During an interview today, the singer Jewel referred to Neil Young and Bob Dylan as her "mentors" when she was a support act during their respective tours early in her career.
At the end of a nearly one-hour interview on Howard Stern's Sirius XM satellite radio show this morning, Jewel said that after her first album "Pieces Of You," produced by Young's pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, stalled after selling 3,000 copies during the grunge/gothic era, "Dylan took me on the road and he believed in me."
Stern asked, "So Dylan and Neil Young were more like mentors to you?"
"They were, and Dylan went over my lyrics with me every night," Jewel replied, "and gave me books to read and music to listen to, and he liked what I did. He really believed in me.
"When you have Dylan believing in you and nobody else, you're kinda like, 'I'm O.K.!'"
After touring with Dylan, Jewel said she went into the studio to record a follow up album, and began changing her sound to get airplay.
"Then Neil wanted to take me out (on tour), so I quit making that record and went out with Neil, and Neil was like, 'Don't do it. Just stick to what you do, don't change, don't change a thing for radio,' that real punk rock attitude, just like, screw it all, do what you do."
Stern added, "He's the master of that."
"He is," Jewel continued. "Then 'You Were Meant For Me' started taking off on radio, and then I went from selling 3,000 records in a year to selling 500,000 records every month."
The interview came to a sudden halt at this point, as Jewel had another commitment.
Jewel released a new "Greatest Hits" album today.
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