Jewel will save your soul

Interview

Her generosity feels bottomless. By the end of our two-hour-plus brunch, I have concrete action plans in place for reimagining my writing career and strengthening my seven-year-old’s sense of self-esteem. And at no point does it feel as though she’s feigning an interest in my personal life to deflect questions about her own. She’s an open book, even divulging her thoughts on rumored beau and Yellowstone star Kevin Costner: “He’s a great person,” she says, blushing, adding that “the public fascination is intense for sure.”

“Jewel has a magnetic personality,” says Crystal Bridges executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer Rod Bigelow. “She just invites you in. She is very cognizant that she has been a high-profile individual for a long time, but she’s a person who just has this overwhelmingly welcoming spirit, and the museum is founded with the idea of welcoming all, so it was a match right away.”

Following her art museum debut, Jewel will co-headline two legs of a tour with Melissa Etheridge (another leg features the Indigo Girls, who’ve been enjoying their own renaissance thanks to a memorable moment on the Barbie soundtrack). The entire shebang should scratch the itch for unadulterated singer-songwriter sublimity sparked by Tracy Chapman’s duet with Luke Combs at the Grammys this past February. “That was a healing moment for the world,” Jewel says of the performance. “People don’t give sincerity enough credit for how powerful it can be.”