Jewel, M2M young old- school artists June 13, 2002 12:59 am By MICHAEL ZITZ The Free Lance-Star THE FREE LANCE-STAR Jewel and M2M, who appear together Wednesday night in a sold-out show at Wolf Trap, are kindred souls. Both are pop artists of a different era. The Times of London has called Jewel "the most sparkling female singer-songwriter since Joni Mitchell." But Brian DeMay, operations manager at WBQB, a pop station in Fredericksburg, said Jewel's seriousness about developing her art is causing her some growing pains right now. "I think Jewel is trying to grow as an artist, but she's losing fans who expect the same acoustic, folksy stuff ." DeMay said "Standing Still" is "a decent cut" off her critically acclaimed new CD, "This Way," but he predicted that other singles from that disc probably won't fare as well on radio. Like Jewel, the Norwegian duo M2M not only writes its own stuff but ignores current fads. They're about as far as they can be from other young pop divas of today like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Yet Jewel and M2M are also alike in the fact that some refuse to take them seriously as artists because of their head-turning good looks. "We get some of that," M2M's 17-year-old Marion Raven told The Free Lance-Star. "But, the way we see it," she added with a soft chuckle, "you don't have to be old, fat and ugly to be a good songwriter." No, you sure don't. She and her 18-year-old partner Marit Larsen can write. They can sing. And they can play a variety of instruments. Their songs are influenced more by guitar pop and rock than by Britney-style warbling and wiggling. Jewel recognized something in M2M when she saw them perform for the first time at a club in New York. "It was sort of like seeing myself when I was 18," Jewel said. When she was starting out in the early '90s, many women artists declined to give Jewel a hand and let her open for them, saying they feared being turned down for bookings with two female artists on the bill. "Except Melissa Etheridge, who even asked me to sing with her on stage," Jewel remembered. "I'm still one of the only girls you'll see who has other girls opening for her. With M2M, it wasn't because they were girls, it's just because I respect them. I think that they have the real stuff. They're real songwriters, and they're playing real instruments. They're not just doing commercial pop music." M2M's music, while often about boys, is still more heartfelt and a bit more thoughtful than most pop. Raven said Jewel had always been an influence on M2M. "She just came up to us after a show and asked if we wanted to tour with her," Raven said. "We couldn't believe how nice she was." Jewel's current tour is a bit different because she recently broke a collar bone and a rib after being thrown from a horse. She is unable to play guitar because of the injuries. "It's been really strange, but it's fun," she said. "I can concentrate just on singing. I usually play electric and acoustic on stage." She's hoping to be able to play acoustic guitar again soon. The broken rib also makes it tough for Jewel to sing, because it hurts every time she breathes. "I had to learn to breathe differently," she said. "It's been educational, and it's been working pretty good. I don't think an audience would notice any real difference. I still give 100 percent. I like touring, and I like singing for people, and I just didn't want to cancel the dates." Raven may be different from Jewel, her somewhat spiritual, poetry-writing idol, in one way. The Norwegian teen said she likes gross-out humor. Her favorite television show? South Park.