
Jewel is on the Rocks Wednesday.
When it comes to Jewel, you're either on the bus or off the bus. Detractors
consider her syrupy and overhyped. But a whole lot of people were excited
by the recent release of her album "This Way" (her first since 1999) and the
hit "Standing Still". You'll see some of those fans and the object of their
affection when the singer-songwriter plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Red Rocks.
