bergenPAC Adds Jewel and Matisyahu to Lineup

Bergen Performing Arts Center announces two new concerts this week that will be the artists first performances at bergenPAC-Don't miss An Evening of Matisyahu on Wednesday February 12, 2013 and Jewel Thursday March 7th both these shows make the best holiday gifts, be sure to be one of the first to buy your tickets on Friday, December 21 at 11:00AM at Ticketmaster.com. For more information or to order tickets log on to bergenpac.org or call the box office at 201 227 1030.

ABOUT JEWEL
Acclaimed American singer-songwriter-poet, Jewel has enjoyed career longevity rare among her generation of artists. Since achieving international stardom 18 years ago, the Alaskan beauty has emerged as a charismatic live performer and a respected songwriter with 10 studio albums to her credit. She's earned four Grammy nominations along the way, the most recent for her 2010 country ballad, "Satisfied."

Jewel will be releasing her Greatest Hits album on February 5, 2013! The album will feature many of her hits throughout the past 18 years, along with a new track and duets with Kelly Clarkson and Pistol Annies.

Acclaimed American singer-songwriter-poet, Jewel has enjoyed career longevity rare among her generation of artists. Since achieving international stardom 18 years ago, the Alaskan beauty has emerged as a charismatic live performer and a respected songwriter with 10 studio albums to her credit. She's earned four Grammy nominations along the way, the most recent for her 2010 country ballad, "Satisfied."

Signed to Atlantic Records before she was 19, Jewel has sold more than 27 million albums during her career. Her 1995 debut, Pieces of You, dominated the charts for with "Who Will Save Your Soul," "You Were Meant For Me" and "Foolish Games" on its way to selling more than 12 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Her next two albums - 1998's Spirit and 2001's This Way - both went platinum while introducing fans to hits like "Jupiter," "Hands," "Standing Still" and "Break Me." Jewel switched directions in 2003 with 0304, an album that fused elements of electronic and folk to create a delightfully quirky mix epitomized by the contrast of dance beats and accordion on the single "Intuition," which became a huge hit single on both the dance and pop charts.

"Good Day" is taken from Jewel's fifth top 10 album, 2006's Goodbye Alice In Wonderland, an album on which each song was a chapter in an overarching story. In 2009, Jewel recordedLullaby at her home in Stephenville, Texas. This best selling children's album - her first of two so far - mixed originals with standards like her stunning cover of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." She followed up Lullaby with, The Merry Goes 'Round which was named iTunes "Children's Album of the Year" in 2011.

Jewel topped the Billboard country album chart in 2008 with her first country album, Perfectly Clear, which is represented on this collection by the Top 15 single "Stronger Woman." Her second country album, 2010's Sweet and Wild, included the Grammy nominated-single "Satisfied."

An Acoustic Evening with Matisyahu
When Matisyahu emerged in 2004 with his debut album, Shake Off the Dust...Arise, his musical persona seemed a novelty to some. Here was a Hasidic Jew -- dressed in a black suit with a broad-brimmed black hat worn over a yarmulke, and sporting a full, untrimmed beard -- who nevertheless performed toasting raps about the glories of traditional Judaism over reggae beats in a dancehall style directly from Jamaica. Moreover, he punctuated his performances with stage diving. It may have seemed like a joke at first, but Matisyahu was serious about his craft, and his diverse style soon garnered Grammy nominations, gold record certifications, and a broad audience.

Matisyahu was born Matthew Miller on June 30, 1979, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Berkeley, California, which they eventually ditched for White Plains, New York. Miller initially rebelled against his traditional Jewish upbringing, considering himself a Deadhead and a hippie by his early teens. But at the age of 14, during a camping trip in Colorado, he reconciled himself to Judaism and visited Israel shortly thereafter. After returning to White Plains, he dropped out of high school and traveled the country to attend Phish concerts. Back at home again, he agreed to let his parents send him to a wilderness school in Bend, Oregon, where he became enamored of reggae and hip-hop, and began rapping at open-mike competitions. He returned to New York at 19 to attend the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, but also joined the Carlebach Shul, a synagogue where his musical interests were encouraged. Meeting a Lubavitch rabbi, he became interested in the strict Lubavitch Hasidic sect of Judaism and renamed himself Matisyahu.

Continuing to perform, Matisyahu assembled a backing band consisting of guitarist Aaron Dugan, bassist Josh Werner, and drummer Jonah David. The group recorded Shake Off the Dust...Arise, which was released by JDub Records in 2004. While touring in support of the album, Matisyahu recorded one of his February 2005 concerts and released the material as Live at Stubb's, which was issued in April courtesy of Or Music before getting picked up for national distribution by Epic Records. Epic reissued it on August 23, 2005, as Matisyahu toured around the country and prepared a second studio album with producer Bill Laswell. The final product, Youth, appeared in March 2006 and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Reggae Album. A simultaneously released dub version of the album was made available to mail-order customers.

Meanwhile, Matisyahu's backing musicians chose to release additional material on their own, adopting the name Roots Tonic for the side project. Roots Tonic Meets Bill Laswell marked the group's debut in May 2006, and by the end of the year the EP/DVD combo No Place to Be was also released. Jonah David dropped out of the band in June 2007, however, and Roots Tonic effectively disbanded, despite the enlistment of replacement drummer Skoota Warner. The entire group (sans David) turned its focus back to Matisyahu instead, and Light marked the singer's third LP upon its release in August 2009. Two years later, Live at Stubb's, Vol. 2 would appear, this time with a companion DVD release. In late 2011, the singer posted a picture with a shaved head and payes cut with the caption, "No more Chassidic reggae superstar." As such, his 2012 effort Spark Seeker was more secular pop, and was produced by Kool Kojak, who had previously worked with Keha and Nicki Minaj. William Ruhlmann, Rovi

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