From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V8 #221 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Wednesday, May 28 2003 Volume 08 : Number 221 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe from this digest, send an email to * jewel-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY the word * unsubscribe in the BODY of the email * . * For the latest news on what Jewel is up to, go to * the OFFICIAL Jewel web site at http://www.jeweljk.com * and click on "calendar" * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V8 #___ gives fellow list readers * no clue as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- [EDA] Hot 30Australia ["Kala P" ] [EDA] How I won the chance to meet Jewel in Vegas last week! ["Jennifer M] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 16:52:29 +1000 From: "Kala P" Subject: [EDA] Hot 30Australia Hey guys, Wanted to let you know that Intuition was number 23 on last nights Hot 30 countdown her in Oz! Lauren and i voted about 20 times each last night...i'd like to think that it was the two of us that got her on there! [IMAGE] So all you other ozeda's come help us! Love Kala -xx- "Angel in the Crowd" - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ninemsn Extra Storage is now available. 30MB of storage on ninemsn Groups - - great for sharing photos and documents. Sign up now. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 21:54:27 -0700 From: "Jennifer McBride" Subject: [EDA] How I won the chance to meet Jewel in Vegas last week! Wow! I'm still trying to come down off my high, and I really wanted to share my story with everyone. I won a trip from local San Francisco station Alice @ 97.3 to Vegas to meet Jewel while she was there for VH1 Divas Live! For those of you who don't know me (which is a lot of you), my name is Jennifer McBride and I am in a local SF band, SweetDuration, which I started with fellow EDA Mike McCullough, and we are heavily influenced by Jewel. We got our start around the time the Gathering of Angels concert, out on by Southern CA EDAs took place in June 1999, and we were honored to play in that show, along with other great artists like Jason Mraz (in his pre-Elektra days). That was also the first time I got to meet MrBB! He took our CD and gave us some great advice as we got started in our musical career (or attempt at one anyway). Anyway, it was SOOOO exciting for me to get to meet my hero and inspiration! Here is my story..... First of all, I have to backtrack and tell you an interesting story, that will make what happened in Vegas with Jewel make much more sense. There is one excerpt in Chasing Down the Dawn from Jewel's journal that takes place at a concert she was in, in SF's Golden Gate Park, put on by the same station I won my trip from, Alice radio. Opening for Jewel, who headlined, was Old 97's and Cake. It was outdoors, and Mike and I from SweetDuration were there. There were no seats, just people standing and cramming in front of the stage, so Mike and I pushed our way almost to the front. We were standing a few bodies away from this guy who was being totally rude to Jewel, shouting things like "You f*ing sell-out!". He kept shouting them while I was trying to listen to Jewel sing, so I finally turned to him and told him to shut up! Jewel looked upset so I was kind of dorky and yelled out to her, "Don't worry Jewel! You could kick his ass! We love you!" Also, I was standing next to this sweet girl I met from the EDA list while we were waiting for Jewel to come on stage It's been so long though, her name escapes me. She had stayed up all night making beaded necklaces as gifts for Jewel. She asked me if I would help her throw the necklaces to Jewel when she came on stage. I said sure, they were really pretty and a nice gift, I thought. So as we threw her the necklaces, I grossly mis-estimated my aim and hit Jewel in the face with one. She looked pissed! ANYWAY, when the book came out and I read it, this all was in the book! Jewel wrote how the guy yelling really upset her, and she thought the beads that hit her in the face were from him being mean, trying to hit her. I have been dying to tell Jewel ever since that it was me who yelled at the guy and at her, and it was me who hit her in the face with the beads and they were meant as a gift and not to hit her in the face! Now on to the Vegas story.............. The day after we found out we won (me and my boyfriend Alex, we both went), I got a call from Atlantic Records! The rep who was organizing my visit with Jewel called to let me know I should meet her in the lobby of the MGM Grand, where both Jewel and I were staying and the VH1 Divas Duets concert would be held the next