08-16 Joanna Newsom announces album
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Although Joanna Newsom's Appalachian-meets-avant-garde take on folk music is her most celebrated work,her range is even more inclusive than her solo career suggests: the classically trained harpist adds a decidedlydifferent, textural sound to Nervous Cop, the noise rock trio that also features Deerhoof's Greg Saunier andHella's Zach Hill, and she also plays keyboards for the Pleased, another San Francisco-area band more akin toBlondie or Television than her other projects. Newsom's family and hometown of Nevada City, CA, were bothmusically rich: her mother trained to be a concert pianist, her ...read more
Although Joanna Newsom's Appalachian-meets-avant-garde take on folk music is her most celebrated work,her range is even more inclusive than her solo career suggests: the classically trained harpist adds a decidedlydifferent, textural sound to Nervous Cop, the noise rock trio that also features Deerhoof's Greg Saunier andHella's Zach Hill, and she also plays keyboards for the Pleased, another San Francisco-area band more akin toBlondie or Television than her other projects. Newsom's family and hometown of Nevada City, CA, were bothmusically rich: her mother trained to be a concert pianist, her father is a guitarist, and her brother and sisterplay the drums and cello, respectively; meanwhile, the Newsoms also counted composer/pianist Terry Riley asa neighbor, along with Howard Hersh and W. Jay Sydeman.Newsom herself started on piano lessons at a very early age and played for a couple of years, but switched tothe harp at seven. Her approach to the Celtic harp, from the percussive aspects of her playing to her chordchanges, was also influenced by West African and Venezuelan harp music, which she began studying at a folkmusic 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 herstudies, in her free time she began writing and recording instrumental songs. Eventually, Newsom's passionfor songwriting won out, and she began studying creative writing to work with words in the same way she wasaccustomed to working with music.Taken from All Music Guide « hide |
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