>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, DC... [ Silence ] >> Good afternoon. I'm Une Yang [phonetic], and I am so delighted to introduce our next author. When I had my first baby nearly eight years ago, I was scared out of my mind. He cried an awful lot, and I quickly realized that all the reading and all the classes, the interrogation of my mom's friends, could not prepare me for the stark reality of having to care for a new life that I brought into this world. It was awe-inspiring and incredibly daunting. I cried with him [chuckles] many of those sleepless nights, and music soothed us both. One of the albums I listened to over and over again during that time was "Spirit" by Jewel. Everyone loved the hit song "Hands", and, of course, I was drawn to "Little Bird" because it was after, all a song that Jewel's mother sang to her as a child. And her mother actually sings that song on the album with her. But the song from "Spirit" that I sang most frequently to my new baby was "Life Uncommon". Here's some of the lyrics. Don't worry; I will not sing them today [chuckles]. "Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom. No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from. Fill your lives with love and bravery, and you shall lead a life uncommon." I sang those words to my baby boy, and the words from my lips became a prayer. And it became even more meaningful to me because proceeds from a live version of that song was released to raise money for Project Clean Water, a charity Jewel founded, which works to increase access to clean water for people around the world. My two other children, who weren't as colicky, got the Jewel treatment as well. And my husband, who worked with youth for many, many years, also used Jewel's songs in his talks with his kids, which were very impactful as well. Jewel's songs resonated with me then and now because she is not only a talented musician, a writer and artist, but she is a storyteller at heart. She inherited her love for language from her grandfather Yule [phonetic] while she was growing up in Alaska. And she's been performing on the stage since the age of six. Her career has earned her four Grammy Award nominations, in addition to numerous awards, and earned her a long stay on the New York Times Best Seller list with her book of poetry, "A Knight Without Armor". Jewel has sold more than 27,000,000 records worldwide, including her most recent children's music collections, "Lullaby" and "The Merry Goes 'Round", the latter which she wrote while she was pregnant with her first child. Her baby Kase is now one, and she has found more inspiration in her writing from her beautiful son. Her new book, "That's What I Do", was written as a celebration of her newborn son in the form of a lullaby, lending her -- lending her voice to us today, ladies and gentlemen and kids, Jewel. [ Applause ] >> Jewel: That was so touching. You made me tear up. That was very, very sweet of you. But I have nothing left to say; that was pretty much everything in an eggshell. I want to thank you guys for coming. I'm overwhelmed by the crowd here. You guys know it was just me, right, and not another fancy author? Just the folk singer. My name's Jewel. It is my real name. It's a family name. I grew up in Alaska, which I'm sure quite a bit of you -- quite a few of you know, and I'm a songwriter. I liked it at a young age. I liked reading at a young age. I was dyslexic, and so reading became very difficult for me, but for some reason I really enjoyed the freedom of writing as reading got more difficult for me. I think I started writing my first little poems when I was maybe six or seven, just trying to liken the -- I think -- I'm trying to remember what I wrote about. I remember writing that a cloud looked like a lamb, and that was mind-blowing to me that I could draw a comparison. As I got older, I started turning to writing. I had sort of a difficult childhood, and writing made me feel less alone. It made me feel like I had a way of keeping track of myself. It made me feel like there was one place in the world I didn't lie, and it was important. I really felt like I was losing track of myself. I had a very difficult childhood, and I really credit writing with helping me survive that, and not turn to other more destructive outlets. I was inspired by writers. I overcame and developed my own little system for reading, and fell in love with reading, and was quite an avid reader, reading everything from the classics to poets, and I think the writers that really touched me were the honest ones. At a young age, I liked Bukowski and Anais Nin, which you'd think are terrible role models for a young adolescent girl because they're a bit racy. But it wasn't really what they were writing about; it was the fact that they had the courage to be honest. They didn't use art as propaganda to make themselves seem any better than they were, and for a girl that felt terribly flawed, it was nice to feel like I wasn't the only one that felt flawed, and that you could actually be honest about it. You didn't have to hide it or cover it up, and I made a pact with myself that I would always try and be as honest as I could in my writing, which wasn't that courageous because I only wrote for myself. I had no thought that anybody would ever read my writing or like my writing one day. But it developed a habit for me of writing and trying to be honest, and it was something I just really, really fell in love with. I moved out when I was 15. I started supporting myself and paying rent, and was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a very prestigious fine arts high school in Michigan. And I continued to write there, though I was studying singing. And it was while at school -- I was 16 years old; I didn't realize you weren't allowed to stay on campus for spring break, and Alaska was too far, and I couldn't afford to get home anyway. And I was very amazed with how in the -- what we call outside, the lower 48, which is everything, you all [audience laughter]. We -- the states are so close together, you know, in a matter of hours you can be in several new states, which is mind-boggling. In Alaska, you can drive for 