Alaskan-born and bred, San Diego transplant Jewel Kilcher is a study in reaching beyond one's grasp. Like her much-maligned folk-rock brethren Hootie and the Blowfish, Jewel is an act who, if she were still struggling in the bars and coffeehouses in our hometown (which she did for about a year and a half), we would probably be singing the praises of her still. But having, like Hootie, one of those unfortunately mercurial careers -- one which shot out of nowhere to grab the top of the charts in an insufferably long stranglehold, and which quickly made us all sick to our stomachs with overexposure -- Jewel is now on everyone's hit (as in hate) list. 

But is Kilcher too easy a target? There must something of enduring appeal in her sickly sweet, "I'm so sensitive," folk-pop songs. After all, the local king of street cred, Steve Poltz, once co-wrote songs (not too mention co-habitated) with her, right? And wasn't her Atlantic Records debut, "Pieces of You," practically an indie affair -- having been recorded cheaply and quickly, some of it at live shows in coffeehouses like Innerchange in Pacific Beach and Java Joe's in Ocean Beach? 

Doesn't the fact that "Pieces" virtually had to sell itself -- through constant touring and fan word of mouth -- before it shot to the top of the charts a year after release, count for something in the circles of the alt-rock uber-hip? 

Nope, sorry. Jewel's follow up to "Pieces," 1998's "Spirit," was an artistic, critical and (relatively) commercial disaster. The songs were oversimplified, overproduced and overmarketed (an incredibly pretentious video for the album's first single, "These Hands," didn't help matters). Jewel and her handlers at Atlantic shucked when they should have jived. 

They went for over the top on "Spirit," when the whole point of Jewel's initial success was what the public perceived as her understated earthiness. What Kilcher also seems to have lost is the innovative, underground spirit of the DIY folk scene that spawned her. 

It's a shame, too, because she could have used her powers for good. Like, say, turning the world on to the much more talented, much more deserving talents in the San Diego coffeehouse/acoustic scene -- like Mary Dolan, Lisa Sanders and Cindy Lee Berryhill, just to name a few. 

 Note: Tickets for this concert will be sold first to members of the center, beginning Sat, Sept. 23. Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the public on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. at the Center's Ticket Office at (800) 98-TICKET, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone through Ticketmaster at (619) 220-TIXS, or online at www.artcenter.org.