A writer first, musician second: Jewel the writer
By NICK POWILLS
It’s hard to imagine that a blond-haired yodeling folk singer living in her old rusted Volkswagen, owning not much more than an acoustic guitar and the clothes on her back somehow developed into an all natural beauty plastered on the covers of some of the world’s most popular music magazines as well as the biggest media outlets around.
I introduce you Jewel Kilcher – the 29-year-old Alaskan beauty bound to pump the world with her inspirational lyrical sensations for so much more time to come.
Did she ever think she would be at this level? No. But Jewel did believe that she could make a career out of her music and never gave up on her dream that got her discovered shortly before she was welcomed into the world with open arms with her 1994 debut album, "Pieces of You."
"I thought I could make a living out of music. I knew that I could entertain people," Jewel says. "But I was in Alaska. I thought I would sing bank openings, and weddings and fisherman’s bars my whole life, but I never thought I would be a star. I never thought I would become a pop star."
Jewel is a writer first and a musician second. She has crafted some of the most captivating lyrics known to recent music history. She has published her poetry in recorded voice with guitar chords softly whispering in the background as well as on hard paper stacked in bookstores.
"Songwriting is the one thing that probably comes the most natural to me than anything else in my life," Jewel says. "I can write a song easier than I can talk to a person. It’s fast the way the lyrics and melody come together. Usually as long as a song is - is how long it takes me to write a song."
Some writers need to write in a specific place with a certain light and a peaceful sound. Jewel doesn’t. She writes down bits and pieces wherever she is. It doesn’t matter if she is at home, or on the road, or in a hotel room, or on an airplane traveling to yet another concert location – Jewel says her confidence allows her to write whenever and wherever she wants.
"I don’t care where I am," Jewel says. "I don’t believe in people who can only write in the sunshine or in the window. This isn’t like you wet your finger and wait for the wind to blow right. You know when you are a writer and I think you should be able to tap into that whether you are at an airport or hotel room or whatever. I think people who are insecure with their writing tend to need the light to be just right and the mood to be right for them to relax. I’ve been writing for a long time. It’s like second nature for me. I’m not as good at talking, but I can express myself very easily through my writing."
Despite being able to write in anyplace and in nearly ever situation, Jewel has had to make adjustments to the ways she finds inspiration for her songs. She used to people watch in the most normal of places, but since becoming a huge star, she has been limited to the amount of free of celebrity status people watching she can do.
"Being famous is an adjustment you know, but making money doing something you love is a dream come true for me," Jewels says. "I never had a lot of star ambition. I think as a writer it’s real hard on you. Keeping your anonymity is hard. I enjoy watching people, but people act self conscious around me now, so it’s not as interesting to write about now. But it beats living in my car, living on food stamps, so I’m OK with it.
"I think you just see light from a new angle. You know, a different peer in the circle. But I guess there is just as much to write about, just as much heartbreak and tragedy and beauty. But you have to learn more discipline and look at it more as a craft, so it changes, but you just have to learn how to adjust."
With multiple platinum records in the bag, Jewel tried a different, more pop star route in 2003 with her newest album, "0304," which quickly boosted her into being labeled next to the Christinas and Britneys as the clothes came a little more off in her "Intuition" video. But that was just Jewel testing the waters, seeing how people would react to her showing her eclectic side. It was just another step in prolonging the already extremely successful career that she has built.
"I’m really happy with the way my career has gone. My goal has always been to have a career where I get to make 50 records. So I’ve accomplished way more than I ever imagined. So I get to play around and do what I enjoy and try new things. My goal was really to keep making records."
Jewel is proudest of "0304." "I wrote some songs on this album that I really enjoy, like ‘Fragile Heart.’ There are a lot of songs on here that lyrical and melodically it is my best work," Jewel says. "And I think I continue to change and grow and try new things for sure."
As Jewel prepares to embark on yet another tour – in which she will tour for 12 days a month and then take the rest of the month off – she is working on yet another CD to be added to her authoritative catalog.
"This record - I don’t know what to say about it. It’s my favorite cause the song writing is my best. I think it’s a really diverse record, there are a lot of different styles on it. I tried to combine a really traditional song writing style, they are all folk songs but I tried to put sounds on them that would allow you to hear them in a new way so it would lay irony hopefully on the lyrics and the beats and songs."
Jewel says that she doesn’t have a goal or a planned next step, or even the strongest desire to do exactly what she is doing now for the rest of her career, she just wants to continue writing with musical freedom and continue what she is doing while having fun with the work she produces.
"I don’t see myself doing things this exact way forever, but I think I will always write," Jewel says. "I don’t see myself being an aging pop icon, but I see myself always putting out records. I hope to always put out records, I just don’t know at what level I will do it, but I hope to put out records my whole life and have fun, and continue to work the way I like to work."
