Singer/Songwriter Spotlight - Jewel
It amazes me that it has been 15 years since a young singer born in Utah and raised in Alaska released her first album. In February of 1995, Jewel Kilcher's debut, Pieces of Me, was not really noticed at first, simmering on the burners for a while. The singer/songwriter, known by just her first name, had been touring around the country in her van, actually living out of that van. She was discovered while playing some bars in San Diego in 1993, and spent the next two years working on her debut album, while continuing to play shows. She had attended Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, the same school that helped feed the muse of another blog favorite, Casey Stratton.
Pieces of You was released by Atlantic Records, but was not making a real mark on the Billboard chart, in a year that saw Coolio, TLC, Seal and Boyz II Men owned the top 5 positions on the year-end chart. The following year, her first single and video were finally released, and suddenly, Jewel was everywhere. I remember the first time I heard Who Will Save Your Soul, and was just amazed by it, with it's coffeehouse feel and folk roots.
http://www.youtube.com/v/-LukEq643Mk?fs=1&hl=en_US
Click here to read more about Jewel on Soundtrack to my Day.