Press Play: Joanna Newsom

Divers, the fifth studio album from the multi-talented Joanna Newsom is here. Not only is she a singer but a harpist, keyboardist, songwriter, and actress. This album was highly anticipated after the artist took five years off to complete it. It’s hot on the airwaves filled with experiences of life, love, and finding yourself on eleven tracks.

All the way from Nevada City, California this artists is a rare bread. As a child Newsom was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio. Her parents tried to avoid their child from bad influences in pop culture. So young Newsom began making music to fill the time. Her father taught her the guitar and her mother taught her to play the piano. By the age of five, Newsom picked up the harp.  After lessons, young Newsom has said in previous interviews that the instrument was like ‘An artificial limb, or a wheelchair.’ The rest is history. 

Since 2002, Newsom has been creating music for others to hear.  When she had started her music career, she got a lucky break, when her EP of homemade recordings and past work fell into the right hands. Since then with all the hard work and connections she’s made Divers is album number five for the 33-year old. In the midst of making music Newsom pursued an acting career. She’s appeared in short films, and voiced an entire film.

Newsom returned to her first love of making music in 2010. She married recently creating new love, and the layers of lyrics. Eleven tracks on the album novelistic album highlight her fondness for poetry, and a little bit of folk in the mix. Songs are calming, but mysterious and you can hear them all right here on RSU Radio 91.3 FM. 

Check out her video to song Divers.