Jewel's first country album, "Perfectly Clear," will be released June 3. But she doesn't have to wait until then to find out what the general public thinks about at least one of its songs: The first single, "Stronger Woman," is already in the national Top 15.

As it turns out, that song isn't the only thing that developed quickly — Jewel and producer John Rich were quite speedy in cutting the entire project at Nashville's Blackbird Studio.

"It took us only two days to record the album," Jewel reports. "John Rich and I got a band together and in just two days, we had 10 songs recorded, which of course is very fast. Then John went back on tour, and I finished up the album. It was a lot of fun. This record has been a long time in the making — it's been incubating in me for years."

In fact, Jewel, who turns 34 in May, wrote some of the songs when she was only 18 years old.

After the release of the album, she's got a very busy schedule on tap. She joins R&B singer John Legend June 6 for a benefit concert in Denver. She's agreed to perform at LP Field, Nashville's NFL stadium, during the CMA Music Festival June 5-8. And she begins her role as a judge on NBC's "Nashville Star" June 9. If that's not enough, she'll hit the road on Brad Paisley's tour beginning June 11 in Albuquerque, N.M.