night. She gave me her cell number and said if I needed anything at all, I should call her on her cell number. (Well, as a matter of fact, I could use a nice recording contract for my band SweetDuration, if you happen to have any extras lying around.) ;P We flew out of Oakland airport Wednesday morning and arrived in Vegas around 1pm. We took a cab to the MGM Grand and checked in, everything paid for by Alice radio! And, it was great, the hotel offered us an upgrade to a bigger, nicer suite for only $15! So, of course, we took it, being the only pennies we'd had to spend so far other than a few bucks for the very short cab ride from the airport. We checked in, had a snack, and then changed into some nicer clothes. The phone rang-it was the rep from Atlantic Records, Pam. She said she was waiting for me downstairs if we were ready. So I grabbed my purse, shoved a couple SweetD CDs in it and grabbed my copy of Jewel's book, Chasing Down the Dawn, and headed downstairs. There was a small group of people waiting. Eight winners, and a few people from Atlantic Records. It turned out that in addition to the two couples that won from the Bay Area (me and Alex and two women from SF), there were also two couples that won locally from a station in Vegas. One was a woman and whom I assumed was her daughter, who looked about 14 and had Statue-of-Liberty-looking spikes in her hair, was wearing a dog collar and matching bracelets, and a Linkin Park T-shirt! Not who I would think would be a Jewel fan, but then again, I told myself, I like Jewel and I also like Linkin Park, so I decided not to assume. But as we were waiting for the call from someone who was preparing the room we would be meeting Jewel in, I went around to introduce myself to everyone who won and see if they were as excited as I was. They weren't--from what I could tell, they were excited to meet a celebrity, and were happy for the free trip to MGM Grand and the free lunch we would be getting, but weren't big Jewel fans. The two ladies from SF said, "I like her new song, I guess. She's OK." I was a little disappointed, but I realized it would mean I would stand out to Jewel and Atlantic as the one person in the group who really appreciated this and would show Jewel what great fans she has. I shouldn't worry about them, I told myself. So it turned out Atlantic Records reserved an entire bar inside the MGM Grand. We had to walk around signs they were using as barriers to keep people out, that said "Private Party". Woohoo! It was a new place at MGM, (can't remember the name, it was in Japanese-Takido or Tasaki or something, sorry!) It was certainly a trip! It was dark with odd psychedelic murals on the walls-it was really weird, you would look at one and it seemed to be a close-up of a woman's face, and then the lights would change color and it would be a man dancing! They were playing a mixture of all of Jewel's older hits, as well as songs off the new album. The women walking around serving us were incredible-they were all exotic-looking Asian women wearing skin-tight black outfits with their tummies showing and they were all wearing matching diamond belly-button rings! It was kind of funny that they all looked the same, and I wondered how they went around trying to hire people to work there. ;P There were little tables set up around the room that sat four people each, and at the bar there was a fancy spread of little sandwiches, cookies, tarts, fruit, and more. High tea! The women gave us little menus that said "High Tea with Jewel at (name of the place)" and inside we got to pick from all sorts of exotic teas from around the world, they took our order, and brewed the teas at our tables. I was so nervous; I drank way too much tea! I got even more worried when I realized that by the time Jewel showed up I was probably going to have to go to the bathroom REALLY badly. I made sure I sat at the table with the Atlantic Records staff, at the end of the room closest to the door. Jewel was really late! We probably sat for 45 minutes past the time she was supposed to be there, and even though that made me more nervous, it gave me 45 minutes to talk to Atlantic Records! There was Pam and Tim, and a bunch of photographers walking around documenting everything that happened with pictures. I started out eavesdropping on Pam's conversation with a DJ from the Vegas station that showed up, they seemed to be old friends. They started naming artists with new songs that were being played on radio now. They talked about Michelle Branch, Jewel, and then Jason Mraz! (For those of you who don't know, Jason Mraz is a friend of SweetD's, we used to play shows with him in southern CA before he got signed to Elektra and is