Jewel performs at the Nightly Concert on the Vault Concert Stage LP Field Thursday, June 5 in Downtown Nashville during the 2008 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: John Russell / CMA
July 14, 2008 — Jewel Kilcher is not the first pop or rock artist to make a switch to country music, but many of the artists who’ve dabbled in country previously didn’t actually stay with the format.
Jewel insists that country fans don’t need to be concerned that she’s going to just do one album then go back to pop music. But she also refuses to be penned in by the genre.
"I signed a multi-record deal — not because I had to, but because I wanted to show that this is a great home and I have a commitment to it," she told Performing Songwriter magazine. "So I’ll make more country records, and we’ll see where it goes. I’ll always write songs, and my songs won’t always fit into a nice little box."
Jewel’s fitting pretty well in country parameters at the moment. Her album Perfectly Clear debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, and her first single from the album, "Stronger Woman," reached the Top 15. She’s currently on the road on the Paisley Party Tour with Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough.