Joanna Newsom

There is a more specific term for it in the language of music, but most harp players refer to the style favored by San Francisco’s Joanna Newsom as the “Heaven and Earth” pattern. It is a style that emphasizes the use of syncopated rhythms and it also is a phrase that perfectly describes the sounds emanating from the hands and mouth of Newsom–a mix of the inescapably ethereal sounds of a harp and the kind of simple, traditional music that is played by people for one another within their own tightly-knit communities.

Newsom released her first official album, The Milk Eyed Mender (Drag City), in the spring of this year. Previously, she self-released two shorter albums– Whale Walnuts (2002) and Yarn and Glue (2003)–which were produced in a very limited number and passed around among friends between Newsom’s hometown of Nevada City, California and her current home of San Francisco. Through word of mouth, her name and music came to the attention of Will Oldham, who asked her to tour with him in the spring of 2003.