Joanna Made Me Cry

So I saw Joanna Newsom for the first time on the 22nd of March, 2010 at the 6th & I Synagogue in DC.  Discarding cliche spiritual references to the quality of the performance aside; it was the first concert I've ever cried at.

I don't think I've ever experienced someone, at a live show, who could so perfectly emote their music on stage without melodrama and just pure, genuine talent. I was in awe. And when she broke the mood with banter and when her harp string broke, it just cut the tension like a cool wave over my body, to bring me out of a dumb struck stratospheric-zone, and back to earth for a bit to enjoy her on a human level.

At the same time, she seems to have taken criticism to heart, often equating her previous work to cats, screeching vocal artistry akin to Yoko Ono, or women in pain.

An Old Favorite, but Oft Criticized Song

Seriously, she is now showing much more command of her voice and has created a smooth croon approach to this album, and approaches the singing with more tonality.  But in contrast, to me, it makes all her previous work seem purposeful in their expressions, despite their lack of mass appeal.  Her current voice and delivery in the album "Have One On Me" has much less of the folksy twang, youth and cracking, favoring that croon and purposeful intonation.  Her emotional impact is still the same, but at the same time, much more palatable to more people on first listen than her previous work.  "Have One On Me" takes into more consideration a polyphony between the harp/piano and voice, maintaining tonality vs. the previous and in my mind purposeful flourishes of atonality.  Hopefully this new release and tour will build her fanbase further, as people can ignore the whimsical vocal acrobatics and cracking and indulge in her luscious, genius and intense song writing.

As a point of comparison, "California" my favorite track on the new record:

Regardless of the criticisms of her body of work, her live performances apparenlty are always consistently beautiful.  If she can continue to give this much soul, on every performance...if I had the money and time...I would make every show she gives.  When I saw her, the performances of California, Emily, and '81 had me weeping with how beautiful they were.  Only thing I would have preferred is if the volume of the guitar amp was about a notch and half lower.

Also, I would have liked her to play my favorite song of hers:

Sawdust & Diamonds - The song she hooked me with

Haters gonna hate though...haters shouldn't listen to her music then, or make comments on youtube.