Joanna Newsom

Singer, songwriter, harpist

With an extraordinary sprite-like voice and using a Celtic harp as her main instrument, musician Joanna Newsom has become an unlikely cult figure in the indie-rock world. The California native composes songs that sound like fairy tales, while her engaging lyricism uses words not often heard in contemporary music (or even literature). Newsom's singing voice can be an acquired taste; with its almost childlike manner, it is one of the most unusual voices heard in pop music since Björk. All Music Guide's Heather Phares described Newsom's style as an "Appalachian-meets-avant-garde take on folk music." With a pair of self-released albums and two for indie label Drag City, Newsom's eccentric sound and knack for storytelling have been called anti-folk, freak folk, and pysch folk, but whatever the case, Newsom is probably the only independent artist you'd ever see play a harp in a rock club.

Born in 1982, Newsom was raised in Nevada City, California, where her entire family played music. While her father was a guitarist, Newsom's mother was a trained concert pianist who eventually became a doctor instead of a full-time musician. Newsom took piano lessons before the age of five, but after just a few years of playing, she switched to harp. She studied as many different kinds of classical harp music as she could, from West African and Celtic to bluegrass, attending a folk music camp in her early teens. And while most teenagers were going to the mall or gossiping with their friends, Newsom spent most of her time at home composing music. Writing songs was a way of life for the young artist, who studied composing at Mills College in Oakland, California. After a short time composing, she realized that it was not what she wanted and switched to creative writing.

In addition to playing the harp, while studying at Mills Newsom met singer/guitarist Noah Georgeson of the pop band The Pleased. Newsom joined The Pleased as a keyboard player on recordings and during live shows beginning in 2001, and became a welcome player as a guest on friends' albums. At home, Newsom began to experiment with singing prose to accompany her harp compositions. She had never sung before and her vocal naivety lent an interesting edge to her singing voice. She recorded songs at home and passed out several to some friends. The tapes landed in the hands of like-minded eclectic indie artists Will Oldham and Cat Power, whom both asked Newsom to play some shows with them in 2002.

Newsom's musical background, which included American folk and blues music mixed with classical training, produced a unique and whimsical folk-inflected indie rock. Newsom never intended on playing live shows, especially not in rock venues, but her original style demanded attention. And Newsom, who often plays the harp more like a guitar than a classical instrument, enjoyed showing people that there was more to the harp than most thought. "The harp is capable of much more expressiveness," Newsom told Alexander Laurence of Free Williamsburg. "It can be really delicate and yet abrasive at the right time."

Newsom was inspired by her new songs, and released a set of EPs including Walnut Whales in 2003 and Yarn and Glue the following year. The innocent optimism of Yarn and Glue came from stories Newsom had heard as a child, and offered a glimpse of her whimsical style to come. "They are very old feelings that little kids have when they hear these stories. They get quiet and really big eyed," she explained to Laurence about Yarn and Glue. "I think they have a feeling of having this incredible world that's just out of reach. I am trying to access it. I am trying to speak to it." Without support from a record label, Newsom played shows on her own, renting a car to haul around her large harp. She was beginning to make waves in the indie rock world, inviting comparisons to folk-benders Devendra Banhart. Dusted's Michael Cramer called Newsom, "a first-rate songwriter and an inspired lyricist: her music and words pour out in tandem like undifferentiated parts of a single stream, uncompromising personal, and wholly unique. She sings from a world that's not quite childish, but not quite adult, filled with unicorns, whales, and seashells, in a voice that falls somewhere between a siren's call and a banshee's wail."

After relocating to San Francisco, Newsom signed to the Chicago independent label Drag City. In the spring of 2004 the label released The Milk-Eyed Mender. On her first studio recording, Newsom had a better idea of how to use her voice to accompany her harp. With sparse arrangements and her voice and harp at the focus, The Milk-Eyed Mender was subtly filled out with touches of piano, harpsichord and slide-guitar. "Creating avant-garde American music for the back porch, she expands upon tradition without losing authenticity," wrote Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy. In the indie rock world, where being different is a badge of honor, Newsom was soon being hailed as one of the genre's best new artists in years.

