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The Broken RecordExtra
Joanna Newsom
American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1982)
Joanna Newsom is an American singer-songwriter, harpist and actress. After recording and self-releasing two EPs in 2002, Newsom signed to the independent label Drag City.
Her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, was released in 2004 to acclaim and garnered Newsom an underground following. She received wider exposure with Ys (2006), which reached number 134 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a 2007 Shortlist Music Prize.
She continued releasing albums with Have One on Me in 2010 and Divers in 2015.
Newsom was born on January 18, 1982 in Grass Valley, California. Her parents, both doctors, were "progressive-minded professionals" who previously lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. Newsom was raised in Nevada City along with her older brother, Peter, and younger sister, Emily. She is the second cousin, twice removed, of Gavin Newsom, the fortieth Governor of California.
2002–2005: Career beginnings and The Milk-Eyed Mender
In 2002–03, after appearing as a guest musician on Nervous Cop's self-titled collaboration album, Newsom recorded two EPs, Walnut Whales and Yarn and Glue. These homemade recordings were intended to serve as a document of her early work and were not intended for public distribution. At the suggestion of Noah Georgeson, her then-boyfriend and recording engineer of the EP, she burned several copies to sell at her early shows. Newsom's friend and bandmate in Golden Shoulders, Adam Kline, gave one of her CDs 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...
Newsom's musical style has been labelled as progressive folk, chamber folk, indie folk and baroque pop. Newsom's early work was strongly influenced by polyrhythms. After Ys, Newsom said she had lost interest in polyrhythms. They "stopped being fascinating to me and started feeling wanky." The press has sometimes labeled her as one of the most prominent members of the freak folk movement. Newsom, however, claims no ties to any particular music scene. Her song-writing and vocal performance style has incorporated elements of Appalachian music and its shaped-note notation. In 2006, she said her major influence was the avant-garde prog rock band Henry Cow. She has named Roy Harper's Stormcock as her favorite album, calling it "a perfect...
American harpist, pianist, harpsichordist, singer and songwriter, born 18 January 1982 in Grass Valley, California, USA and raised in Nevada City, California, USA.
Also known as: J. Newsom, J.N., Joanna Caroline Newsom, Newsom, Newsome
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Joanna Newsom, the records, oldest first
Walnut Whales
2002 ep
Yarn and Glue
2003 ep
The Milk‐Eyed Mender
2004 album
wanted
Ys
2006 album
wanted
Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band
2007 ep
Have One on Me
2010 album
wanted
Divers
2015 album
wanted
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
