One Jewel That’s Never Dull

“She’s an ugly girl, does it make you want to kill her?” sings up-and-coming folk artist Jewel on the title track of her gripping “Pieces of You” debut album.

Full of tension and raw, unbridled emotion, this compelling number challenges all types of bigots to look within their troubled souls to better understand the source of their rage.

On record, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter also challenges her listeners with darkly shaded acoustic material that is lyrically complex and passionately executed in a melancholy way. Even the few musically buoyant tunes are laced with a bittersweet flavor.

So it was a bit of a surprise to see Jewel bound onto the Coach House stage Wednesday night with the abundant pep and good humor of a college coed heading off to her favorite spring resort.

Tanned and dressed in jeans and sleeveless top, Jewel hardly appeared as if she had just spent her day brooding over her favorite Dostoevsky novel.

When she kicked off her hourlong solo-acoustic set with “Pieces of You,” it was clear that the effervescent Jewel wasn’t really connecting with the song’s disturbing theme of intolerance and hatred.

In fact, she interrupted the number several times to inject a few inappropriate but humorous observations, which included a brief impression of how the Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan might cover the song.

But within the engaging context of the whole show, Jewel’s disappointingly carefree reading of one of her most potent tunes was forgivable and actually may have made her seem even more human. Soon after that, she gained focus, and her music and vocals proceeded to transfix her almost-adoring audience.

Like Rickie Lee Jones, Jewel is capable of conveying a wide range of heartfelt emotions, from girlish vulnerability to steely toughness. She put her pliable pipes to good use on such songs as “Foolish Games,” a marvelously detailed tale about romantic betrayal, and an unreleased, achingly sad song about a childhood friend who committed suicide because he felt his weight problem had made him unlovable.

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Jewel also smartly tossed in a few numbers seemingly designed to lighten the melancholy mood created by her more intense material.

A hilarious anti-Valentine’s Day song found her lashing out at an old boyfriend and lamenting the absence of a new one. By the time the Homer, Alaska, native closed the regular portion of her set with a grin-inducing yodeling song (she started yodeling with her singer-songwriter parents when she was 6), Jewel could do no wrong.

Co-headliner Edwin McCain and his three-piece band were a somewhat pleasant but musically bland attraction. But given Hootie & the Blowfish’s massive chart success, it’s entirely possible that the South Carolinian’s mix of soul, rock, folk and jazz could find a sizable audience.