Editing Jewel (singer) (section)

=== 1993–1997: Beginnings and ''Pieces of You'' ===
[[File:Jewel at Clinton's inauguration party.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Jewel at [[second inauguration of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton's second inauguration]] gala, 1997]]
For a time, Jewel lived in her car while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs, mainly in Southern California.{{Sfn|DeMain|2004|p=200}} She gained recognition by singing at the Inner Change Cafe and Java Joe's in San Diego.{{Sfn|DeMain|2004|pages=201–202}} Her friend [[Steve Poltz]]'s band, [[the Rugburns]], played the same venues.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://members.tripod.com/~simply_jewel/faq.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990219161315/http://members.tripod.com/%7Esimply_jewel/faq.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 19, 1999 |title=Simply Jewel FAQ |access-date=December 9, 2017 }}</ref> She later collaborated with Poltz on some of her songs, including "[[You Were Meant for Me (Jewel song)|You Were Meant for Me]]". (He also appeared in the song's second, better-known video.) The Rugburns opened for Jewel on her Tiny Lights tour in 1997. Poltz appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cherk.com/vin/playlist.php?s=wnew2&d=980621 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210181040/http://www.cherk.com/vin/playlist.php?s=wnew2&d=980621 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 10, 2007 |title=The Songs Vin Played for 06/21/1998 |website=Cherk.com |access-date=March 2, 2007 }}</ref>

Jewel was discovered by Inga Vainshtein in 1993 when John Hogan, lead singer from the local San Diego band Rust, whom Vainshtein was managing, called to tell her about a girl surfer who sang at a local coffee shop on Thursdays. Vainshtein drove to The Inner Change with a representative of [[Atlantic Records]], and after the show called Danny Goldberg, the head of Atlantic Record's West Coast operations, and asked him to pay for her demo, since at the time she was living in a van and lacked the means to record any of her own music.{{Sfn|DeMain|2004|p=200}} Vainshtein, who at the time was working as a Vice President of Productions at Paramount, went on to become her manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war that led to her deal with Atlantic Records.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} She continued to manage Jewel until the end of the first album cycle and shaped the path of the first five years of Jewel's career.

Jewel's debut album, ''[[Pieces of You]],'' was released in 1995 when she was 21 years old.{{sfn|McFarland|1998|p=118}} Recorded in a studio on singer [[Neil Young]]'s ranch, it included Young's backing band, [[the Stray Gators]], who played on his ''[[Harvest (Neil Young album)|Harvest]]'' and ''[[Harvest Moon (album)|Harvest Moon]]'' albums. Part of the album was recorded live at the Inner Change Cafe in San Diego, where Jewel had risen to local fame.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 25, 1995 |title=Narm '95 – San Diego |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gsEAAAAMBAJ&q=jewel+kilcher+java+joe%27s&pg=PA66 |magazine=Billboard |page=66 |via=Google Books}} {{Free access}}</ref> The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaching number four at its peak.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/304592/Jewel/chart?f=332|magazine=Billboard|title=Jewel|series=Chart history|access-date=December 28, 2016|archive-date=April 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407210306/http://www.billboard.com/artist/304592/Jewel/chart?f=332|url-status=dead}}</ref> The album spawned the Top 10 hits "You Were Meant for Me", "[[Who Will Save Your Soul]]", and "[[Foolish Games]]". To promote the album, she toured as the opening act for [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] frontman [[Peter Murphy (musician)|Peter Murphy]] on his 1995 North American tour in support of his album ''[[Cascade (Peter Murphy album)|Cascade]]''.<ref>{{cite web|first=Erica K. |last=Landau|title=Grrrly Talk: Q&A with Jewel, Playing at the Fillmore Tuesday, November 3|url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/grrrly-talk-qanda-with-jewel-playing-at-the-fillmore-tuesday-november-3-6484277|work=Miami New Times|date=October 30, 2009|quote=NT: You once opened for Peter Murphy. That's really funny. Are you a fan of Bauhaus?  J: I didn't really know who they were until I opened for Peter Murphy and then I realized how influential they were, which is really fascinating. Goth sort of before goth happened. But it was a difficult show to open for.}}</ref> ''Pieces of You'' eventually sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2015/02/18/oral-history-jewels-pieces-you/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|title=Jewel's 'Pieces of You': The wild, true stories behind the classic album|author=EW Staff|date=February 18, 2015|access-date=December 28, 2016}}</ref>

In the late 1990s, Mike Connell created an electronic mailing list for fans, known as "Everyday Angels". Although Jewel does not subscribe to this mailing list, she maintained communication with her EDA fans. On July 18 and 19, 1996, she gave a two-day concert known as "JewelStock" at the Bearsville Theatre. Jewel allowed the concert to be taped, and fans circulated the concert without profit.<ref>{{cite web|title = Jewel EveryDay Angels List Homepage & Guide|url = http://www.quackquack.net/jewel/|website = Quackquack.net|access-date =October 11, 2015}}</ref>