If you are scared, if you are blue, I have prepared a small song for you.

I had the amazing fortune to see Joanna Newsom opening for Sufjan Stevens at the Troubadour right around the time "The Milk-Eyed Mender" came out. I was unfamiliar with her at the time, and was taken aback by her opening her set with an a capella appalachian folk song, unusual voice, and unusual subject matter. At first I thought it was comical. But as the set went on I realized they were some of the best songs I'd ever heard, and bought the album immediately.

The next time I saw her was after shelling out like, $75 to see her play with the LA Philharmonic at the massive Disney Concert Hall. The experience was obviously 1/10000th as intimate, but she still writes a damned good song.

I've finally gotten around to really absorbing her latest album, "Have One On Me," and while I think it could easily have trimmed a few songs (that are good, but make the 3-disk album a tad bloated), there are some completely amazing songs on there (this one included).

Moral of the story: Joanna Newsom is a good musician that I enjoy.


Addendum: Let's you and I start an American version of "Later with Jools Holland" and make a million dollars. Cool?