Joanna Newsom
Overview
Joanna Newsom is an American harpist, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 from Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

.
Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

. As a child, Newsom was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio because she was raised by doctors who were "kind of idealists when it came to hoping they could protect us from bad influences, like violent movies, or stupid stuff". She was exposed to music from a young age.
Quotations

And a thimble's worth of milky moonCan touch hearts larger than a thimble.

Bridges & Balloons

And all that we built, and all that we breathedAnd all that we spilled or pulled up like weeds Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocablyAnd we spoke up in turns 'til the silence crept over me.

Sadie

Go to sleep, you stunning sky, gently creep, cunning byA quiet hum is amplified by your thumb that you suck dryA hundred raging waters snare the lonely sighHold your breath and clasp at Cassiopiea.

Cassiopiea

I killed my dinnerwith karatekicked him in the face,taste the body, shallow work is the work that I do.

The Book of Right-On

Emily, I saw you last night by the riverI dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the waterFrowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under foreverIn a mud cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror.

Emily

Then the slow lip of fire moves across the prairie with precisionWhile, somewhere, with your pliers and glue, you make your first incisionAnd, in a moment of almost-unbearable vision, doubled over with the hunger of lions'Hold me close', cooed the dove, who was stuffed now with sawdust and diamonds.

Sawdust & Diamonds

 
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