12 hours and still be in the same mountain range. So I came up with this genius idea that I would hitchhike across Mexico because I am a genius, and that's what every parent hopes their children does one day [audience laughter]. I grew up hitchhiking in Alaska. It was quite common. In fact, I used to hitchhike to fourth grade, which sounds like child abuse, but everybody was doing it [audience laughter]. So it wasn't that odd of a thing, except clearly I wasn't that smart. I took a train from Michigan to San Diego, and my whole idea was that I would hobo and street-sing and earn money to keep making my way across. But I didn't play guitar. I grew up singing with my father. My grandmother -- she was kind enough to mention my grandparents -- they came from Europe and they were both aspiring artists, and gave up a lot of their dreams to live in America in a free country during the Second World War. My grandmother was an aspiring opera singer and gave up her singing, but passed music onto her eight children, and they passed it onto me and my cousins. So my dad was a singer. He had several records locally, and they sang in bars and hotels. He and I were a duet from about the age of eight. I'm probably the only fourth grader that went from elementary school straight to the bar to sing [audience laughter]. But my dad always played guitar in the act. So when I was 16 and wanting to get across the country, I thought I better learn guitar and learn a few chords. So I learned A minor, C, G, and D, in that order. I couldn't go out of order because I really didn't know how. And I just started making up lyrics in the cities that I found myself in, and people would put money in my guitar case, and I'd take it to the ticket counter, and see how far it would get me to the next town. I did make it to Mexico, and I did hitchhike from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas, and then go over to the mainland side, and go all through the Copper Canyons, and I just kept writing this song. It got longer and longer and longer, about really seeing America for the first time, seeing pop culture for the first time. I was raised in such a remote place, I really didn't have a TV much of my childhood. Seeing skyscrapers for the first time, and then enjoying Mexico, and going to the small villages, and I just kept writing about what I was seeing. It became my first song, and then being my first song, my first single as well. I got discovered when I was 18, living in San Diego. I fell on really hard times and -- I sound like a soap opera right now. I don't know; it's just sounding kind of weird. I fell on hard times when I was 18. A boss propositioned me at work, and when I turned him down he wouldn't give me my paycheck, and I left without my -- being able to pay my rent, and I was kicked out of where I was living. And I grew up with an outhouse and a log cabin so living in my car was actually kind of nice. You know, it really wasn't that bad, and I thought I would just live in my car for a little bit and get a new job and save up money and put it down for a deposit. But I had bad kidneys at the time and I kept getting sick, and I kept missing work, and I kept getting fired from new jobs, and then the car I was living in got stolen, and it was just this really vicious cycle. And I ended up homeless for about a year, and again I just turned to writing at that time in my life. I continued to write songs, and I started a -- I'm not proud of this, but I shoplifted there for a little while. It started with carrots, which apparently are the gateway vegetable [audience laughter] because it led to like peanut butter and, you know, the hard stuff. It was always food, which I sort of justified somehow, until one day I was walking down the street and there was a sun dress that I really coveted and I thought I might steal it. And I went into the dressing room and the price tag was about $40.00. And it -- I don't know, it was one of those moments. And it was like a lightning bolt struck me and I thought, "When did I lose faith in myself?" You know, when did I stop thinking that I could earn $40.00 for myself? And I was suddenly so insulted with how I was behaving, and I wasn't cheating anybody but myself, and I started writing these lyrics about "if you watch what your hands are doing, you can see what your life will become", and if they're stealing or writing, might be two very different futures. I had no idea how profound that would be. It changed my life; it changed the course of my life, and that was the beginning to a song I wrote called "Hands", which she referenced. I was amazed when I got discovered. I was homeless, living in -- on the streets, and singing in a coffee shop. And a radio station put a bootleg of mine on the air, and it got requests and got calls, and all of a sudden record labels were like, "Who is this girl? Why is she getting played on the radio?" I had the same question [audience laughter]. And I got signed; it was like being Cinderella. Limousines would pull up, and they'd take me to dinner that cost more than I'd probably spent in months. And they'd say, "Where should we drop you off?" I'm like, "Anywhere is fine," [laughs]. And it was an amazing journey. I was blown away, you know. I hoped maybe I could have a career. Maybe I -- I loved John Prine and Tom Wade so I was like, "Gosh, if I could just make a living with my own music, it would be amazing." And I set out working very hard to do that, and I developed this hard core fan base that was very small but very, very passionate, and they -- I really credit them for changing my life. They demanded that radio stations play me, and all of a sudden this little folk record started to take off and my life changed. I mean, I can't even imagine; I went from being homeless to buying a million dollar home in a matter of years, and it's unbelievable. I pinch myself every day. And it was from my thoughts; I couldn't believe it. I never valued my own thinking as unique. You think because you think it, it must just not be that special because otherwise anybody could think it, you know? And if I only could just tell children, "The best thing you can do is to value your own thoughts, and