PREVIEW

Jewel

When:

7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where:

Lakewood Civic Auditorium, 14100 Franklin Blvd.

Opener:

Holly Williams.

Tickets:

$35 to $75, plus fees, available at the box office (cash only), Ticketmaster locations, online at

and

and by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

You might not want to mess with Jewel.

Yeah, the singer-songwriter who plays the Lakewood Civic on Saturday is pretty as the proverbial picture, soft-spoken and creates works that are as much poetry as they are songs, is about as tough as moose antlers.

See, you might not know this, because she goes by just her first name but the woman who is married to retired professional bull rider Ty Murray is the daughter of Atz Kilcher. If you watch the Discovery Channel, that name might be familiar to you; Jewel’s dad and his family are featured in the reality show called "Alaska: The Last Frontier."

The show is about the Kilcher clan – there are several branches – and their subsistence lifestyle in the Alaskan wilderness. Where, just FYI, Jewel was raised.

"I come from a highly individualized group of family members," she said in a call from her current home, a ranch in Stephenville, Texas, where she and Murray live with their son, 2-year-old Kase.

"I was raised to work hard and not feel entitled," she said.

But her upbringing explains a lot about Jewel’s philosophy, which was "green" before the word was coined.

"I love how I was raised, I really love it," she said. "It’s hard, constant work. The land takes care of you. It’s really something, that the state of our world is a casualty of our detachment from it. You HAVE to have an attachment."

Jewel’s whole family is musical; she cut her teeth singing with her father in bars around Homer, Alaska, her hometown. That’s the same hometown that raised enough money to send her away to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan when she was just 16.

Parts of her story are well known – how she lived in her car for a while as she was struggling to make it. But neither she – nor her mentors, her dad first, then the legendary Bob Dylan and Neil Young – probably foresaw the success she had with her 1995 debut album, and the hit off it, "Who Will Save Your Soul."

Over the years, she’s crossed over to pop, folk, Americana, country and children’s music. In some cases, that has worked against her, as fans try to figure out just what genre Jewel is.

"I never really understood that," she said. "I don’t know if people perceive music differently than me.

"It’s like a person might wear sweat pants one day, jeans one day, athletic clothing one day and suits one day," she said. "It’s all just music, an extension of myself. I grew up listening to Loretta Lynn as much as I listened to Joni Mitchell."

She’s used that streak of independence to survive .¤.¤. and thrive.

"I never felt like I was the most talented person," Jewel said. "When I looked at trying to conquer grunge and touring with the Ramones and Bauhaus as a folk singer, well, being mentored by Neil Young and Bob Dylan really helped.

"These two really believed in me," she said. "They reiterated over and over, ‘Screw everybody else, do what you think is right.’ "

And if not, there’s always the call of the wild back home in Alaska.