Jewel Inspired By Beatles on New Children’s Album

Since starting her career back in the mid-'90s Jewel has been a true renaissance woman, following her artistic muse from her early days as a pop/rock-folk troubadour to her current standing as country favorite. In between, she even made stops in Hollywood (appearing in acclaimed director Ang Lee's 'Running With The Devil') and as a poet, so it's no surprise that the now-pregnant entertainer has written a children's album.

"I just finished writing it and should finish recording it in March. I hope it's out in the fall," she told The Boot on the Grammys red carpet. It sounds like the the record will be out just in time for her new son, who's also due this fall, to hear it.

For the new music, the singer-songwriter went back to her early rock roots, specifically rock's biggest band, for inspiration in the music. "I actually used a Beatles song, 'Rocky Raccoon,' as a template, because I think it's a song adults love and kids love. I want this to be an album that if you're an adult, you're gonna enjoy this record too," she says. "It's nothing radio ready; it's a fun, whimsical, kind of silly album that hopefully turns a phrase and is well-crafted."

Clearly, Jewel, glowing on the carpet as we talked about the project, is excited about her new endeavor, so much so that just doing an album isn't enough to contain her enthusiasm. "I am gonna make little books to go with it, I think, because some of the songs are so visual that I really would love to do little drawings and make little books out of them," she says.

As for the couple's new addition, there's still some discussion about what their going to call their son. "We've got a list going," Ty reports. "We've actually been thinking about a list of names for three or four years now. Now it's a matter of narrowing that list down."

Jewel is only five-and-a-half months pregnant, so they've got some time to whittle it down.