Joanna Newsom is an American harpist and singer-songwriter born in Nevada City, California in 1982, classically trained and wholly unclassifiable. Ys (2006), with Van Dyke Parks arrangements, is the masterpiece; The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004) is the friendlier front door to her Drag City catalog. Shop Joanna Newsom vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Joanna Caroline Newsom was born in Nevada City, California on January 18, 1982. She trained as a classical harpist from childhood and was influenced by Appalachian and West African folk harp traditions alongside classical training. She attended Mills College in Oakland. Her debut full-length The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004) and follow-up Ys (2006, with Van Dyke Parks orchestral arrangements and Steve Albini recording) established her as a defining contemporary freak folk and chamber folk voice. Her sprawling Have One on Me (2010) was a triple album. Divers (2015) is her most recent solo album. She has appeared in films including Inherent Vice (2014). She has been married to actor Andy Samberg since 2013.
Joanna Newsom's sound combines freak folk, chamber folk, indie folk, art pop, and contemporary classical with her distinctive virtuosic harp work, unconventional vocal delivery (more conventional from Ys onward), and lyrical content drawing on poetry, mythology, classical literature, and personal experience.
Drag City pressings of the Joanna Newsom catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings. Ys has had multiple anniversary editions.
Listeners new to Joanna Newsom typically start with Ys (2006) or The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004).
