3 new myspace blogs!

[reggiedvd]

"Hello from South Beach!

Yes, there are scantily clad beauties prancing about the beach. I see them below, as I look from my balcony - and no, I don't think I will be joining them today. I didn't bring my sunglasses, and I fear ridicule. God forbid I be the only odd duck and the rest descend upon me in a rage... (Visions of my childhood get recalled - I remember when I was young and fed the chickens that as soon as a hen was sick or crippled, the other hens all ganged up and would peck the poor sickly thing to death! Tragic....) We are all animals, it seems, and I am so tired from my travels, and so weary, that even venturing down to the pool seems more than I can bare.

I have been touring really hard. As hard as I did on my first album except I'm not 19 anymore, and the lack of sleep definitely gets to me. It's been good though - it feels like a fight, and I kinda like it. A good fight. A fight for music. A fight to get music I believe in heard. This is a tough business, and it seems like the stuff that makes it through gets so damaged by the process. All the life and originality gets squeezed out in process...not that there is any one person in control, nor do I think some conspiracy of mediocrity exists - it's just a grueling and confusing maze and after so many twists and turns, the tender spark can get snuffed and only the most hardened gets through!

Ok - this sounds like a kind of cynical blog- but I swear it isn't! Yes, the business is changing. Yes, more labels are getting worse and squeezing music and the artist most of all- but there are still real people out there who care about music and who really are giving their lives and losing sleep to help fight for it! I'm actually really amazed and heartened! I love this little label I'm on. As some of you may know I almost didn't sign back with a label. I almost was gonna go direct somewhere like Wal-Mart, and skip a label- because I didn't think I'd find a label to put this album out. I made this album on my own. I payed for it and had it done before i ever found a label or knew what I was gonna do with it! I made the album I liked, and i didn't think I'd find a label that would let me keep the album as it is. I met with labels and they wanted "better radio hits." They wanted me to keep writing and get "poppier, mainstream radio friendly" songs. Radio can be very tricky, and nothing is better than a radio hit, believe me! - but nothing is worth having a cheesy song be a radio hit that you don't believe in...and I felt like I wrote the best songs I could, and that if no one believed in them, i would skip radio and labels and just put an album out direct somewhere, like Starbucks, or Target or Wal-Mart or whatever....but then i met Scott Borchetta ....and he liked my songs just the way they were, and he was willing to fight for them and try to get them on the radio, without changing them. So I turned down alot of money (going direct is very lucrative) and signed for no money with Scott, and Scott scurried and formed a new label (His label is Big Machine, wich has Taylor Swift- love her! And Garth Brooks and Jack Ingram and many cool others, but it was a full roster, and they wouldn't have been able to get to my album for at least a year) called The Valory Music Co., for me, and we went right to work! Right now there are only about 5 employees at my new label! Quite a change from the giant major label I was on! They are all radio promo folks and they rock! They dont sleep, they sacrificed a lot to work for Scott, and me, and they just blow my mind...I couldn't be with more competent, empassioned people. You guys would be blown away. I have been on the road lately with JoJamie and Jon Loba - and they haven't slept or ate much, and we are doing 6 stations a day with shows at each station, and we are really making good headway. It's a hard fight and a lot of work, but it feels good! I will post some pics of me with some radio folks, and my label reps, and point out JoJamie and Jon, so you can see who I'm hanging with out here.

I am also posting a new drawing. This one I drew when I was exhausted and came home for a day off the road. I was worn out - kinda like now - so I guess I will post this one, as it shows what I call the Road-Kill effect , which is when I get too little sleep on the road, and my face stops waking up!

Hope all is well with you all. Sorry I haven't been checking in that often. Today has been my first day off to catch up, but enjoy the new drawing, and know I think of all my fans often, as I hear you guys call in to the radio stations where I am. Thank you guys so much for all your support and good thoughts!

Xxjewel"






"Well, I'm leaving Miami - barely made my flight! I hosted the WKIS Chili Cook Off and then Big & Rich got me up and we played Stronger Woman. His band learned it, but it was kinda weird, cause no one really knows it yet. It would've been better to sing a song they knew, but I didn't have time to do two songs, as I was barely gonna make it to the airport! I had to leave my bag with Jon and JoJamie (my label reps who must hate me by now, as they have been traveling with me for the last two weeks and see me at my absolute worst! Most tired, most cranky...I hate how I am when I'm tired! I feel so bad...I just can't sleep on the radio tours. I worry all night and worry about everything I said, and worry about the song, and then I gotta get up at 5 again. So I'm a little sleep deprived and a little cranky! And they are so nice, I just hope they can forgive me! One night, when I was particularly tired, I think I might have told Jon that sticking him with pins would make me feel better...kidding of course...but saying it did kinda help! Haha) Jon and JoJamie work harder than I do out here, and they really lay it all on the line. I'm lucky to have them.

