Jewel is maintaining her country roots as she returns to the format with her sophomore follow-up album, Sweet and Wild. The album, written and produced by Jewel, will be released on June 11th. The first single, "Stay Here Forever," has been embraced by critics and the video is a success on CMT and GAC.
"The theme of this album is finding what's true about you and your life, and defending it and valuing it above all else," said Jewel. "My newest country album will share so many of my personal feelings of love and happiness that I have written into the songs," said Jewel, who married her longtime boyfriend Ty Murray in the summer of 2008. Jewel will also embark on a tour sponsored by Country Financial to support Sweet and Wild.
Also near and dear to Jewel's heart is her charitable initiative, Project Cleanwater, which she continues to support, unwaveringly. Jewel founde! d Project Clean Water in 1997. Having experienced homelessness as a teenager, Jewel became ill and couldn't afford to buy the bottled water she needed for her sick kidneys. She then realized it was difficult to obtain clean water in the United States, and discovered it was a huge problem globally. She has been relentless in her efforts to bring safe water to those in need and create awareness of clean water shortages around the world.
Project Clean Water has recently partnered with Virgin Unite and the Voss Foundation to create the "Give A Drop" campaign. Donations of $5.00 can be made by texting the message "DROP" to phone number 85944. Money raised through text donations will benefit the partnership, which is currently working in Pel in the Dogon region of Mali, where 40 water retention structures were recently completed. This spring, work will also begin to help rural villages in southeast Ethiopia expand their access to clean water.
Jewel currently lives! on a working ranch in Stephenville, Texas with her husband, W! orld Cha mpion bull-riding superstar, Ty Murray.Japanese reissue of her multi-platinum debut smash with new artwork and two bonus tracks, comprised of her contributionsto the soundtracks of two recent film's: 'Emily' from 'The Crossing Guard' and 'Foolish Games' (Radio Edit) from 'Batman And Robin'. 16 tracks in all, also including the smash hits 'Who Will Save Your Soul' & 'You Were Meant For Me'. 1997 Atlantic release. Jewel's debut album, Pieces of You, reveals a special voice--strong and focused on both the whispery verses and the hooky choruses. The recording also exposes an unfortunate tendency to present trite, hackneyed sentiments as if they were oracular visions from a young prophet to a jaded world. For the most part, Jewel sings to her own acoustic guitar accompaniment, but she has a lot more in common with, say, the Indigo Girls or Lisa Loeb than with Judy Collins or Nanci Griffith. Despite her soft soprano and pretty melodies, her songs have an iconoclastic edge w! hich make her more of an unplugged alternative rocker than a folkie. Her songs too often betray their origins as written verse in their hard-to-sing meters, unmusical phrasing, and diary-like pronouncements. Nonetheless, a few numbers, such as "Morning Song" and "You Were Meant for Me," show a spark of humor about romance, and hint that Jewel may yet write songs worthy of her remarkable voice. --Geoffrey Himes
