Singer Jewel brings her concert/craft fair to the Bay Area.
Jewel was nothing short of a popmusic phenomenon in the second half of the ’90s, as she rose from obscurity to multiplatinum heights with the debut record “Pieces of You.”
It didn’t happen overnight — far from it, in fact. The Alaska-raised singer-songwriter-guitarist had to do plenty of legwork to build an audience for her folksypop material, especially in an era that was giddy over grunge, pop-punk and Hootie and the Blowfish.
Yet, she finally did get noticed — and how — eventually selling some 12 million copies of “Pieces of You” in the U.S. alone.
And Jewel’s early journey to fame and fortune went directly through the Bay Area. She recorded a large chunk of 1995’s “Pieces of You” at Neil Young’s ranch in Woodside, even borrowing Young’s Stray Gators backing band for some of the tracks. She then performed a lengthy residency at the Stanford University Coffee House, which drew a goodly amount of attention from the press.
The acclaimed vocalist, who now has 12 studio albums to her name, returns to the Bay Area on Nov. 29 for a concert at the City National Civic in San Jose. It’s part of Jewel’s “Handmade Holiday” tour, a trek that is part seasonal concert and part crafting fair. Showtime is 8 p.m. but audience members are invited to arrive as early as 5:30 p.m. to create their own handmade holiday gifts. Tickets are $49.50$69.50, www.ticketmaster.com.
I recently had the chance to catch up with the Grammynominated star, best known for such charming hits as “You Were Meant for Me” and “Foolish Games.”
Q Hi, Jewel. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me in advance of your San Jose show. I’m guessing you have some pretty strong memories of the Bay Area, given the time you spent here early in your career.
A I do. I have such fond memories of the area. Neil (Young) was kind enough to let me make my first record there, with Ben Keith, who co-produced “Harvest Moon” with Neil. Those (Stray Gators) musicians just really lifted me up as a songwriter and gave me courage to be who I was at the height of grunge. They believed in me and that was a wonderful feeling.
Then I set about doing this real passion thing, which was build a fan base. I actually turned down the first reality show. What was it called? “The Real World”?
Q Are you talking about MTV’s “The Real World” show?
A Yeah. It was going to film in San Francisco that season, right? I turned that down. My label was shocked. I was just signed at the time, and didn’t have a record out. They were like, “This is the biggest opportunity. People can watch you live. It will make you an overnight (star).”
The word “overnight” scared me, because I
grew up with this motto of “Hardwood grows slowly.” Good things take time. And if you want it to last 60 years, you have to build it the right way. Something that grows too quickly falls over quickly, like a softwood tree. So, I said no to it. My label was flabbergasted! (Laughs)
Q I’ll bet! Not many people were saying no to MTV at that time. But you had other plans, obviously.
A I went about doing this residency tour. I did Stanford every — I can’t remember, but I want to say — Wednesday. Then I would do Portland every Thursday. It was like this circuit. I want to say it was Vancouver, maybe Seattle, Portland, Stanford — something like that. I just did it in a big circle for at least a month or two months.
So many memories of the area. And now so
many friends in Silicon Valley. And as I go more entrepreneurial with my business efforts, it’s amazing how those early relationships that I developed are now helping me with my business.
Q
I met and interviewed you for the first time not long after that residency tour ended and you were back in Palo Alto opening a gig for another artist. It was right before “Pieces of You” hit big and we just sat upstairs at the venue and chatted. Then, not long after that it seems, I watched you headline the 22,000-capacity Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View. That must have been a wild time for you, as your career just skyrocketed.
A
It was bizarre. As a singer-songwriter, I was really fighting for a career — like Tom Waits or John Prine, with a great fan base. I didn’t think I’d
reach the heights that I reached. Once it hit, it was like — hang on. I started selling a million records every month. I couldn’t believe it. It was very overwhelming.
Then, with my second record, I actually gave myself permission to see if it made me happy. That level of fame was — I don’t know — something I never quite counted on. I had to make a lot of adjustments in my career to make it something I felt like I could live with on a human scale that wouldn’t compromise me psychologically. My No. 1 job was always to be a whole, happy person. And my No. 2 job was to be a musician. And fame at that level makes the first (job) quite difficult.
Q
You even ended up on the cover of Time. What was it like picking up that legendary magazine and seeing yourself stare back? A One of those moments that, in my memory, will always be a real seminal like “How did this happen?” thing. A ranch girl from Alaska — a homestead hillbilly — and I’m on the cover of Time magazine. And Herb Ritts took my photo. I looked clean. Wow. That’s not the grubby homestead girl that I thought I would grow up to be. It was a really bizarre moment. Surreal.
Q
So, cool. Well, thank you for indulging me on this walk down memory lane with you.
A
If you happen to have that article from all those years ago, I’d love to see it.
Q
I will see if I can find it. The internet was pretty sketchy back then, so I’m not sure if I can locate the piece. I can clearly remember the interview though — we sat crisscross applesauce on the floor of the club’s office and chatted for a good long time.
AWhat was I like?
Q I think I made the mistake of asking you about Sean Penn (who had been romantically linked to Jewel). And I sort of had to work my way back from that. That kind of turned the interview south for a few moments. But then we recovered. I was learning too, at the time, you know?
A
My label would always laugh. People were like, “You’ve got no filter.” I didn’t care. I was not a politically correct person. Oh, my lord.
But we both made it.