So, here I am - headed back to TX for 4 days off. I'm gonna try to relax and get ready to go out again. I wish you could've seen me get on the plane late. I was the last person to board! I ran on all sweaty and smelly - like a crazy woman! Everyone on board was all serene and calm and sipping cola, and here I come with hair everywhere and George (my dog) a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome (I ran from security to the gate and he was bouncing around- horrible) all the makeup melted off my face - still in my stage clothes - Haha...i think i wreck! Seriously- I stink like the smelly massage lady who massaged me yesterday...(Nothings worse, right? I was getting a massage, and all the sudden I get a huge dose of sweaty arm pit...and now here I am and I MUST smell....So embarassing!) I can hear the folks in the seats across from me whispering "Is that Jewel?", as I type this...and then I imagine them saying "Is that her that SMELLS? "

Well, we are taxing for takeoff. I'm getting a dirty look from a stewardess. Better go - see you down the road!

Xxjewel"


"Hey guys!

Just got home! Feels soooo good! I slept in....it's kinda gloomy here, but I don't care. I'm not getting out of my robe. I've been threatening to finish a drawing i started a few weeks ago. I'm happy with how the sketch came out, but now I've gotta start with chalk, and it's always a tricky step. So many ways to ruin it!

Glad to read your responses to the first drawing i put up. I love to see your comments. A lot of folks asked what the writing says on the robe. I can't remember and I don't have the drawing in Texas, but if memory serves it's probably some very confessional deep and embarrassing stream of consciousness type thing that I'm probably glad no one can read! I tend to draw when I can't write. When I'm blocked and can't write songs or poems, that's when drawing seems to happen - pure shape and color - the stuff that exists before words. Anyone ever read Pascal? It's been a while, but I remember an essay where he wrote he believed immortality could be achieved through words. He really believed something of one's self could transcend and be eternal. What I remember most was when he spoke of shape however- the language before words. Before language, there were shapes that humans recognized and they had inherent meaning...like a circle - the sun, a stone cast in water, with rings echoing outward, shapes would repeat themselves in nature and they became related and pregnant with meaning. I dunno - that idea always stuck with me. When I draw I feel mute and I love just focusing on shape and color and I think my drawings are the most deeply personal art I make. The writing I put on a drawing is usually horribly personal...and yet, there it is posted.

Anyway, just another blog. I'm gonna try to do more of this type of thing - kind of a diary type thing on here. Keep you closer and in touch where I can get your guys' thoughts etc. I like it - makes music fun! I'm also gonna try to get organized and select a few of your questions and answer them better.

So, till next time...XxJewel"

[mjuehl3]

those are some of the best blogs she has posted in my opinion. the airport one made me laugh a lot!!

[cherry-queen]

coooooooool

[ROBARE]

It's that picasso thing.

[maverick]

Jewel's iCast

Hello!
2:22pm


Hello from Stephenville TX!



Well, the day is overcast, and the wind is chilly and building speed, but it feels so good to be home! I have been traveling a lot, trying to meet radio folks so they will play my new song, Stronger Woman. It's been fun actually - feels like my first album. I haven't worked this hard since my first album!



For those of you who may not know, I got off my old label Atlantic, and I'm on a tiny (5 employees!) label called The Valory Music Co. in Nashville, and I'm really excited. Atlantic and I had an amazing ride together - since the begining - and we fought together to get my songs heard, and it wasn't easy! But then they got bought and went public and got consolidated and it became so hard and so corporate that I was getting very disheartened. It was getting so hard to be a songwriter and a storyteller, and to keep the label fighting for music that wasn't an easy sell to radio. I was so glad when my contract came up, and I could get off. I knew what kind of record I was gonna make, (it has country leanings, stuff I've been playing live for years - like Perfectly Clear, and Rosey and Mick, and The Cowboy Waltz - which some of you who trade bootlegs may recognize - and some new ones that kinda don't have any real "genre" and arJ kinda just "Jewel" songs) and I went about making it on my own. I had the album done, and no label. I thought about putting it out direct online, but I don't really have a mailing list with your specific info to let you know! So, I though about skipping a label, and going diect to Wal-Mart, or Target, or Starbucks....but no one would hear a song on the radio that way, so I worried that it would make me alot of money (going direct is very lucrative) but that ultimalty very few folks would hear the record. Then i met Scott Borchetta, (he runs an idie label called Big Machine, and he broke Taylor Swift) and we fell in love - Musically of course! We had the same passions and hopes for music, and he heard my album and didn't want to change it, or label it, or do anything, but he vowed to help me get it on the radio - country radio this time. Hey, "Who Will Save Your Soul" was "alternative", "You Were Meant For Me" was "pop" - why not let one go at "country"?) We are going to country radio because I feel it's the best chance I have to get my style of songwriting on the radio. I love lyrics, and stories, and sincerity and honsty - and it's gotten harder and harder on pop radio to get simple stuff on. Plus, fankly, I've been wanting to make my own type of country album my WHOLE career. I've been writing these songs since I was 16, and Atlantic wouldn't work anything country, so I've had to wait. As many of you know, I grew up in Alaska on a ranch, and I grew up on country music - so I'm a fan, and excited for you to hear my style! But I digress, where was I? Oh, my new label - Yes, Scott and I wanted to put an album out, but Big Machine's roster was full, so he started a brand new little label just for me - The Valory Music Co.! Of course other artists will be on there - I already have 2 label mates, Jimmy Wayne and Justin Moore. I have been traveling in rental cars going to 6 cities a day, singing at every radio station - just like I did on my first album!



