Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom (born 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, and harpist from Nevada City, California. Trained in classical piano and harp, she developed a practice that integrates the harp as a primary compositional instrument with dense, allusive poetry and a distinctive, high-register vocal style. Her debut The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004) established her within the freak-folk milieu; the orchestral Ys (2006) — arranged by Van Dyke Parks — and the triple album Have One on Me (2010) extended her scope into genuinely ambitious long-form narrative songwriting. She is among the most compositionally inventive figures in contemporary American folk music.