Country Music Blog: Jewel

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Country music was coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Monday as Phil Vassar performed on the White House's south lawn to honor recipients of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Actress Minnie Driver is getting ready to give birth: to a new baby and a new collection of country songs on her album, Seastories.

Eva Longoria is no Jewel. Cast your vote for who wore the white lace number best.

Hey everyone,

Monday night was AMAZING. I am still smiling. My sister and I sat next to my tourmates Jewel and Chuck Wicks, and behind us was James Otto, who tapped me on the shoulder and gave me the "biggest fan" award. I've grown up idolizing these artists, and I actually got to meet most of them, one in particular, Faith Hill, who has inspired me so much. It was an honor meeting her.

It was so much fun being up on that stage. I got to introduce my tourmate, Brad Paisley, with Sara Evans and Josh Turner, who kept making me laugh during rehearsals that day. Not to mention I was pretty nervous. You would think after performing on TV with 30 million people watching each week the nerves would leave. Well, well think again! :)

The performances blew me away, they were all so amazing. I really enjoyed LeAnn Rimes, Sugarland and Keith Urban. I can only hope to perform up there one day. What an unforgettable night!

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Here's my weirdest moment from the 2008 CMT Music Awards last night. I was sitting among all the reporters in the press room, when Jewel and Tom Arnold came back for photos. Somebody asked them about the election, and since I don't care who celebrities endorse for president, my eyes wandered off to the television, and Paula Abdul's on there, rattling on about something. All this is going on at Belmont University? This sort of thing never happened when I was an undergrad there in the 1990s. My big dream back then was to be a reporter on the country music beat, and now I am doing just that - with Jewel, Tom Arnold and Paula Abdul.

Anyway, the reporters are always grateful to anyone who comes back to visit with us. (Thanks, Taylor Swift! TTYL!) In case you missed the show, here are the big winners.

"Our Song," Taylor Swift 
(Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year)

"Stay," Sugarland 
(Duo Video of the Year)

"I Got My Game On," Trace Adkins 
(Male Video of the Year, Supporting Character of the Year, Director of the Year)

"Gone Gone Gone," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 
(Wide Open Country Video of the Year)

"Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore," Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes 
(Collaborative Video of the Year)

"I Wonder," Kellie Pickler 
(Performance of the Year, Tearjerker Video of the Year, USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year)

"Online," Brad Paisley 
(Comedy Video of the Year)

"Take Me There," Rascal Flatts 
(Group Video of the Year)

I used to listen to Jewel's Pieces of You album over and over until I could perfectly mimic her little spat of nonsensical words at the end of "Who Will Save Your Soul." I know, it was a bit nerdy, but hey, I was a fifth grader and it sure beat practicing the piano. Anyway, when I was told to write about a fascinating person, I knew immediately who I would research. No, I didn't care much about the president, or sports players, but I was into music and specifically Jewel. I spent hours trying to figure out what her real name was. Surely it was something like Christina or Beth. Who names their kid Jewel, right? After much digging and to no avail, I realized that Jewel was her real name. Jewel Kilcher, in fact. Wow, I liked her even more. She was a Jewel - and so was her music.

She was everything I wasn't and it intrigued me. For starters, she could sing and boy, could she sing. Aside from her incredible voice and raw songwriting talent, she grew up in Alaska and hitchhiked across the country with money she made from singing on the street corner. No, it's not like I was going to pack up my Barbie book bag and skip town, but every quirky fact made me like her even more.

Though I have to say her recent country single, "Stronger Woman" is not one of my favorite songs, I still enjoy the message behind her music. I'm happy to see she's joining the country music genre, though I think her traditional folk-like ways have always been rooted in country music. And though I'm not sure what grade I received on my fifth grade report, I am sure that after all these years, Jewel continues to inspire me to be a "Stronger Woman."

