By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - When Kiri Jewell, graduated from college she never thought she would be helping to run an independent record label.
Jewell, a 1998 graduate of Brandywine High School, has been in New York City for past two years. She first went to the city after she graduated from Michigan State University with an economics degree and was lucky enough to get an internship with ABC's Primetime and 20/20.
Jewell then meet Clara Lofaro from whom she started taking lessons and then checked out her web site and found she truly loved her style of music and also learned that she had an independent recording label, ComeTrue Records.
The more Jewell started working with Lofaro, the more she became interested in the business side of the recording label.
Jewell said there is a ton of work to do with running a label and that Lofaro was having trouble balancing the business and music sides of the company.
Jewell then was able to then step in and help Lofaro with the business side of things as that was her background.
Jewell and Lofaro will be embarking on a cross-country tour with their band mates, with stops in Providence, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and South Bend, Ind..
The South Bend stop is at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at CJ's Pub, located at 417 N. Michigan St.
Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door. Area residents can come and enjoy big city live music, with a hometown connection.
For more information on Clara Lofaro, check out www.claralofaro.com.
It's really very surreal to come back home and show family and friends what she is so passionate about, Jewell said.
Many of Jewell's family members, including her father, David, step-mother Michelle and step-sister Jade still live in the Niles area.
Jewell also said watching their fan base grow on a business level, coupled with the thrill of performing live is more than she can ask for from a job.
Jewell does admit that the music field can be hard to get into, but the benefit of being part of an independent label is that one has control over their product.