now the famous rock star that he is-his current song is "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)", you may have heard it, a lot of stations are playing it). I butted in to their conversation along with Alex who was with me, and told them that Jason was a friend of mine and asked them if they liked his song, and said my band SweetDuration from the Bay Area used to play shows with him down in southern CA before he was signed. They seemed interested and asked me questions about Jason, and then moved on to ask me questions about SweetD! I told them kind of who we sound like, what we've done, etc. Alex jumped in to say that he loves it when my band does covers of Jewel songs. The Atlantic Records people seemed to think that was really cool, and I confirmed that indeed Jewel was my favorite singer, and had inspired me to start singing and writing songs years ago. Then Alex pushed me and said "Tell them about how you're in the book!". So I opened my copy, pointed out the story, and said how I had been looking forward to telling Jewel about how the events at the concert really happened, or were supposed to happen anyway. They all thought it was the greatest story! They called over the photographers and other Atlantic staff and pointed it out. Pam turned to me and said, "You're the perfect person to meet Jewel!" They seemed excited that indeed, at least one winner in the group was a genuine Jewel fan. Tim from Atlantic, who was really nice, told me that Jewel was obviously running late and she had to get to her rehearsal for the VHI Divas Duets show and wouldn't have much time with the winners after all. My face fell and I think he noticed. But all the Atlantic people loved my story in the book so much and that my band was inspired by Jewel and even covered her songs, so Tim whispered in my ear, "Don't worry-we'll sweep her along through the other winners, let her at least say Hi to them and take one picture per table, and then I'll make sure to come over here when she gets to you last, and make sure she has some time to talk with you. We all want to hear you tell her your story, we know Jewel's going to love it!" I was so relieved and so happy! I would really get the moment I had been waiting for! So finally Jewel shows up! And wow, did she look like a true rock star in a gold lamee jacket, and the tightest jeans and black tank top, with a diamond belt, and carrying her little dog! One of those typical celebrity dogs that are so small you can carry them in your purse, it was really adorable. She seemed to really love her dog, she kept hugging it to her and kissing it and loved showing it off to everyone. I couldn't help thinking to myself how interesting it was to get to read someone's most special, private thoughts as I have read countless times in her book from her journals, and realize how normal they really are, just like me, with insecurities and fears and dreams-and then see how they can put on the rock star image for the public when they need to. So the Atlantic staff led her to the first table. She said Hi and introduced herself to everyone, and signed autographs if they brought something to sign (which hardly anyone did!). Then the photographers took a picture of her with each table. All in all she only spent about one minute at each table. I started shaking a little as she got closer to my table, and indeed I did have to go to the bathroom from all the tea! Finally she got to my table, and I swear it felt like slow motion as I stood up and Jewel's eyes finally met mine like I had dreamed about for years! (Sorry, I know this sounds so cheesy!) Jewel smiled at me and said Hi. I swear I grabbed her hand and said "Jewel, I'm so excited to meet you" --and I can't believe I said the typical line but I did-- "I'm such a big fan of yours." I'm thinking to myself OK, OK, I need to think of something better than that! And then all of a sudden, I heard someone say "Oooh, she's gonna tell Jewel her story!" And then the group of Atlantic staff all rushed over to hear and the photographers picked up on the rush and hurried over and they all made a group around us and the photographers started clicking away, flashing, snapping all sorts of pictures as Jewel and I actually got to have a CONVERSATION! This may not sound like much to everyone, but it was one of the coolest things I ever got to do.. Jewel kept smiling at me, her beautiful smile, and making me feel like she truly was glad to meet me and wanted to hear what I had to say. So I started out by picking up my copy of her book and saying how I loved it and how much it meant to me to read her stories of her journey from a child to a star who had made it (I probably didn't phrase it