"Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) started taking piano lessons at a very early age and played for a couple of years, but switched to the harp at seven. Her approach to the harp, from the percussive aspects of her playing to her chord changes, was also influenced by West African and Venezuelan harp music, which she began studying at a folk music camp she attended in her early teens. At the same time, she also listened to more vocal-based folk, punk, and jazz like Karen Dalton, Texas Gladden, Patti Smith, and Billie Holiday. By the time she reached high-school age, Newsom decided she wanted to become a composer, and while that became the focus of her studies, in her free time she began writing and recording instrumental songs. Eventually, Newsom’s passion for songwriting won out, and she began studying creative writing to work with words in the same way she was accustomed to working with music."
Last FM Tags: folk, singer-songwriter, female vocalists, indie, freak folk
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Here are Joanna Newsom's first two self-released EP's.
Back before she released her full length albums, Joanna recorded these EP's on cd-r's and distributed them herself. I like them more than her albums because they are much more intimate (they only involve her and her harp) These aren't sold in stores anymore, but luckily I found them on a file sharing site. Enjoy!
Walnut Whales
Yarn And Glue
