Currently on tour with Melissa Etheridge, 90s folk icon Jewel (jeweljk.com) is back on stage, including a stop here at the Moody Amphitheater on October 1 and—a full-circle moment—at her alma mater in Michigan, where she wrote her first song. “It’s a pinch-me moment,” says the star. She is excited to come to the Lone Star State and tells us she “loves Austin” and has been coming for “many moons.” The singer is no rookie, as she becomes even happier when I confirm she will be performing inside while visiting the 512. Below, the “You Were Meant For Me” music legend shares insight into her magnum opus and so much more, including her mental health intervention platform.

PHOTO BY DANA TRIPPE

What was your inspiration behind Freewheelin’ Woman?

Being a woman in the 90s was hard. Being a woman at any time is hard! There was a generation of women in the 40s and again in the 60s—it’s not like what we did in the 90s was unique, but what was born in that time was hard. I didn’t see a lot of female singers/songwriters who were able to have long careers. Madonna and Cher had long careers, but I was nothing like them. Joni Mitchell had disappeared, and Carol King couldn’t really sell tickets. It was a difficult thing at 18 to say, “I want to be a female singer-songwriter,” because the question was: How do you have a career? So, for me on Freewheelin’ Woman, it was really neat to be in my 40s and feel powerful and at the apex of my talent, and to be able to be on stage as a woman in this career felt really good. That’s why I wrote it and why it’s called Freewheelin’ Woman because I have worked so hard to put myself in a position of owning my masters, publishing-owning my life! I have autonomy, the freedom to move about this world and make decisions for myself and live a quote-on-quote “man’s life,” but I’m a woman, and I did it as a woman. So, I wanted the album to have that energy in it.

PHOTO BY JESSICA BALLABIO

“On Freewheelin’ Woman, it was really neat to be in my 40s and feel power and at the apex of my talent, and to be able to be on stage as a woman in this career felt really good.”

PHOTO BY DANA TRIPPE

Your fashion is so unique. What inspires your wardrobe?

It took me a long time in the industry to figure out styling because when I was homeless, I would thrift shop, and I had a really funky, strange, corky style, and nobody told me there were stylists! Then, when I got to the level where I did have a stylist, it was hard for me to find a fit—it’s like finding a producer. More recently I found a friend who upcycles vintage. It’s been a better fit, it takes a lot of work, and I get why not everyone can do it. We were literally scouring the internet for pieces and then hemming, cutting and reshaping them. There’s a lot of design involved, and not everybody has the desire or time to do that. But it has made it a lot more fun for me as well as growing into my artistry. Clothing now feels like art to me. The sustainability is a big part of it—even when buying leggings, I ensure to buy good fabrics and ones I will wear often. I don’t want them to end up in a landfill. If you’re willing to tailor, you can turn a funky western shirt into a crop top.

You are considered a music icon. What advice do you have for young creatives trying to kick off their careers?

You have so much power now—don’t give that power away! The business has changed a lot, but it also is the same in many ways. There is publishing, masters, and royalties; if you’re a writer especially, you get to own all of those, and it’s easier now than ever to do this without a label. And nowadays, labels won’t even sign you without hundreds and thousands of TikTok followers. If you have hundreds and thousands of TikTok followers, you do not need a label. You do need to know how the business works. All you need is a music lawyer, a good book on the business, and to follow some Instagram accounts that explain the business and streaming etc. Creatives are natural marketers—you may think other people can do it better than you, but they can’t. You know your fan base and who you’re trying to talk to better than anyone else! So know the power you have, and don’t give it away.

PHOTO BY BRENDAN WALTER

“KNOW THE POWER YOU HAVE, AND DON’T GIVE IT AWAY.”

Tell me about Innerworld. What is it, and why did you create it?

Innerworld (inner.world) is an affordable mental health intervention platform. We’re for people who struggle with mental health or want mental health tools… it can be as small as wanting to learn coping skills. We’re $40 a month and a safe platform that delivers scientifically proven tools. We measure our outcomes, and we have been able to publish that we’re as effective as traditional therapy. It’s two things: 1) It’s a social environment where you can be around safe, fun people who are all just learning how to heal and be together. There are classes—about 150 a week—that are all geared around Cognitive Behavioral Immersion. The world needs this product—we’re 500,000 therapists short in America. If everyone who needed it sought care, we would be around 5 million therapists short. Misery is an equal opportunist. It doesn’t care if you’re a CEO or homeless. If you’re going to learn to be different, that’s going to take an education, which takes money and access. What we’re finding is even if you have all the money in the world, there are people who can’t find the right therapist for themselves or their children. That is just unacceptable. We wanted to create something that was delivering consistent, positive mental health outcomes at a cost that is accessible for everyone.