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[Warning: you might find some of Jewel's language below offensive]
A bit too precious? Maybe. Sometimes outspoken? Perhaps. But Jewel still writes some delightfully tasty,
twangy pop tunes
Jewel's a tricky one. She's famous in the States for being a fresh-scrubbed, terribly beautiful country gal who morphed from a literate coffeehouse troubadour into an overly-earnest folky pop singer overnight. In 1995, when she was only 20, this Alaska-raised gal, who conveyed the honesty of an early Olivia Newton-John, broke big in the States, on the strength of straightforward chirpy melodic ballads like Who Will Save Your Soul? and You Were Meant For Me from her first album, Pieces of You. Soon her back story - a childhood in Alaska singing in roadhouses, then those late-teen years living in a van in San Diego as hippy chick - became as famous as her honest, heart-on-her-sleeve songs. Some found her a bit too earnest; one tune on her debut release was called I'm Sensitive. Jewel preached of planning to make the world a better place, put out another album, 1998's Spirit, then a couple of books of poetry, and starred as a homespun siren in Ang Lee's Civil war drama, Ride With The Devil. Et voila: she went from being the wholesome new flavour of no-frills pop to a self-important princess.
Which is a shame, since along the way Jewel has written some truly lovely songs and stayed true to her simply twangy and tender style. Her newest release, This Way is chock full of fine songs that grow more and more interesting with each listen. Some are sparkly and countryfied - like Cleveland, the bluesy Everybody Needs Someone Sometime, and the spunky Love Me Just Leave Me Alone. Others are fine, folksy no-frills pop gems - This Way, the first single Standing Still and the touching ballad Break Me, which she co-wrote with her boyfriend, US bull-riding champ Ty Murray (Yee-haw!).
Chatting with Jewel, you realise that while she's not afraid to still speak of making the world a kinder, gentler place, she' s also not afraid to crack a rude joke and laugh at herself. After all, she's still that chick who lived in her automobile not so many years ago.
"That was actually a fun period in my life," she says, sitting now in her posh Manhattan hotel suite, tousled blonde tresses looking photo-shoot-ready, wearing a ripped in all the right places T-shirt, tight jeans and cowboy boots, fresh from an appearance on Rosie O'Donnell' s chat show. "Back then, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life - facing all of those big 18-year-old topics. Creatively it was a very fertile time. I wrote about six songs a day, and tons of poetry, and then I performed at night. I've has such a weird career. From growing up and playing veterans' bars for drunks with missing limbs, to opening for Willy DeVille in Germany to touring with Peter Murphy from Bauhaus. Lately, I've been playing rodeos, and that's a pleasure, too."
What doesn't come across as readily in her music is her sense of humour which shines onstage as she tells stories about her kooky past, yodels, and jokes with audience members. She' s had trouble coming across well in interviews, too. "I'm very dry and quite facetious, and in print it doesn't look good. A writer would ask, 'Do you
think that you' re attractive?' and I'd go, 'Oh yeah - beautiful.' That ends up in the article, and people are like, 'Wow, Jewel's a cunt.'"
She fared well enough in her film debut, scoring nice words from most reviewers, though it' s uncertain when she'll next appear on the big screen. "I was spoiled by having an Ang Lee film for my first movie," she admits, cringing at the thought of many of the screenplays she's had thrust at her. "I've gotten every Glitter-type of script that you can imagine." One piece that she did like, went famously to someone else. "Moulin Rouge was a cool project. But you know, I'd pick Nicole over me anyday, too."
Currently she' s content to focus on promoting the new record and hanging with that cowboy boyfriend, wherever that may take her. "I was recently at one of Ty's autograph signings at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store with him somewhere in Illinois. That was pretty good!" And how do the folks in the farmlands feel about their fellow-country lass turned media star? "It varies," she explains. "Many are nice, and want pictures with you. And some come up to you and say, 'You're not that great,' And I go, 'OK. I'm shattered.'" Whatever. We'll just keep enjoyed the soulful-tunes and seriously sensitive lyrics. Pop stars need only to sing to us, and Jewel does that
quite nicely. John Polly
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