Joni Mitchell

I was listening to the album “Blue” by Joni Mitchell recently and re-appreciating it, wondering where she got that unusual, mysterious kick. The album escapes the folk trap of guitars guitars guitars, as the songs alternate between piano and guitar/dulcimer.

As a teenager growing up in Alberta, Joni couldn’t afford a guitar, so she bought a baritone ukulele. She learned about writing poetry from a teacher in grade school. She played her ukulele at parties and get-togethers. Her early embracing of this instrument could be the reason she is such an inventive musician.

During college she began performing at a local club called The Depression. After going to art college for a year she dropped out and went to Toronto to become a folk singer. Thus began her journey.

I remember hearing Joni for the first time as a teenager, and I was instantly intrigued. Joni used many alternate tunings in her earlier, acoustic albums, and I copied her style. I really learned a lot about playing the guitar from listening to her.

More on Joni’s life and how her sound has evolved here. Also: The Joni Undercover Project is dedicated to locating all covers of Joni Mitchell songs ever recorded. So far they have found 2,512 covers of 138 of Joni’s songs done by 1,960 different artists!

You can search for the songs that have been covered here.

Kristin Kirby

April 9th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Artisits | (0)