

Joanna Newsom with Kevin Barker at Old Ironsides, Sacramento CA, July 10, 2004. Photo by Alissa Anderson.











Part two:

Once upon a time, or nearly ten years ago, a couple of bands combined their like-minded pursuit of music, travel, and kindred jamming and took to the road for what would later be known as the "Magical Tour of Two Thousand and Four" or The Family Jams , as revealed in Kevin Barker 's tour documentary of the same name. Perhaps a more accurate description of the happening would be to say that it was an extended jaunt comprised of artists caught in Devendra Banhart 's orbit at the time -- an Earthbound constellation of celestial talents that, for better or for worse, birthed the term. Though the documentary captures intimate performances and would-be private moments of many hearts and artists, the camera focuses mainly on Banhart, Vetiver , and Joanna Newsom Now, I count myself among the throng of ardent Newsom devotees and I am as eager as a Belieber for a new J. New joint to drop already (as established here ). Clearly I am not alone in abiding the ever intensifying prospects for this fabled 2014 release as the as yet unknown record has made it onto countless lists of this year's most anticipated albums. The recent revelation of this tour doc, depicting so much naked joy and tragedy, has effectively lessened some of the aforementioned tension while simultaneously making the wait feel so much more acutely unbearable. Want some? Included below is a heavily edited two-part look at the doc published by some super fan concentrating on all Joanna-centric scenes. These fixed vignettes center attention on Newsom touring in support of her first full length album, Milk-Eyed Mender , capably rendering the bigger picture of The Family Jams into a hushed setting within which an emerging singer-songwriter heedlessly stakes her ecumenical claim to fame surrounded by a loving "family" of friends. Plus, within the first few minutes of the second video a portion of the song composition for "Cosmia" is revealed during a late night harp-stringing hang out with friends, providing those of us that care about these things with a brief encounter with the genesis of Ys Part one: