Joanna Newsom

People in San Francisco and the East Bay have shown interest, done interviews, and have come to shows. I guess that the news travels fast out of this island that we are on.

I played piano for about two years when I was a kid. I didn't play long enough to be really great.

You should listen to a lot of different music.

It's totally different. I usually don't tell people about the Pleased if they know me from the harp. And if they are there to see the Pleased, I usually don't tell them about the harp. I am nervous that these people will expect something similar.

I wanted to write songs which I think is a different thing. I wanted to write music that is informed by folk music. The chord progressions are obvious references.

I give away CDs at shows if someone wants a CD but doesn't have any money. I wouldn't want to do that forever.

The very first Walnut Whales recording was recorded just a few weeks after I had started singing, out of the blue, started singing. And the voice, you can hear how uncomfortable I am with it, and how terrified I am with it.

People are often afraid for me. They think that I am going to break. I can make it through a set.

I did spend a year in high school being obsessed with Fleetwood Mac.

The way that words fit together is always interesting to me. I love words.

I want to make music that somehow connects to the things that I love in America music.

Well, yeah, I wanted to resist the urge to thicken everything up with instrumentation, because I just felt like I was interested in seeing how the songs did on their own.