to start thinking and developing, and understanding that your thoughts are so special, and to pay attention to what you're thinking." And that's my love affair with writing; that's how writing has saved my life. I'm beyond honor that it's helped other people, and touched other people in times of need because I've really turned to my own writing as my own help, to help me. Being able to write for my son has been amazing. I've been blessed to sing and perform for other people, and now to pour my talents into my own child, and to be able to teach him and tell him through words means the world to me. I didn't think my life would turn out this good, you know. I feel like I beat the odds and the statistics, and I can't believe I'm a happy mom and I have a beautiful, happy baby. And, you know, I should have been in some dysfunctional, terrible marriage, and it's just amazing what's happened for me, and I'm so honored that I get to share this with people, and mainly with my son. I really want to thank Amy June Bates for doing the beautiful illustrations. This book started out as a song, actually, that I wrote my son while I was pregnant. And when I was writing them in my notebook, I was just really struck that I wanted this to have no melody. I wanted people to hear the words, and my son to hear the words, with no melody so that the words could stand out more, and the illustrations just brought them even more to life. It was really incredible. And seeing her last page where the mom's nose kissing the babies always makes me tear up whenever I get to it. So I can't thank the publisher and Amy June Bates enough for helping me with this project, and I'd love to take some of your guys's questions so I don't have to talk so much [laughs], like I'm rambling on so much. So if there's any questions, I'd sure love to answer them to the best of my ability. But I'm not sure how it works, really. Oh, there's microphones here. And you can ask me anything if you want, or not, really [laughs]. No questions at all? You have one? [ Silence ] >> Hello. >> Jewel: Hi. >> You said that 18, or right around there, you ended up being homeless for about a year. Why didn't you go home? >> Jewel: That's a great question. It probably goes back to why did I move out at 15 [laughs]? Home wasn't very great. My dad and I are pretty close now. My mom left when I was eight, and then my dad took over raising us, but it was difficult for him and thus difficult for me. I don't know; I never thought about it. I never thought about going home; I just was on my own, and that's how it was. In a lot of ways, it was good for me. I think when you know you're on your own, you roll up your sleeves and you figure out solutions, and I definitely was a scrapper, and I think that that really served me well in my career because in the music business, or any business I am sure, you really have to learn to stand up for yourself. You have to learn to fight for what's right. You have to learn how to support your own vision. And I think that those hard times, while I don't wish them on anybody, really made me into the kind of person I am. It'll either ruin you or make you stronger, and that's how life is. But you know, I don't know why. I'm sure I could. I'm sure, you know, if things really got down -- I never thought it was that bad, honestly. Like I said, I grew up, you know, in a saddle barn with no plumbing, you know. Peeing in people's lawns, you know, in Pacific Beach, San Diego, where I surfed every day was no problem for me [laughs]. That'll end up a quote, yeah [audience laughter]. >> Well, thank you. >> Jewel: Thanks [laughs]. >> What's your favorite color? >> Jewel: My favorite color -- it's so hard to pick. I'm too much of a Gemini. I like every single color. What's yours? >> Mine's pink. >> Jewel: Pink, that's a good favorite color to have [laughs]. Thank you. It was nice to meet you. >> Hello. >> Jewel: Hi. >> What do you think your -- has inspired you in the past and inspired you currently to write songs? I mean, your -- your evolution of that. What do you think about that? >> Jewel: Gosh, I always just found inspiration by living, I guess. I grew up bar-singing and I loved people. I really liked to study and watch people, and there was so much to study, you know. Bar-singing, you run across a lot of characters, and those characters stayed with me my whole life. I was always very honored that I would -- I've interviewed people since I was very young, and I like to call it an interview. A lot of people call it being nosy and asking questions you shouldn't. But since I was very young, I've always just been very curious about human nature and what makes people tick. And people have usually been kind enough to share very, very private things with me since I was very young, and I've always really enjoyed that. I remember at a biker bar I was singing, if the cops came, I would hide in the bathroom because I was under age singing in a bar. And this one night there was a fight and the cops came, and so I had to go in the bathroom, and the biker -- it was a biker bar -- the men would send their women. They'd nod at all the women, and the women would come in to keep me company. And I remember we'd sit in this long bathroom, and we'd sit on the toilets because there were no seats, and we'd open all the stall doors and look at each other in the mirror. And I had a kitty paw print shirt on and they were all wearing biker leather, and it was just great talking to them. And I write about those experiences, and write about the people and their faces, and I just always loved it, you know. I don't know why; I just -- nothing -- not one thing inspired me. It was just sort of everything, as well as my emotions. You know, again, I was just a confused and kind of troubled child, and writing, seeing it on the page, made me make sense of it. It helped me. It seemed like I was wiser than I was when I could see it in writing. And it's continued to be that way. Learning to be a professional writer was a whole different thing. You work with deadlines; you work with specific commercial needs; you're trying to work with sounds that are hits on the radio that might not be natural sounds to