Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American harpist, pianist, and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.

Early life

Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California. She was exposed to music from a young age. Her father played the guitar and her mother was a classically trained pianist who played the hammered dulcimer, the autoharp and conga drums. She attended a Waldorf school where she studied theater and learned to memorize and recite long poems. This skill helps her to remember lyrics while on tour.

From a young age Newsom wanted to play the harp. Her parents eventually agreed to sign her up for harp lessons, but the local harp teacher did not want to take on such a young student and suggested that she learn to play the piano first. Starting at the age of four, she began playing the piano and later the harp which she "loved from the first lesson onward." From her instructor, Joanna learned composition and improvisation. She learned to play on larger Celtic harps until her parents bought her a full-size pedal harp in the seventh grade.

She studied composition and creative writing at Mills College in Oakland, California. While at Mills, she played keyboards in The Pleased.

Career

In 2002 and 2003, respectively, Newsom recorded two EPs, Walnut Whales and Yarn and Glue. These homemade recordings were intended to serve as a document of her early work that she recorded on a Fisher-Price tape recorder. These EPs were not intended for public distribution. At the suggestion of Noah Georgeson, her boyfriend at the time and the EPs recorder, she burned several copies to sell at her early shows. John Fellman, co-producer of Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival, claims to be the first to have booked a show for her.

A friend of Newsom's passed one of these CDs on to Will Oldham at a show in Nevada City. Oldham was impressed with Newsom's music and asked her to tour with him. He also gave a copy of the CD to the owner of Drag City, his record label. Drag City signed Newsom and released her debut album The Milk-Eyed Mender in 2004. Shortly thereafter, Newsom toured with Devendra Banhart and Vetiver and made an early UK appearance at the Green Man Festival in Wales, returning to headline in 2005, 2007 and 2010.

Newsom's work has become prominent on the indie scene. Her profile has risen, in part, due to a number of live shows and appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC.

Her second album Ys was released in November 2006. The album features orchestrations and arrangements by Van Dyke Parks, engineering from Steve Albini and mixing by Drag City label-mate Jim O'Rourke. On a road trip, Bill Callahan recommended she listen to the album Song Cycle by Parks, which led to his being chosen to arrange her work on Ys.

Joanna Newsom at the Sasquatch Music Festival, Washington. May 2005

Joanna is known to debut songs impromptu at her concerts. On March 28, 2009, she performed over two hours of new material at a 'secret' concert in Big Sur, California with fellow Nevada City singer-songwriter Mariee Sioux under the pseudonym 'The Beatles's'. Those in attendance reported that about one-third of her new material was played primarily on piano, with a backing arrangement of banjo, violin, guitar and drums.

Since late 2006, Joanna has performed a solo harp version of the Robert Burns poem "Ca the yowes tae the knowes".

Several of the songs on The Milk-Eyed Mender have been covered by her peers. "Bridges and Balloons" was covered by The Decemberists on their 2005 EP Picaresqueties. "Sprout and the Bean" has been covered by The Moscow Coup Attempt and Sholi. "Peach, Plum, Pear" has been covered by Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) on the 2006 EP Young Canadian Mothers, as well as by Straylight Run. M Ward has played "Sadie" on his live shows.

In 2009, she appeared in the music video for the song "Kids" by the group MGMT.

On January 12, 2010, an entry cryptically entitled "@!?*(%$#!!" was posted on the Drag City website. It contained a link which led to a short comic strip titled "Joanna Newsom 'Have One on Me'" with a date of February 23, 2010. Later that day, it was confirmed by Spunk, Newsom's Australian label, that the title and date represented the title of Newsom's upcoming album and its release date. P-Vine Records in Japan announced that Have One on Me, which was recorded in Tokyo in 2009, would be released in Japan on March 3, 2010, as a 3-disc CD set, with a total of approximately three hours of new recordings. Newsom was chosen by Matt Groening to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he curated in May 2010 in Minehead, England.

