Since the beginning of June, the talented singer-songwriter has begun a twice-a-week stint as host of "Nashville Star," performed solo acoustic gigs and traveled the highways opening shows for Brad Paisley. The grueling schedule is aimed at promoting her brilliant country CD, "Perfectly Clear," released in June.

It's a pace that won't slow down until the end of November. But for Jewel, it's all part of sharing the music that is both her passion and career.

"The reason I'm willing to work so hard is that I really believe in country music," she says by phone from her bus in Indianapolis, a stop on the tour that brings her to the Time Warner Cable Pavilion on Saturday. "I believe it's one of the premier places for someone who wants to be a singer-songwriter and storyteller. I'm very happy to be here, and very happy to work hard and let people get to know me."

With the first country album of her career, Jewel has been introducing herself to country radio and reintroducing herself to fans who have known her primarily as a folk and pop artist since the release of her debut album, "Pieces of You," in 1995. Shifting to country was not a capricious move for the prolific artist, who grew up singing country songs on her father's ranch in Alaska. In fact, it makes sense for a song-poet with a fascination for storytelling, which is one of country music's hallmarks.

Jewel had hoped to release a country album earlier, but her former record label, Atlantic Records, was not interested in promoting her as a country artist. When her six-CD contract expired, Jewel left the label and signed with Valory Music, the sister label to Nashville's Big Machine Records.

"My fans have been wanting this record for a long time," Jewel says. "In '99, I talked about doing this record when I was on the cover of Rolling Stone. I was really surprised my label wouldn't let me work songs to country radio. The whole time I was asking if we could work things at country radio, and the answer was always no.

"I'm not a tortured artist. ... I sold almost 30 million records with them. It just made no sense to me that I was writing country songs and wondering why they wouldn't work me to country radio. So when they asked me to reup my contract, I declined so that I could do this record. It's about my life and my heritage, and storytelling songs. It's been a lot of work introducing myself to new partners at radio. I've been working really hard, but it's been some of the best fun I've had in a really long time."

It's some of the best music, too. Jewel wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 songs on "Perfectly Clear," which is a model of sturdy songcraft and emotional conviction. She sings with an exceptional range of voicings and tones, from sensuous whispers to vulnerable vibrato and cowboy yodels, intuitively matched to each song's message and mood. It's a voice and presence that country fans should embrace.

Songs range from the declarative first single, "Stronger Woman," to the clever heartthrob of "Thump Thump" (inspired by the songwriting of John Prine), the honky-tonk heartbreaker, "Anyone but You," and the cowboy waltz, "Loved by You," dedicated to her father who taught her to yodel when she was 6 years old. "'Til it Feels Like Cheating," the only song she didn't write, is classically, passionately, country and should contend for song and recording of the year.

Since she burst onto the scene in 1995, it's been clear that Jewel marches to the strum of a different guitar. By now, it's well-known that as an intrepid, if naïve, 16-year-old, Jewel hitchhiked and rode trains from Michigan to Mexico, earning money for food by playing songs about people she met and things she saw during her travels. She wrote "Who Will Save Your Soul," the breakthrough hit from her first album on that trip.

Next page >

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.