WHO THE HELL IS

Joanna Newsom

Plucky girl: She looks like an elf-maiden out of Lord Of The Rings, her voice is like Shirley Temple crossed with Björk (or the good ship Lollipop hitting an iceberg), and she eschews the acoustic guitar for the much more impressive harp. She has an abiding love for folk and bluegrass music, particularly the Appalachian children's songs collected down the years by Ruth Crawford Seeger and the Lomax brothers. Her singing voice conjures up images of a strange, lost child, but this 22-year-old from Nevada City, California knows exactly where she's going. Joanna Newsom's music is one of the oddest folk sounds you'll hear this year, but already her fanbase is growing way beyond the Bay Area of San Francisco, where she now lives. She's also found some influential musical friends, including Bonnie "Prince" Billy, who was so taken with her music that he invited her to tour with him. She's also supported Devendra Banhart and that other odd musical chick, Cat Power.

String driven: Growing up in the gold-rush town of Nevada City, Joanna dug for musical treasure in the most unlikely places. She took up playing the harp when she was an angelic eight-year-old, and studied the styles of different countries, including Senegal, Venezuela and, of course, Ireland. She could easily sit in on a Chieftains session, but she preferred Appalachian to Celtic, and here is where her main inspiration lies. She also grew up listening to Donovan, Patti Smith and Billie Holiday, and her music bears a strong affinity with the folk sounds of the 1960s.

Harp on: At first, the shy young Newsom sat quietly behind her harp and caressed the delicate, glissando sounds from its strings. Soon, though, she began singing along to the harp, making up her own songs about whalebones, mollusks, owls, burning boats and balloons. She has never trained as a singer, so that eerie, childlike voice comes out completely naturally. Her voice has been compared to Björk - if Björk was born in the Appalachians instead of Iceland. Newsom recorded two albums, Walnut Whales and Yarn and Glue, at home, handing out copies to her friends Before she knew it, crowds were coming to see her gigs in the Bay Area, and the press were writing about this quirky folk siren with the banshee wail and the big harp.

Oldy-wordy: Newsom's new album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, is released on Drag City records, and features such musical oddities as Bridges and Balloons, Sprout and the Bean, Sadie, This Side of the Blue, and Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie. Its lyrics are filled with antique words and phrases, embroidered onto her filigree harp arrangements and gentle Wurlitzer, harpsichord and piano backing. She's currently on tour in Europe, and will be playing the Sugar Club on October 30th.

Kevin Courtney