Over her career, singer songwriter Jewel has made the road her home away from home. At age 8, she traveled throughout her home state of Alaska, carefully watched and sometimes sang with her father on stage. Together they would play anything from bank openings to biker bars, but it was her father’s direction and the road that taught her how to be a performer.

After growing up in a home with no running water, no heat and living off the land, Jewel was more than prepared to move go out on her own. At age 15 she got a cabin, several jobs and rode her horse over 12 miles just so she could hitch a ride the rest of the way to work. Later that year she applied for and received a partial scholarship to a fine arts school in Michigan. With help from the citizens of Homer Alaska she raised enough money to move across North America to follow her passion of singing.

During spring break when she was 16 years old she navigated from Michigan to San Diego to Tijuana and then Cabo San Lucas by singing songs about what she had been seeing on the road. It was at this time that she wrote Who Will Save Your Soul. Before Jewel released her debut cd Pieces Of Me in 1995, she lived in her van and played any gig she could. It was the dedication to her craft and heartfelt emotion installed by her father that propelled her into the spotlight.

With over 27 million albums sold, 10 CDs, four Grammy nominations, books, acting roles and a family of her own, Jewel has hit the road again to perform her greatest hits and to do some story telling along the way. Witness her Greatest Hits Tour as it stops at Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s Northern Lights Theater Tuesday and Wednesday night.

In today’s Kramp Cast, I talk to Jewel about growing up in Alaska, hitting the road at such a young age and how her family and musical icons like Bob Dylan have influenced her career. Enjoy!