As soon as she could, Newsom began to think about her next record for Drag City. Whereas the songs on The Milk-Eyed Mender required subtle musical accompaniment, after writing a fresh collection of lengthy songs, Newsom felt that the autobiographical stories had to be told with more substance. "As soon as I knew that this is what I wanted to do, I recognized that it would be extremely awkward and vulgar to try and fit them in shorter forms," Newsom told Pitchfork's Brian Howe. Because she had so much to say, the songs became longer and longer. About halfway through writing the songs she realized she needed an orchestra to make it work. She had heard Song Cycle, a 1968 recording by famed Beach Boys collaborator Van Dykes Parks, who was known for his vintage orchestral compositions. Newsom was inspired to ask Parks to help make her album a reality. Getting an iconic figure such as Parks to work on anyone's album is an accomplishment, and often just a dream for many musicians. After Parks heard Newsom play five songs in a hotel room with only her harp as accompaniment, he agreed to work on her record.

For almost eight months, Newsom and Parks sent music and ideas back and forth in an attempt to fulfill each artist's vision. "While it's not important to me that the audience explicitly understand what the record is ‘about,’ I did think it was important that the collaborator understand that explicitly," Newsom said to Howe. "We needed to have a cohesive vision." In addition to Parks, Newsom enlisted famed rock producer Steve Albini and mixer Jim O'Rourke to complete her sophomore album for Drag City. In November of 2006, Newsom released the critically applauded Ys. Pat Long of NME proclaimed that Newsom is "one of the few true visionaries currently working in American music." Pronounced "ees," Ys contained only five songs, which ranged from seven to almost 17 minutes apiece.

Ys was lavishly created, and sounded old-fashioned. Illustrating her classical stance, the record cover was a Renaissance-style oil painting of Newsom done by artist Benjamin Vierling. Ys, a much fuller and more emotional record than The Wide-Eyed Milk Mender, reached number four on Spin's list of the 40 Best Albums of 2006. Spin writer David Browne hailed the record and called the singer "America's answer to Björk … An eccentrically voiced experimenter who follows her nonconformist muse wherever it may lead." In a review of Ys, Long might have found the perfect way to describe Newsom's music, as "comprising a set of adult fairy tales bedded in Fuzzy Felt orchestral sound-scapes so lush and ornate that they have more in common with Walt Disney's Fantasia than anything else around at the moment."

Selected discography

Walnut Whales, self-released, 2002.

Yarn and Glue, self-released, 2003.

The Milk-Eyed Mender, Drag City, 2004.

Ys, Drag City, 2006.

For the Record …

Born in 1982 in Nevada City, California.

Classically trained harpist, self-released EP Walnut Whales, 2002; self-released EP Yarn and Glue, 2003; signed to Drag City, 2004, released The Milk-Eyed Mender, 2004; released Ys, 2006.

Addresses: Record company—Drag City, 2000 West Carroll Ave., #201, Chicago, IL 60612, website: http://www.dragcity.com.

Sources

Periodicals

Spin, December 14, 2006.

Online

"Harp's Delight—An Interview with Joanna Newsom," Dusted Magazine,http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/243 (February 9, 2007).

"Joanna Newsom," All Music Guide,http://www.allmusic.com (February 9, 2007).

"Joanna Newsom Interview," Free Williamsburg,http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/july_2003/newsom.html (February 9, 2007).

"Joanna Newsom: Ys," NME,http://www.nme.com/reviews/joanna-newsom/8070 (February 9, 2007).

Pitchfork Media,http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/20482/Joanna_Newsom_The_MilkEyed_Mender; http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/39700/Interview_Interview_Joanna_Newsom (February 9, 2007).