"Trade poems on voice mail"
It's hard to believe that just seven years ago Jewel Kilcher, now 24,
was
living out of a van while she tried to make it as a folk singer on the
coffeehouse scene. In a truly amazing act of motherly love, Jewel's
mother,
Nedra Carroll, now 49, moved into her own van. Now, Nedra is Jewel's
manager. Not only are they business partners; they share a
house--not
on
wheels.
Daughter: Jewel
"She knew that for me to go for my dream I needed to have no overhead
and
just sing. To show her support, [she moved into her own van] to show
her
solidarity. I found the Christmas card from before I got signed [to a
record deal]. It'll sound really silly. I mean, we were really
poor.
The
letter was just saying, 'I'll always take care of you.' When I got
signed
to the label, the most exciting part for me is that we are partners,
50-50.
Everything gets split equally because she's as much a part of my career
as I
am."
Mother: Nedra
"Given the nature of our lives, the thing Jewel and I do most regularly
is
talk on the phone. We enjoy it. Occasionally, we can't so we
leave
each
other voice mails. We share: If I've written a new poem or she's
written a
new poem, we leave the poem on voice mail. We do quite a bit of that.
Phone contact is our most regular and important way we stay in touch.
Even
when she's at home--we live together--and she's on her side of the
house,
she'll call me and we'll talk for hours. And then we'll laugh and
we'll
say, 'Why are we talking on the phone?'"
