Jewel's "Sweet and Wild" goes big country, with old-school B-sides

We spoke by phone with Jewel as she began her tour last week, which brings her to Atlanta Friday.

Q: Are you trying to get back to your origins with these acoustic versions?

A: I’ve never been great at recording in the studio. I’ve always been a lot better live and I think I’m at my best doing solo acoustic. So, alone in my studio with no producers, I arranged these songs and picked the tempos and I took that to Nashville and had the band stick to that original track. I think it helped the band match my tone .

Q: Your allure has much to do with your personal history. Have you ever thought about writing a complete memoir?

A: I’ve been asked several times to do that. I think a movie studio even wanted to do a movie on my life when I was 23 or 24. I was a little embarrassed and felt like to do something like that at 23 would be really shameful.

My life’s been odd. It’s hard for me to even make sense of it . One minute I’m living in the inner city in Anchorage in welfare project housing and the next minute I’m living on a ranch. It just doesn’t even seem like one life.

Q: You’ve always had a unique beauty, but over the years you’ve grown into a stunning cover girl of sorts. Do you ever feel like your looks have worked against you in any way, in terms of getting respect for what you do creatively, or does it work for you?

A: That’s sort of a tricky question. I had low self esteem as a kid growing up on a ranch in Alaska with brothers and an outhouse and no mirror in the house, and I have crooked teeth and a big bump in my nose.

Something I’m really proud of is that I’ve been able to retain who and what I am, even when I was overweight and fixing my teeth. I never thought I’d end up on magazine covers. Has it helped or hindered my songwriting? I don’t really know if I’m one to judge for that.  I think it’s probably both.

Q: Do you feel like people gave you a fair shake when you first published your poetry?

A: I felt really strongly and really passionately that a book of poetry would work. The publishers didn’t want it. They wanted an autobiography. I think it became the bestselling book of poetry of all time, which I’m sure is embarrassing in many ways. When something becomes that popular it will take on massive amounts of criticism. That’s fine with me.

But I was proud that it worked. I was proud that kids were able to read it and get the power of what poetry can do. It can be such an honest form to air your secrets without shame.

Jewel, with Radney Foster. 8 p.m. June 11. Cobb Energy Centre. $38-$58.