you. You work -- all those kinds of things, so that became a whole other evolution, I think, in my writing. But luckily, I feel like I was fortunate enough to still continue to do what I liked, how I liked it. >> Thanks for the music, very inspiring, like your relationship songs. I just wanted to say that, so thank you. It's inspirational. >> Jewel: Thank you [laughs]. They were hard-earned. Oh, I was ignoring you. >> How did you become an author? >> Jewel: Say again. >> How did you become an author? >> Jewel: How did I become a what? >> An author. >> Jewel: I played pretend and somebody believed me is the only thing I can come up with. It started with a book of poetry. I love poetry, and I went to publishers and they told me, "Poetry doesn't sell," and "We don't want a poetry book," and "We want an autobiography," which is preposterous because I was 24, and the idea of writing a biography by yourself seemed just incredibly terrible. So -- but I agreed to it and I said, "If I can do the poetry book first." And amazingly, the poetry book did very well, and I was very proud just because, go poetry. I think poetry really can change lives, and I was glad to see it get into the hands of so many young people. So that's how, and I don't do enough of it. I should do more, but I am kind of lazy, I think. Thank you. [ Silence ] >> Hi. >> Jewel: Hi [laughs]. >> My question is about your music. You kind of explored a lot of different genres, and I was wondering if there was another album coming up, and what area you'd like to explore with that. >> Jewel: [Laughs] Yeah, I love exploring genres. I don't know; I see music like I see getting dressed. Some days I want to wear sweat pants, and some days I want to wear gowns, and it still means I'm the same person. And I thought it's really funny, the music business is so categorized in these very specific boxes where if you're country you can't be pop, and if you write pop you can't be folk, and I don't think people experience music that way, you know. I know as a music fan I listen to Johnny Cash as much as I listen to Bob Dylan as much as I listen to Britney Spears. I like all of it, and so my writing really reflects that. There is a standards type of record. I loved Kol Porter a lot as a kid, and so he really inspired me to be a songwriter, and there's a lot of stuff I write like that I haven't had a chance to get out. So that would definitely be something I'd like to do in the future. I don't have any hip-hop plans but don't count me out [laughs]. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Thanks. Go ahead. >> I have a friend that's an aspiring singer-songwriter. What would you say would be your best advice to her? >> Jewel: A couple pieces of advice. One's to examine why she wants to do it, if it's for the love of the craft or to be famous. Both are fine, but it's better to know which one you're going after because you have to make about 20 decisions a day that will support one or the other, and they're not always -- sometimes they're mutually exclusive and sometimes they're not. The other thing I can say is the music business has changed a lot, and musicians have very little leverage and very little power. Even though we're what people come to see if we're successful, the business is right now designed where we're actually not going to make very much money. And I know artists that have sold millions of records and then been dropped, and they don't really have any money because it costs so much to make the records; it costs so much to make the videos; it costs so much to tour. You owe all that money back; it's like having a bank. And a lot of people don't really understand how that business works, and so the more leverage you can have coming into the business the better, which means having your own fan base developed. If you already have your own fan base, the record label doesn't have as much right to take as much of your money. So all I can say is be good, be talented. Work on your craft, and really practice, and be good, is the number one step. But number two is use the social media, and use touring, and use getting out there to try and develop some buzz because that'll be what helped give you an edge to get signed, much less hopefully to have some leverage in your negotiating. >> Thank you [laughs]. >> Jewel: It's kind of a technical answer but thanks [laughs]. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Okay, yeah, okay. >> Hi. I have a question and also a request. >> Jewel: Yeah. >> I'm also from Alaska. >> Jewel: Grand. >> I grew up there, and I love to tell my daughter stories about growing up, and ice skating to school and sliding and stuff. So my request is that some day, if you could write down your thoughts or share your experiences as a child growing up in Alaska, I know we would buy the book so... >> Jewel: Thank you. >> But I'd also -- also just wanted to thank you. You've been wonderful, and I've experienced you on so many levels, and I'm looking forward to sharing you with my kids. >> Jewel: Thank you. I wrote quite a bit in the book called "Chasing Down the Dawn", the one that was supposed to be a biography. It ended up just sort of being prose and memoirs, and a lot of it was about growing up in Alaska, and my experiences being raised on the homestead. So there's quite a bit of that in there, although it isn't exclusively -- yeah. >> Hi. Hi, Jewel, I just wanted to say thank you for your words. It got me a lot -- through a lot in my life, and I was wondering what your plans are for your child. Like what -- what do you hope that he'll get out of life, since yours was kind of difficult to begin with, but it's -- you're so fortunate now so... >> Jewel: Well, I have it all mapped out for him. No [laughs], I don't. It's interesting, you know, just to be really honest. I never thought that I would have money and raise a child. That's an odd thing to think about. I -- you know, being raised really poor, my dad couldn't spoil me and so I never resented him. It's just you felt like you were pitching in; you were all a team, and you were all kind of getting through it. It's weird now to be able to say, "I can afford giving you an iPod but I don't want to