Jewel Kilcher

Jewel Kilcher came from what can be best described as an unusual background. She was born on May 23, 1974, to parents Atz Kilcher and Lenedra Carroll, in Payson, Utah. Her family soon moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where she grew up on an eight-hundred-acre farm. She spent her time taking care of horses, haying and working in the family's garden.

Jewel discovered her knack for writing poetry at an early age since her mom encouraged her and her two brothers, Shane and Atz Lee, to explore their creativity openly. By the time she was six years old, Jewel was performing for the local tourists with her parents.

Jewel spent her junior and senior high school years at the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy in Michigan as a voice major. After completing her education at Interlochen in 1992, she and her mother moved to San Diego, where Jewel attempted to "find herself".

She wasn't interested in pursuing higher education and had no real passion for anything besides writing poetry (or songs, depending on how you look at it). Not knowing what to do with herself, she looked for a job, but could not find anything that she wanted to do. Jewel was uncertain of what she really wanted, knowing only what she did not want to do.

She gave up on trying to work and chose to live out of a van and write songs, living off peanut butter and carrots. Songwriting was one of the few things she enjoyed at the time, so she stuck with it.