Jewel 'Picks Up the Pieces' in Harrisburg
For most singer-songwriters, writing about what they see and experience in their everyday life usually becomes the subject of a song or two - and sometimes, that turns into a full album. That certainly has been the case for four-time Grammy Award winner Jewel, who just released her new album, "Picking Up the Pieces." Throughout the album, Jewel reflects through the emotional turmoil of life in its most challenging times, which can be interpreted as based on a challenging last two or three years for Jewel, after announcing her divorce with her husband, and self-producing her own album while writing her new book, "Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story" – all while raising a child. But Jewel is finally back doing what she loves – touring and singing on stage to people, only this time with her 4-year old son Kase along for the ride.
Jewel's first tour since 2013 when is coming to Harrisburg in April.
“It’s been really fun to tour with my child,” she said. “There’s been so many cities I’ve been fortunate enough to see and really see so much of America. It’s been fun to see my son learning about each city we’re in and learning the history of it, and we look forward to doing that in Harrisburg.”
Jewel will be playing at the Forum Theatre in Harrisburg on April 9, at 8 p.m. as part of her newly-launched “Picking Up the Pieces Tour.” The show will feature the new album as well other of her popular songs from previous albums, and more. She also will talk about and share stories from her new book. But Jewel says every show will have a different feel to it, and she expects the same for when she visits Harrisburg.
“I like every night because it’s different, and you’ll never know what you get,” she said. “I don’t know that one particular song stands out over the other. It just depends on what mood everyone’s in for that night.”
But one thing the audience can expect is to see Jewel unwinding and experiencing the joy of being back on stage again.
“It’s been fun being able to play and visit with people. The response has been great,” she said. “I feel very blessed to do something that I really love for a living.”
In the prior weeks to making the stop in Harrisburg, the tour will have already made stops in three cities in North Carolina, Washington D.C., and it will be in Albany, N.Y. the night before coming to Harrisburg.
Jewel, who’s originally from Alaska, first began pursuit of her career when she was only 15 years old, after moving out on her own, and she finally caught her first big break after a year of being homeless. After a San Diego radio station decided to put her on the air after hearing her sing, a record label heard it. Soon after, plenty of record labels came after her and her career had finally taken off. Then recently, Jewel suffered through more hardship, when she and her ex-husband, Ty Murray, announced their divorce in July 2014. Since then, Jewel had been self-producing the new album while writing the new book.
“It’s been a crazy journey. Writing my book was really a challenge because it looked like the lives of 10 different people. It was pretty wild to make sense of it and to share it with people,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s been a great journey, and I’m very proud of the blessings I’ve had in my life, and also the tenacity that I continue to have to keep standing and to know that our pain doesn’t have to define our success in the ways that we choose and it doesn’t have to make us damage people and that connection that makes us more extraordinary and more compassionate.”
And at the end of every show, Jewel hopes she can relay that message to every audience she performs in front of during the tour.
“I hope everybody feels encouraged to still be brave in their lives, and to remember that life has its ups and downs and success really just comes down to a stubbornness of saying ‘I’m going to keep standing,’” she said. “I hope that everybody walks away feeling more encouraged and emboldened to do that and to be the architects of their lives and to be try and be great at whatever they’re doing.”
Tickets are on sale now and doors open at 7 p.m. on show night.