that smoothly, but I basically said that). I told her honestly that I had read it 3 times! Then I said that for years, I had been waiting to tell her the real story behind one of her journal entries, about the concert in SF a few years ago. I told her that it was me who had yelled at the jerk; me who yelled at her not to worry about him, and me who had thrown the beads that hit her in the face, and I said, "I didn't mean to hit you in the face! They were a gift." Jewel got a bigger smile on her face and laughed, and I swear the whole room started laughing! Then it got really quiet and I got nervous, realizing everyone was waiting to hear what I would say next. So, I swallowed the BIGGEST lump in my throat and tried to squash my fears and I reached into my purse for my SweetDuration CD. I said, "Jewel, I'm a songwriter too. And I wanted to tell you how much you inspired me, and how after hearing you for the first time years ago, you inspired me to write these songs. I know you're really busy and I don't know if you'll have the time to listen to it, but I really wanted to give you my CD because you inspired me to write these songs." Jewel got another big smile on her face. She said, "You're a songwriter too?" I said yes. She said that was so great and she would be happy and excited to hear it. She said she would be so excited to hear some of our songs so I said she could have the CD. She got really happy and thanked me and said she would be really excited to hear it, since she had helped inspire it. She hugged to CD to her and thanked me again and then gave me a big hug!!! I was so happy!!! Then the Atlantic staff and the photographers asked if they could get pictures of us together! Duh! Yeah! Of course! So Jewel and I posed for a couple pictures. Then, unfortunately, the Atlantic guy came up to me with the CD I gave Jewel and said, "Here, you can have your CD back." I got visibly sad. Jewel saw it, came back over and snatched the CD right out of his hand! She said, "No! That's MY CD." Yay!!!!!!! She really wanted it! So, we took one more picture, and in this one, it's me, Jewel, her cute dog, and the SWEET DURATION CD! She's holding it in the picture! Don't worry, the pictures will be back soon, and that one will definitely be going up on the website for all to see! So finally Jewel had to rush off to rehearsal and I was sad to see her go. But at the same time, I was excited, and I WISH I could be a fly on the wall as she went off, and as she went to bed that night, and hear if she told others about meeting me, and how happy she was to hear my story about how the story about the concert was really a positive thing, a gift, and that she had inspired another passionate songwriter out there. And to see if she listened to our CD and if she liked it! After Jewel left, Pam from Atlantic had seen how I gave her my CD, so she seemed interested and came over to ask me questions about the band! She asked me again what we sounded like, what we had done, etc. THEN, she said what I had hoped she would say the whole time-"why don't you give me a copy too? I'll see what I can do." YAY!!!! So, actually I slipped her a copy of a recent live demo we made in preparation to record some tracks with producer Adam Rossi. It was recorded live at Aaron Madsen's home studio (our fabulous electric guitar player). So the tunes are more rockin'. I thought she might like those better. I had given Jewel the full-length CD we put out summer of 2001, that is from back before Aaron joined us, when we were more acoustic-based, since I thought Jewel would like that style better. But I thought Atlantic Records might appreciate a more rockin' style. Hope I was right! Pam was really nice, and asked for my phone number, wrote down the band's name and website and said of course, she couldn't promise anything, but would listen to it, and pass it on to powers that be. She said "wouldn't it be cool if you got home and there was a message on your machine?", and I said of course! No, there wasn't a message on my machine, but you NEVER know who might be listening to some SweetD right now-an Atlantic A&R rep, maybe Jewel herself. And you never know who will pass it to whom, and where it might end up. So I left the bar with stars in my eyes, my autographed book and some autographed big posters of Jewel's new album cover. The pictures of me and Jewel should be back soon! THANK YOU AGAIN for all your support and encouragement as I got to meet my hero, and I hope you enjoyed the story. I know it was long, but I didn't want to leave anything out! I'll write again when the pictures are up. Have a great day! ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V8 #221 ***************************