As most of you may already know, I finally got pranked by Mr. Brad Paisley! It was the last night of the Bonfires and Amplifiers Tour and I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen. I thought that he would just prank Rodney since it was his last night touring with Brad and I would still be out with Brad for the rest of the year. Well, I was wrong!

I was singing "Stealing Cinderella" and before I could even get the first word out I see from the corner of my eye two Cinderellas -- and not your normal pretty sophisticated Cinderellas. They were two men that had grey beards and dresses on that…. well…. didn’t fit so well. Ha ha. They surrounded me while I was singing and hit me on the top of the head with their magic wands, maybe waiting for me to turn into a pumpkin? I don’t know. Needless to say, I was laughing trying to keep a straight face and sing the song. I did eventually make it through and they left the stage very gracefully.

That wasn’t the end of it. Out came the silly string from every angle! I was drenched in pink silly string and so was my entire band. Everyone from the camera crew on stage to the people that worked backstage were armed and ready to get us with silly string. I have to admit it was sadly an HONOR to get pranked by the crew and Brad. I had an amazing time finishing up the Bonfires Tour with Brad and I’m looking forward to this summer. I will be out on tour the whole year on the Paisley Party tour. Jewel and Julianne Hough will be joining us.

I’m officially giving Brad fair warning that payback is in store. After all, like Brad said, "If I don’t prank you, then that means I don’t like you." And Brad… we like you! Ha ha!

Brad Paisley's 2008 tour will feature Jewel, Chuck Wicks and newcomer Julianne Hough. Paisley made the announcement Wednesday night (March 5) during his performance at the Music City Jam, an event connected to the annual Country Radio Seminar taking place in Nashville this week.

The Paisley Party, as the tour's called, begins June 11 in Albuquerque. Some 42 cities are already on the schedule through mid October.

All three acts joined Paisley onstage at the CRS show. Jewel and Wicks both performed, but Hough had to leave to return to Los Angeles to rehearse for Dancing With the Stars. A professional dancer, Hough is working on her first album as a country singer. She's off to a promising start, at least from the standpoint of being signed to a major label -- Mercury Nashville, the home of Sugarland, among others. Hough has released her first single, "That Song in My Head," and will be delivering her debut album in May.

At Wednesday's show, three of the top executives at Paisley's record label -- Arista Nashville -- surprised him with a plaque commemorating his career sales of 10 million albums.

Before offering a more heartfelt display of his appreciation, Paisley looked at the label execs and joked, "Great. I've always wanted to meet you."

I know what many of you may be thinking: “Jewel isn’t country.” However, the Alaskan poetic songstress has been writing folk music and yodeling since she was just a small girl. She played taverns with her father at the early age of 8, hitchhiked solo to Mexico during Spring break and wrote a smash hit, “Who Will Save Your Soul,” while standing on a street corner watching passersby. She even lived in her car at one point, until it was later stolen. She dates seven-time world champion bull rider Ty Murray. Who’s to say she isn’t country? She’s soulful. She’s poetic. She’s got spirit. And to me, she’s country.

Listen to her lyrics and listen to her message. In this video, “Hands,” she offers encouragement and hope. Indeed, all of us need a helping hand at some point in our lives, but often our strongest comfort is at the end of our own arm. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom or a terrible situation to remind us how strong we really are.

In the video, Jewel walks through wreckage where those around her are panicking and upset. Pushed to the breaking point, they all begin pitching in to help one another. Gathering strength both mentally and physically, they regain control of an awful situation. The viewer isn’t shown what the actual ruins are caused by, whether from a fire or bomb, because that’s beside the point. The point is in the lyrics: "Poverty stole your golden shoes/But it didn’t steal your laughter." They’ve all come together for the greater cause, to help one another. "'Cause where there’s a man who has no voice/There ours shall go singing."

Believing in oneself, relying on our morals, doing what we can to make each day a little brighter for ourselves and others -- this is her message. May we all put our own hands together and make today a little brighter.