Which brings me to you guys - I have always had the best community of fans. Community is the best word I know for the amazing atmosphere you guys create! Since the begining of my career, I have had such smart, cool fans that really support each other, and I have always enjoyed being in touch and watching you guys, but when I switched managment a lot of it got lost, and now I'm finding ways to find you guys again. I blog a lot on my myspace page, but my friend Justin told me about iLike and I had no idea you guys were here! So I wanted to say hi, and say I will be posting blogs and pics and journal entries from the road and random stuff regularlry here. So, I look forward to checking you all out. I will also post my radio promo tour, so you can see if I'm coming to a station near you. Also, you guys can call local country stations and request my new song "Stronger Woman." We gotta let them know fans want my music!



See u down the road! Xxjewel

[maverick]

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/Jewel

Here is another site that has a cool version of chime bells

[M€RIO]

Originally Posted by maverick

Jewel's iCast

Hello!
2:22pm


Hello from Stephenville TX!



Well, the day is overcast, and the wind is chilly and building speed, but it feels so good to be home! I have been traveling a lot, trying to meet radio folks so they will play my new song, Stronger Woman. It's been fun actually - feels like my first album. I haven't worked this hard since my first album!



For those of you who may not know, I got off my old label Atlantic, and I'm on a tiny (5 employees!) label called The Valory Music Co. in Nashville, and I'm really excited. Atlantic and I had an amazing ride together - since the begining - and we fought together to get my songs heard, and it wasn't easy! But then they got bought and went public and got consolidated and it became so hard and so corporate that I was getting very disheartened. It was getting so hard to be a songwriter and a storyteller, and to keep the label fighting for music that wasn't an easy sell to radio. I was so glad when my contract came up, and I could get off. I knew what kind of record I was gonna make, (it has country leanings, stuff I've been playing live for years - like Perfectly Clear, and Rosey and Mick, and The Cowboy Waltz - which some of you who trade bootlegs may recognize - and some new ones that kinda don't have any real "genre" and arJ kinda just "Jewel" songs) and I went about making it on my own. I had the album done, and no label. I thought about putting it out direct online, but I don't really have a mailing list with your specific info to let you know! So, I though about skipping a label, and going diect to Wal-Mart, or Target, or Starbucks....but no one would hear a song on the radio that way, so I worried that it would make me alot of money (going direct is very lucrative) but that ultimalty very few folks would hear the record. Then i met Scott Borchetta, (he runs an idie label called Big Machine, and he broke Taylor Swift) and we fell in love - Musically of course! We had the same passions and hopes for music, and he heard my album and didn't want to change it, or label it, or do anything, but he vowed to help me get it on the radio - country radio this time. Hey, "Who Will Save Your Soul" was "alternative", "You Were Meant For Me" was "pop" - why not let one go at "country"?) We are going to country radio because I feel it's the best chance I have to get my style of songwriting on the radio. I love lyrics, and stories, and sincerity and honsty - and it's gotten harder and harder on pop radio to get simple stuff on. Plus, fankly, I've been wanting to make my own type of country album my WHOLE career. I've been writing these songs since I was 16, and Atlantic wouldn't work anything country, so I've had to wait. As many of you know, I grew up in Alaska on a ranch, and I grew up on country music - so I'm a fan, and excited for you to hear my style! But I digress, where was I? Oh, my new label - Yes, Scott and I wanted to put an album out, but Big Machine's roster was full, so he started a brand new little label just for me - The Valory Music Co.! Of course other artists will be on there - I already have 2 label mates, Jimmy Wayne and Justin Moore. I have been traveling in rental cars going to 6 cities a day, singing at every radio station - just like I did on my first album!



Which brings me to you guys - I have always had the best community of fans. Community is the best word I know for the amazing atmosphere you guys create! Since the begining of my career, I have had such smart, cool fans that really support each other, and I have always enjoyed being in touch and watching you guys, but when I switched managment a lot of it got lost, and now I'm finding ways to find you guys again. I blog a lot on my myspace page, but my friend Justin told me about iLike and I had no idea you guys were here! So I wanted to say hi, and say I will be posting blogs and pics and journal entries from the road and random stuff regularlry here. So, I look forward to checking you all out. I will also post my radio promo tour, so you can see if I'm coming to a station near you. Also, you guys can call local country stations and request my new song "Stronger Woman." We gotta let them know fans want my music!



See u down the road! Xxjewel

wow thats awesome! thank you very much for posting! love the way she holds contact with her fans/us =)!

[JewelWiki]

What's the iCast from?

[piecesofuk]

The icast is from ilike.com ... http://www.ilike.com/artist/Jewel/icast

Chris.