give you an iPod." And what kind of psychological dynamic does that create? It's such a different paradigm than I ever thought I'd be facing as a parent. The reason I bring that up is because I really value earning things for yourself. The confidence that that gave me; I had no confidence, but I knew if I worked hard I could get something out of it and that's what saved my life, and it's why I'm successful. And you know, at -- that school I went to is a very affluent school, and there was a lot of kids that were spoiled and they didn't have that confidence. And, as hard as my childhood was, I felt like I had a head start on a lot of kids. So it's a weird thing, you know. I -- my husband and I live on a ranch. My husband is just a really authentic, great, down to earth guy, and so I'm hoping, you know -- I hope we don't mess it up too bad. But I think hopefully just our values will get passed on them by the way we live our lives. But other than that, it's no plan. I -- if he can find a passion and run with it, that would be great, whatever it is. >> Well, thank you for your positivity. >> Jewel: Thanks. Hi. >> Hi. Are you going to write any bigger kid books when you're older [audience laughter]? >> Jewel: Like what kind of age? Like big like you? >> No, like high school, college, like big chapter books. >> Jewel: I don't know, actually. When I was younger, I always wanted to write novels, but I just don't know if I'll ever really have the patience to sustain that craft so well over such a long period of time. We'll just have to see with time. I'm just taking the short ones for now [laughs]. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Thanks. Oh, I'll do another one over here. >> Okay. >> Two things. One, I was wondering what your son's favorite bedtime song is. And then if you'd also speak about your cause for clean water. >> Jewel: Sure. Yeah, thanks. My son's favorite bedtime song is "Angels Standing by". It's on the "Lullaby" record. I founded Project Clean Water when I -- I don't know, in '97. When I was homeless, I had bad kidneys, and I had to drink about a gallon of clean water a day. And I couldn't afford it, and I was shocked that the tap water was pretty much undrinkable. In Alaska, we had -- our -- we had a stream that went right into our sink. We just had a hose that would come up out of it and it was such good water. It was shocking, you know; in America, we really can't even drink our water. And I thought if I ever get into a position to help I'd look into it. And my life turned around radically, and the first thing I did was form Project Clean Water. We've put about 35 wells in 15 different countries, and are now partnered with VOS and a few other foundations to help continue doing it. >> Thanks. >> Jewel: Thanks. Yeah. >> Over here, okay. Like many people, we want to thank you for "Hands", and that's a song that's actually helped connect me with my daughter through very, very difficult times, and she's in her twenties now. But the question I have for you is that there's a very strong sense of spirituality in a lot of your work, and I don't know if you feel comfortable talking a little bit about that, just its basis and how that has played a role in your life. >> Jewel: Sure. I'm not sure how to answer it, though. My spirituality has changed so much over time for so many reasons, but one thing I've always really loved, and what always impresses me, is -- as I've grown older -- is really just tolerance. It's amazing that America really founded itself on that, and how important it is that we can bring all our faiths together. With politics and religion, in my music I've always tried to tackle those topics. I write quite a few political songs, but I try never to let you know what side I'm on. And I do that for a reason; it's so that you can experience the song for yourself, with your own views and your own values. I don't -- I'm not interested in telling people what to think. I'm very interested in helping people be curious and to fight, hopefully, for something. So that's sort of how I've approached spirituality and politics in my music. I try not to be didactic, and at the same time try and be supportive of people looking a little deeper. >> Great, and I think that's why you speak to so many different generations continuing to today, so thank you. >> Jewel: Thanks. Yeah, I can't tell you how many people -- when "Who Will Save Your Soul" was a hit, I got so many Bibles in the mail. They were like, "I know the answer to this." They were like, "I got it." Go ahead. >> Hi. I just want to thank you for what you said today. It was so encouraging on so many different levels, especially the writing to heal. I just recently discovered that Jewel [inaudible], and I -- and even the part about the guitar that you just know a few chords; I think so many of us just stop because we maybe don't know how to read, so we don't write. We don't know how to play a complete song so we're not going to learn any chords. And it was just so encouraging to hear that, and I hope everybody, anything that they doubt, that they'll just do it anyway and move forward. And especially the writing to heal, that is just -- so many of us, I think, are hurting in so many different ways, and not everybody can afford a therapist but... >> Jewel: Yeah. >> ...a pen and paper is cheap, and we don't have to publish it. But -- so anyway, thanks for that. Oh, and you should try NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, if you're interested. >> Jewel: NaNoWriMo? Okay. >> Yeah, NaNoWriMo is -- you write 50,000 words in a month with a bunch of other people... >> Jewel: Oh, cool. >> ...so that might be a good way to get a novel out quick. >> Jewel: That sounds fun. Yeah, I'm not -- I want to reiterate to you, I'm not trained. I have the worst grammar. I mean, Kurt Loder on MTV went after me because I had such bad grammar in a poem. But I wasn't college educated; I moved schools three or four different times a year, and I always happened to miss grammar, plus I hate it, and I'm a bad speller. But it's no excuse not to write and create, so I really would encourage anybody just to -- there's no rules. It doesn't -- look at Kurt Loder. He's