On February 11, 2010, Pitchfork Media reported that Newsom would be the subject of a tribute book titled Visions of Joanna Newsom which has now been published by Roan Press.

She toured throughout Europe and America in 2010 to promote her latest record, supported by a five man band. In Ireland and the United Kingdom Roy Harper provided the opening act while Alasdair Roberts accompanied Newsom throughout Continental Europe.

Style

Newsom's earlier work was strongly influenced by polyrhythms. Her harp teacher, Diana Stork, taught her the basic pattern of four beats against three which creates an interlocking, shifting pattern that can be heard on Ys, particularly in the middle section of "Sawdust & Diamonds." After Ys, Newsom said that she has lost interest in polyrhythms. They "stopped being fascinating to me and started feeling wanky."

The media have sometimes labeled her as one of the most prominent members of the modern psych folk movement. Joanna, however, makes no ties to any particular music scene. Her songwriting incorporates elements of Appalachian music and avant-garde modernism.

Newsom's vocal style (in the November 2006 issue of The Wire she described her voice as "untrainable") has shadings of folk and Appalachian shaped-note timbres. Newsom has, however, expressed disappointment at comments that her singing is "child-like."

Critics noticed a change in Newsom's voice on her latest album. In the spring of 2009, Newsom developed vocal chord nodules and couldn't speak, sing or cry for two months. The recovery from the nodules and further "vocal modifications" changed her voice.

Collaborations

In addition to her solo work, Newsom has played on records by Smog, Vetiver, Nervous Cop, The Year Zero, Vashti Bunyan, Moore Brothers, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Golden Shoulders and The Roots and played keyboards for The Pleased.

Personal life

Newsom's family includes her brother Pete, a fellow musician, and sister Emily, who inspired her song "Emily" (and contributed backing vocals). She is the second cousin, twice removed, of San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. She has been dating comedian Andy Samberg since 2007.

Discography

Main article: Joanna Newsom discography

Albums

• The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City, 2004)
• Ys (Drag City, 2006) US #134, UK #41
• Have One on Me (Drag City, 2010) US #75, UK #28

Early unofficial recordings

• Walnut Whales (self-released, 2002)
• Yarn and Glue (self-released, 2003)

EPs

• Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band (Drag City, 2007) UK #135

Singles

• "Sprout and the Bean" (Drag City, 2004)

Licensing of songs

• In 2004, "Peach, Plum, Pear" played over the credits of the animated short City Paradise.
• In 2004, "This Side of the Blue" was used on a British television commercial for Orange SA.
• In 2006, "Sprout and the Bean" was used in a tourism ad for Melbourne, Australia.
• In 2007, "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" was used in the PBS documentary Following Sean.
• In 2007, "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" was sung by an aspiring musician in the film Great World of Sound.
• In 2008, "Sprout and the Bean" was featured in the film The Strangers.
• In 2008, "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" was used in a television commercial for HSBC.
• In 2008, "The Book of Right-On" was used in an MTV ad for sexual care and education.
• In 2009, "The Book of Right-On" was licensed for the end credits of the Mexican/Italian film The Best of Feelings
• In 2009, "Sprout and the Bean" was used in a Victoria's Secret Bra commercial.
• In 2009, the harp intro of "Cosmia" was used in the Louis Theroux documentary "A Place for Paedophiles."
• In 2009, "Sprout and the Bean" was used again in a tourism ad for Melbourne, Australia.
• In 2009, a shorter edit of "Inflammatory Writ" was used in ads for the Spanish TV channel La Sexta

Interviews

• SFburning (May 2003)
• Tiny Mix Tapes (September 2004)
• KCRW (February 2005)
• The Guardian (October 15, 2006)
• The Wire (November 2006)
• Pitchfork (November 20, 2006)
• The Times (February 20, 2010)

External links

• Drag City
• Roan Press website