Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom has dated many musicians in the past. In 2005, she dated ‘Smog’ musician Bill Callahan.

In 2013, Joanna got married to actor/comedian Andy Samberg. In 2017, she gave birth to her daughter.

Joanna Newsom was born on January 18, 1982, in Nevada City, California, to Christine and William Newsom, both doctors, who moved to Nevada from San Francisco. Joanna was the second of the three children in the family. She grew up with a brother and a sister.

Her parents were open-minded and liberal. However, they believed that kids should not be allowed to watch TV or films before a certain age. Thus, Joanna did not have any exposure to music or TV until she was a teenager.

In her initial years, her only source of entertainment was the music that her parents played. Her father was a skilled guitarist, while her mother was a trained pianist. Thus, Joanna inherited her parents’ love for music.

Soon, she expressed her desire of learning music. She was especially drawn to the harp, which was an unconventional choice for a child of her age. She joined harp classes.

Her childhood was mostly melancholic, and she had a hard time making friends. However, she did not give up music.

While in college, she joined a local band named ‘The Pleased’ and played with them for sometime before she dropped out and returned to her hometown. In 2002, she joined an experimental music band named ‘Nervous Cop’ and collaborated with them on their self-titled album.

She was not a fan of contemporary music and loved playing the harp and other classical instruments instead. She had a hard time finding the right music label for her debut effort, and during the first few years of struggle, she recorded two EPs titled ‘Walnut Whales’ and ‘’Yarn and Glue’ at home.

Her EPs were not meant to be publicly released. Her then-boyfriend, Noah Georgeson, however, talked her into promoting her work. Famous musician Will Oldham got one of her CDs through her friend and was instantly impressed by her talent. He helped her get a contract with his record label, ‘Drag City.’

Joanna immediately started recording her debut album, ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender,’ which was released in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial acclaim. Joanna also embarked on a tour to promote the album.

Joanna took full artistic liberty to come out with an album that was extremely fresh in its approach toward folk music. Joanna’s childlike voice was appreciated for its freshness. Her harp and piano skills were also appreciated. The album ended up selling more than 200 thousand copies in the US, and Joanna became the new sensation in the “neo-folk” genre.