an old guy interviewing kids, anyway. Gee whiz [laughs]. Yeah. >> We have your... >> Jewel: You have a cute baby [laughs]. >> Thank you. We have your "Lullaby" CD and we love it, so thank you. I also wondered how having a baby has affected your songwriting since he's come along. >> Jewel: It depends on who you ask. Some will say it's been affected negatively because I haven't done a real record in a while. I've been writing kid's music. But my music's always reflected my life, and I'm a new mom, and I'm very absorbed in learning about that. And, when I want him to know something, I always have to write something, write a song about it. So that's how it's affected me. It's definitely put me in mommy mode. I did "Lullaby", "The Merry Goes 'Round", and my kid's book, and I'm sure there'll be others, so [Laughter]. >> Thank you. Thank you [Laughter]. >> Hi, Jewel. >> Jewel: Hi. >> Oh, sorry, am I? I think I'm next. Hi. I want to ask, mentioned the "Lullaby" CD. I have it too, and my sister-in-law, who has an adorable little boy and little girl, you know, she wanted it too I know, so that was on her Christmas list once. Do you sing the songs to your little boy from it: all of them-or does that-you mentioned one I think it was his particular favorite but-. >> Jewel: Yeah, I play him "Lullaby" a lot when I'm doing his bedtime routine. >> Oh, you play the CD for him? >> Jewel: Yeah. >> I wonder if you did that. >> Yeah, I do play the CD for him kind of as a-I give him a little massage at night and tuck him in and all that, and I play the CD for him. >> But you do sing the songs yourself sometimes to him? >> Jewel: I write a lot of songs for him on the spot. >> But you don't sing the songs from the "Lullaby" that much? >> Jewel: Not as much. Sometimes I do "Sweet Dreams For You." I'll sing that for him. >> What's the one you said he particularly likes, though? >> Jewel: "Angel Standing By." >> "Angel Standing By." Does he like "Brahms Lullaby"? My sister-in-law sings that sometimes to her kids. >> Jewel: You know, that's turned into one of my favorites. I don't generally like to do cover songs but... >> Right, right, but. >> Jewel: ...after I recorded it, it's one of the ones I like listening to the most, actually, so. >> You do "Over the Rainbow" on it, too, actually. >> Jewel: Yeah, I do. I'm glad you like it. You enjoy it? >> Yes, I do, yes. >> Jewel: Good. Well, thanks. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Thank you. You want to ask one? Go ahead. >> When did you first start thinking about writing a song? >> Jewel: When did I first think about writing a song? It was before I wrote my official first song at 16. I wrote some just a capella when I was younger. I liked a guy named Cole Porter, who wrote kind of Broadway style songs, and I'm trying to think of how old, trying to think. I think the very first song I ever wrote was in fourth grade. I wrote it for Martin Luther King, and I think that was the first one. I wrote a couple, maybe five or something before I was sixteen. Nothing very good [Laughter]. Yeah. >> How did you meet your husband [Laughter]? >> Jewel: Aw. I met my husband at a rodeo, like all couples do [Laughter]. He was a rodeo cowboy, and I had a night off. My dad was an all-around champion in Alaska, and I grew up rodeoing in barrel races. But they're tiny rodeos, and in Denver, there was a stadium sold out, 20,000 people, and I wanted to see what that was like. And so we met that night. Yeah. >> Cool. >> Jewel: Yeah [Laughter]. >> Hi. I'm a huge fan, so I'm kind of star-struck at the moment, so [Laughter]... >> Jewel: Thank you. >> ...excuse me for that. But I just wanted to ask, kind of, what is your process for taking a great idea that you have and kind of bringing it to life, and especially dealing with writer's block. I mean, you're such a prolific songwriter but have you ever hit those roadblocks, and how do you kind of work through it? >> Jewel: [Inaudible] are great questions. What was the first part of it, though? I have a memory like a goldfish. >> [Laughter] Like, taking an idea that you have, so like, maybe like a hook that you have, and kind of like working it into a full song. >> Jewel: Right. Songs come to me in all kinds of ways. Sometimes I have a hook or a title, and I'll use that as my compass. If I think it's that good of a hook, you just try and make the rest of the song not disappoint it [Laughter]. A lot of times I write with no idea, I have no idea what the song's about. I have a song named "Luisa and Her Blue Guitar," and it says, "A naked thigh has much to talk about, if it's just approached right." That's a very weird, kind of provocative first line. I had no idea what it was about, and I just kept adding more words, and it gets revealed to me as the song goes on, you know. But I had no idea, it's not like I sat down to write a song about [inaudible] compromising everything for male attention. It's not like I set out to do that. It just sort of, it's like, it's sort of like if you go on a hike and you see a beautiful trail, and you're like, "I wonder where that leads?" And you just start walking down the trail, and it reveals itself to you. With writing, I really feel like, if I have a strong emotion, I just try not to dilute it. And that's my job, is just not to dilute it. If I can make you feel what I'm feeling as strong. If I'm feeling desperate, and I can make you feel that exact thing, desperate yearning, then I did my job, you know? If each word keeps the potency alive, then that's the right word. And if it dilutes it, and when somebody hears it, it's just kind of like a [eh] so-so feeling, I know I let it down, and that's sort of how I go about it. It's probably not very technical but that's kind of how I go about it. And what was the second part? I forgot already [Laughter]. >> That was the bulk of the first question. >> Jewel: Oh, prolific, right. >> Yeah, because, I mean, I doubt that you have too many problems because as you said, you're kind of able to work through it just by kind of going with your feeling for it. Can I ask a quick second question? >> Jewel: I want to address the writer's block really quick. >> Okay. >> Jewel: I get asked about writer's