Joanna Newsom unveils 'Ys' on the road
Indie folk-rocker Joanna Newsom is backing up the release of her latest album, "Ys," with a late-year tour that includes a variety of unusual concert settings.
The California singer/harpist, whose current trek kicked off early this month in Salt Lake City, will bring her music to a pair of churches and a museum over the next couple months, including a Nov. 11 visit to Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum and a Dec. 5 show in Vancouver's St. Andrew-Wesley Church. Her full itinerary is listed below.
"Ys," Newsom's second album, follows 2004's "The Milk-Eyed Mender." The singer had some notable assistance for her sophomore solo effort, which is due in stores Nov. 14, with Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies) lending his producer's touch and legendary songwriter Van Dyke Parks helping out with song arrangements.
The meticulous arrangement work on the album took more than eight months to complete, according to Newsom, with additional help coming from engineer Tim Boyle and former Sonic Youth member Jim O'Rourke.
"The goal I had in mind was for the harp and vocals to feel like they were developing unawares of the presence of the orchestra, unburdened by any of the self-consciousness/formality/austerity/stiltedness this might provoke," she said in her online bio. "As if the orchestra is hanging in a hallucinatory shimmer around the more substantial harp and voice."
Newsom also spent time in the past as part of the trio Nervous Cop, along with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier and Zach Hill of Hella. The band's self-titled debut album arrived in 2003.
November 2006
16 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
17 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
18 - Greensboro, NC - Gail Brower Huggins Performing Center
19 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
20 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
21 - Knoxville, TN - Blue Cats
22 - Asheville, NC - Diana Wortham Theatre
24 - Louisville, TN - Headliners
25 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree
29 - Malibu, CA - Malibu Performing Arts Center
30 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater
December 2006
1 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Rio Theatre
3 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
4 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
5 - Vancouver, British Columbia - St. Andrew-Wesley Church
11 - Norman, OK - University of Oklahoma - Meacham Theater
14 - Marfa, TX - Ballroom Marfa
19, 20 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Joanna Newsom to lead orchestra in six cities [September 2007]
Cat Power wins Shortlist Prize [June 2007]
Shortlist Music Prize finalists unveiled [April 2007]
Album Review: Joanna Newsom, "Ys" (Drag City) [November 2006]
Devendra Banhart, Vetiver traverse the club circuit [June 2004]



































