LOVE HEWITT RETURNS TO MUSIC

by Charles Karel Bouley

Jennifer Love Hewitt is a movie star. Jennifer Love Hewitt is a TV star. But Jennifer Love Hewitt also a singer, or just another Hollywood star trying to cash in on her fame? That's the question surrounding Hewitt's Jive debut, "BARENAKED".

And that's partly why the label is setting up the project by sending Hewitt on a tour of the USA that places her in front of radio programmers, retailers, and other industry tastemakers to perform with acoustic accompaniment.

"When she sings, it totally wins over immediately," says Joe Riccotelli, senior VP of pop promotions at Jive.

Adds Randy Miller, the label's senior VP, "The No. 1 strategy in our marketing campaign is to make sure that everyone from the industry to consumers alike understand that she's a singer/songwriter and that this record is a personal statement."

Hewitt finds this move---to set up for her fourth album (she had two previously for Atlantic in the USA and one released in Japan)---not only fun but also rewarding.

"It's a complete change, but really fun," she says. I had no idea what to expect from this tour. But it's interesting to get a chance to perform for people in a setting that's intimate. They can hear your music, your voice."

Hearing her voice is something Hewitt's been trying to get the industry to do for some time. She knows that some frown on actresses who try to transition to the music world, but she's up for the challenge. For BARENAKED, she co-wrote all but four songs with producer Meredith Brooks and poured a year of her life into the project.

"I'm a singer who acts," she asserts. "It's my spirit. I feel alive when I do it. I love acting, but it came unexpected in my life. Singing has always been a part of me.

It's been important to Hewitt that she not take the easy road with BARENAKED. Being a TV and film star has its advantages and one of them is that she could've easily assembled a team of famous songwriters and producers and cranked out an album in a couple months. But that wasn't the goal.

"Most people don't know I've been in music for a long time. I feel as though I have been searching for 14 years to find this record. It's very organic. It would have gone a lot easier and faster had I made a strict pop album with someone else writing all the music and lyrics. But I wanted to challenge myself."

Hewitt chose Brooks to produce the set not only on the basis of her credentials but also on the chemistry they shared.

"She was someone I could pour my heart out to, someone that understood where I am," Hewitt says. "I found a kindred spirit with her, somebody that I could completely relate to someone that shared every good and bad day I had."

Having such a recognizable face puts Jive in a great promotional position. Needless to say, TV is a key element of the marketing plan, with Hewitt booked on shows that range from MTV's TOTAL REQUEST LIVE and LIVE WITH REGIS & KELLY to THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.

"Initially, I would have said our biggest marketing asset was Jennifer's positioning as an actress and a movie star,: Riccitelli says. "Now, after the tour, it's just Jennifer being Jennifer. Every place we went, every person we met, came away with a different impression of her. They saw her in a new light---and they liked what they saw."

Hewitt is prepared for the effort required to change people's minds about her. One conscious move is to downplay her glamour-star role.

"I think I'm pretty average, so I don't get it when people call me beautiful," she says with a laugh. "I'm flattered, but I don't really get it. In the music industry, I have consciously tried to play down the glamour part. The title, BARENAKED, is a conscious effort to show I'm bare, stripped down. Our society is built on eye candy. When people turn on TV, they don't want to see a woman there with no makeup and sweats. But I've tried to separate my look musically from my look acting-wise. I go to the radio stations with no make-up, just plain, because I want them to pay attention to the music."

While making it in feature films and TV is no small feat, to date this album is one of the hardest things Hewitt has done.

"Making this album was difficult in the sense that it was a dream of mine, and there was a lot of fear involved. I feared making a wrong step, or 'Is anyone going to care what I have to say?' But it was also the easiest thing I've ever done because of how excited I was each day to be working on the project."