block a lot, and I really think writer's block comes down to judgment. I'd be curious, I've never talked to another writers about it but you can always write, I mean, unless you're physically incapable of putting something on a paper or on a screen or in your head, you are able to write. I think it's when you start judging it and you think what you're not writing is good, and when you become a judger, it's like having a child, they know that, and they know they're not safe. And they don't want to show up because they're not safe. So I feel like, just try not to judge what you're writing. I liken writing to mining for gold. If you just put the work in every day, you're going to get a nugget, sometime. Not every day. And, so, a lot of times I just get dirt, and they're just silly songs, or they're not that good, or they're just so-so, but it doesn't matter. I mean, they deserve their little time and space, and sometimes you'll stumble across a really good one. So, my advice for writer's block is just to write and try and stop judging what you're doing. >> Thank you so much. >> Jewel: Thanks. >> Have a great one. >> Jewel: Hi. [ Inaudible Question ] >> Jewel: I think her mic is off. [ Background Noise ] >> Jewel: I'll go over here until they fix that one. Hi guys. >> Ask a question. >> How did your car get stolen [Laughter]? >> Jewel: That's an excellent question. My car got stolen. It wasn't a very good car, and I had to leave the key in the ignition, which is a terrible start to this whole story. And so I always put a towel over the steering column, and somebody probably knew something was odd about that. I found out later that it had been used for human trafficking in Mexico, so that'll be something that your parents get to explain to you, and they're going to thank me. [ Laughter ] >> Jewel: Oh, Lord [Laughter]. Go ahead. >> We wanted to know if you weren't a, if you didn't become a songwriter and an author, what would you probably be? >> Jewel: I don't know. I didn't have many prospects. You know, I wasn't college educated, so I don't know, really. Probably waitressing and bartending and jobs like that most likely or in Alaska just, a lot of people just live in Alaska. You kind of just live to get by. You have your own cattle and your own fish, and you just sort of live off the land, which, probably what I would have ended up doing. >> All right, thank you. >> Jewel: Thank you. Is it working? Not yet? It sounds like it's working. Go ahead and try. Or not. >> Hello. >> Jewel: Oh, hi. I hear you faintly. >> I love your music... >> Jewel: Thank you. >> ...and I love your tweets, and I just wanted to say that one thing I think a lot of people don't know about you is what an awesome, fantastic yodeler you are... >> Jewel: [Laughter]. >> ...and I would like you to speak to that, or maybe give us a sample. >> Jewel: She asked me about yodeling. My dad-ten minutes, ty dad yodels. He taught himself off of cowboy records, and I was fascinated with it when I was really young, probably five, I started really being interested in it. And I started practicing. My dad wouldn't teach me because he thought I was too young to have the vocal control, or whatever, but I was determined to prove him wrong, and it made me quite unpopular as a kindergartner [Laughter] because it's not pretty to learn. But it's mostly just tongue twisters, you know, and you just learn to control your voice. And maybe at the end, I'll yodel. Because if I did it now, it'd be a riot, you know [Laughter], so. Thanks. Hi. >> Hi. What's your favorite song? >> Jewel: That I wrote? Or just of all time? >> Of all time. >> Jewel: Oh, Lord [Laughter]. I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know how to pick. It's so hard. Do you have a favorite song? You don't? It's hard, right? You asked a tough question. But, oh, I just can't do it. I don't know, I'm going to have to think about it. I'll tweet it later if I can come up with a good one. [Laughter]. Thank you. >> I listen to your songs a lot at, for bedtime. >> Jewel: You do? I love that. I love that I get to sing you to sleep [Laughter]. Well, it was nice meeting you. Did you have a question, or you just wanted to say that. >> I just wanted to say that. >> Jewel: Well, I really appreciate it. Thank you for sharing that with me [Laughter]. >> Hi. Did your publishers, editors, make you put things in you didn't want to put in your book, or take things out you wanted to leave in your book, or change the drawings? >> Jewel: With this book? >> Yeah. >> Jewel: No, this is exactly pretty much how the song is. The chorus even repeats itself in here. I did include the song in the book so you can hear the song as well. But no, it was great. You know, again, a children's book isn't, you know, my wheelhouse, so I definitely took a lot of the advice. It's a lot of these songs I'd like to turn into a children's book, and my editor felt like this was the best one to start with. So, you know, I think it's great when you're on a team, to take their advice. But they haven't really tried to change it, and you know, I loved Amy's drawings, and felt like they were whimsical but still had a lot of heart, and were still very nostalgic. And I knew she was the right illustrator. And I just let her do her thing. It really came together easily. >> So you didn't just say, I want this illustration to look any different or anything at all, you just said that looks good. >> Jewel: No, no it was really easy. The lyrics were already done, and Amy did her thing, and that was it. Stress free. