Jewel’s 10-Year-Old Son Will Play Drums On Her Upcoming Tour

Having to travel for work and be away from your kids is a challenge that lots of moms face, leaving some wishing that they could just take their child along with them. Luckily for singer-songwriter Jewel, she has opportunity to do just that on her upcoming tour. Her son, Kase Murray, is already such an accomplished musician at the age of 10 that he won’t just be tagging along on the tour bus — he’s set to take the stage on drums.

“I’m really excited that he’ll get to tour with me. It’s going to make me enjoy touring again,” Jewel told TODAY at the American Song Contest red carpet on Monday.

“We’ve toured a little bit, not a whole ton,” said Jewel, who had Kase by her side on the red carpet, looking adorable with long rocker hair, a black t-shirt, and camo joggers. “We’ve always had my whole family out, so this will be just he and I.”

Kase is Jewel’s only child. He was born in 2011 during her marriage to professional rodeo cowboy Ty Murray. The couple divorced in 2014.

The 47-year-old musician has spoken before about the challenges of balancing work and motherhood. When she was asked about her decision to appear on the show The Masked Singer, another televised competition (which she won), Jewel told People, “First and foremost is practicality, which might sound like a weird answer, but I’m a single mom and I’m a musician and it’s very hard for female musicians to be moms.”

Now she’ll be appearing in the American Song Contest, which pits musical artists from 56 different states and U.S. territories — Jewel will be representing her home state of Alaska. The show will be hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg, and other competitors include Michael Bolton and Macy Gray.

“It's not an industry that’s very kind to moms,” she added. “We’re always on the road, we’re touring, we’re promoting. And so being a mom — much less a single mom — as a musician really takes some work.”

Her reasons for signing up to represent her home state on American Song Contest were similar. “It let me be a mom without going on tour for a year,” Jewel told TODAY.

“It lets me do a really popular show, have my son with me on the weekend and go home and still be a mom.”

Looks like the singer has found a new way to work around some of the challenges of parenting while making music. She’s also managed to put together a new album, her first release in seven years. It’s called Freewheelin’ Woman and will be out on April 15.