22 Best Things We Saw at Americana Music Fest 2015From a hushed showcase by Jewel to raucous rave-ups by Los Lobos and JD McPherson, Rolling Stone Country singles out the most mesmerizing performances of the annual festival
Best Take You to Church: JewelNo one can silence a room quite like Jewel. Armed with only her voice, the Grammy-winning artist, who released the folky new album
Picking Up the Pieces on September 11th, walked onstage at Nashville's City Winery and hushed an AmericanaFest crowd with a soaring rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It was a master class in vocal technique, full of controlled runs, whispered phrasing and, when necessary, loud, lingering notes. While she may be best identified as a songwriter and poet, Jewel is a singer's singer, and she reminded fans of that fact when she picked up her guitar for the hits "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "Hands," as well as cuts from the latest LP. She's also refreshingly loose: two lines into the new album track "Plain Jane," she decided she didn't want to sing that song anymore. It was a shame, actually: the ballad is a standout from
Picking Up the Pieces. J.H.