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Thanks. Yeah. >> What do you plan on doing for the future? >> Jewel: Gosh, that's a great question. I think I'll always write, and I'll always sing and make records. I'm not sure how I'll do that. I've been working from home more. I live in a remote place, and I have a studio there, and I made "Lullaby" and "The Merry Goes 'Round" at home because I'm trying not to travel as much with the baby. I think I'll tour again a little, and I can bring the baby along at some point, and he'll be old enough. I'd like to make non-children's records again, but to have a record out on a major label takes so much work. I mean, it's three or four months of just going to radio stations, asking them to play your songs. Not that they will, you just ask them if they will, you hope, and you play for them. And then you have to do a big world tour, and then you have to do a lot of media and television shows, and I don't know how I'm going to do that as a new mom. I know a lot of moms do it, that are in my business, but I just don't know if I got it in me, honestly. So, I don't know if I'm going to release them independently and just let them be smaller records, or if I'll do another major record release. I haven't figured it out yet. Thank you. You have a question? >> Could you sing one of your songs? [Laughter] >> Jewel: I could sing-which one would you like? [Laughter and applause]. That's sweet of you. [Applause]. Oh Lord. [Laughter and applause]. I don't know why that embarrasses me. It's what I do. [Laughter]. Gosh, now I'm blanking, totally, like, what kind of song? Like, one of the kid's songs? I'm putting it back on you, brother. [Laughter]. >> Any. [Laughter]. Any. >> Jewel: Any one? I can sing part of this one, but I have to think of the words. Hold on. I draw a blank. Okay, I'll sing you part of this one. [Singing]. If I own the sky, I tell you what I'd do / Gather up the clouds and leave only the blue / If I had the sun, I'd put yellow in a brush / And paint you a portrait that you could feel and touch / The sun would hit your face from my picture filled with light / And as darkness came that canvas would fill up with night / That's what what I'd do do do do do / 'Cuz I love you you you you you [Laughter]. [ Applause ] Oh, thanks. Thank you. I have about five more minutes, so I'll just try and fit a few more questions in. >> Oh, hi. >> Jewel: Hi. >> Well, that was nice. [Laughter]. I saw you act in a film, a Western one, I can't remember the title, with Toby McGuire. What was that like, and you know, are you going to do anything like that again? [Inaudible] was called "Ride with the Devil," and it was really a big honor. I was so nervous when I started filming it because I don't really act, and Ang Lee is such an acclaimed director, and I remember being really insecure one day and it was before we started filming, and I think I even was crying a little. I was like, "Why did you hire me? You could have hired any actress that you wanted." And he looked at me and goes, "You have period teeth" [Laughter]. Which [Laughter] because I had such crooked teeth, I think I was the only girl in Hollywood that actually looked like I belonged in the Civil War, so [Laughter]. You never know what'll get you a job. I did just get to play June Carter Cash. There's a new movie coming out on Lifetime about her life as a comedian and as a songwriter. She wrote "The Ring of Fire," which a lot of people don't know. So, I am returning to acting. That comes out in the new year. >> Well, I can't wait to see it. Thank you. >> Jewel: Yeah? >> What's your favorite song that you have wrote? >> Jewel: My favorite song that I have wrote, gosh, that's hard to say. I have probably five or six hundred songs and, I don't know, you like all of them for some little, little reason. But, I guess, "Who Will Save Your Soul" will always be kind of close to my heart because that's the one that really changed things for me. >> Thank you. >> Jewel: Thank you. Well I can't thank you all... Oh, yeah, hi. You again! [Laughter]. >> Hi again. Sorry, I'm back up here, and I was just thinking about the song that I mentioned that you sang with your mother, and this is a personal question. You mentioned that she left when you were eight but she sang with you on "Little Bird." And how did you reconnect, and what did that mean for you? >> Jewel: That's kind of a complicated and not always happy story. We reconnected when I got discovered. You can probably fill in a lot of blanks there [Laughter]. Yeah. But it was nice to have that [Laughter]. Thank you. Yeah? >> What was your favorite thing that you wrote? >>Jewel: I'll go, instead of songs, I'll go into maybe poems. I think my books, my favorite book right now is the poetry book. I have another book of poetry I'd like to get out. Honestly, it's hard to find a publisher. Nobody, really, still nobody wants to publish poetry. But it's a book of love poems, so hopefully that'll come out at some point. Thank you. Alright, one more, and then I know they're going to kick me off. >> Jewel: One of my favorite songs you've written was about a relationship, I think, "you took your coat off and stood in the rain." Can you tell me what that was about? I mean, I really enjoy the song. >> Jewel: Yeah, thanks. You're talking about a song called "Foolish Games." I wrote that when I was about 18, I think. I was reading a lot of Pablo Neruda's poetry, and I loved his use of color. You could almost smell what he was writing. I also was struck at a really young age by Leonard Cohen's the "Famous Blue Raincoat" and I was hoping to write something that would give you that. I don't know what you call that feeling, but whatever that feeling was that I had when I listened to the "Famous Blue Raincoat," of frustration, and mixed with love, and mixed with bitterness and melancholy, all rolled up together. And I really didn't write it about a relationship I was going through. I mean, don't get me wrong, I took it out on one relationship I kind of had in mind, but mainly I was just trying to create a mood and a feeling with that song. Well, thank you. Two minutes, alright. Well, thank you guys so much for coming. [Applause]. I really appreciate you tolerating all my talking. So, thank you so much, and I'll be signing books here somewhere [Applause]. Oh my gosh, I said I'd yodel for you, and I'm like, oh, I'm a liar up here, not yodeling, like a little yodeling liar. I will yodel. I cannot believe people like yodeling. It cracks me up. Or, you're just laughing at me. But either way, whatever [Laughter]. Here we go. [Singing and yodeling]. Chime bells a ringing [yodeling] / Mocking birds are singing [yodeling] / Hush little lover [yodeling] / Upon a summer's eve. [ Yodeling ] [ Applause ] This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at L-O-C-dot-gov.