Kind of a mix for me! I fell in love with her lyrics and musical arrangements immediately, but it admittedly took me some time to warm up to her voice (pre-HOOM days), but I quickly learned to love its uniqueness!
Same. I remember hearing Peach Plum Pear and loving everyone but her voice. I kept searching for covers on YouTube, but nothing sounded as good as the original. That’s when I started to warm up to her voice and the unique quality it lends to her songs :)
I remember the first time I heard about her was probably around 2010 when someone posted a link to listen to "Emily" somewhere saying that it was some of the greatest lyric writing of all time. I checked it out but wrote her off completely for at least a couple years. I just had no frame of reference and didnt understand the appeal at all. Im not even sure how exactly i got into her after that but it took years for me to fall in love with the whole discography. At this point I believe she may be the greatest song writer to ever live honestly.
Took me years. I had a hard time with her voice, but my wife LOVED her and I would just hear her around the house and got more used to it. THEN we saw her live 2 nights in a row in Vancouver and Seattle and it was incredible, and I’m fully converted. Her voice still gets to me a little tiny bit on a couple of songs, but I completely think she’s an amazing genius…
I think she’s incredibly brilliant and one of the best living artists, but I also occasionally still have issues with her voice. I love her voice overall though. On top of all her other skills, her voice is amazingly expressive
I was put off by her squeakiness for a long while but the soothing and bright sound of the harp (maybe also the novelty after hearing only guitars in folk) made me stay and keep trying. As I listened I was checking the lyrics and that's maybe how the voice also clicked?
I loved her instantly!
I worked in a coffeehouse at the time, and I would play Milk Eyed Mender back to back until someone complained about Joanna's voice. I also played Coco Rosie, which got similar reviews from patrons.
I didn't care one bit. I played Milk Eyed Mender until the CD broke.
I knew about her for years but never checked her music out. One day I decided "Today I'll listen to Joanna Newsom". I listened to Ys on a walk around the neighborhood and was hooked right away. Probably the best first listen I've ever had. The combination of seeing trees swaying and birds flying overhead paired with Sawdust and Diamonds hit really hard.
HS girlfriend played Emily for me and it was like a lightning bolt.
Was a massive Bob Dylan fan (still am) — for some, JN’s early voice is an acquired taste, but I had been happily subjecting myself to Dylan’s harmonica solos for YEARS before hearing her music. I was immediately drawn to her lyricism, but she’s a virtuoso musician too. Undeniable genius.
I still remember the exact moment I heard her for the first time. I was in grad school and a friend played *The Sprout and the Bean* and I had such a visceral reaction. Immediately had to know who it was and was instantly HOOKED. A long while later and she’s still my top favorite artist by a mile. The second I heard it, it just called out to my soul. And then there was no turning back.
Instant for me. First time I listened to The Milk-Eyed Mender I was hooked! Then I saw her live when Ys came out and my admiration reached a new level!
i remember not really liking divers at first but i fell in love with ys instantly. and i think liking ys gave me more perspective in appreciating and eventually liking divers and then the rest of her albums.
When she released her first album, I wasn’t a fan at all and would play it on YouTube just to annoy my sister (she never lets me forget this now!). I never really thought of her again until the pandemic. I had heard so many amazing things and so much time had passed that I thought why not. I listened to Have One On Me while working remote and was hooked. It moved me so much. I then went to Divers which I loved even more. My partner then got me into Ys. I’m definitely a fan that needed time to mature and understand the magic of what I was listening to.
I honestly don’t really remember how I got into her. Pretty sure I saw stuff about her online and got curious and checked her out. However, I don’t recall needing to get used to her voice. I think I basically immediately got super into Ys. Then HOOM came out and slowly sank deep into my soul and the rest is history
I first saw her on Jools Holland pre-Milk Eyed Mender (or during that time) performing Book Of Right-On. It was the strangest thing but the lyrics were so captivating. For a long time I didn't know her name and couldn't discover it. Eventually I think my wife bought me Milk Eyed Mender (before Ys came out) and I've been hooked ever since.
I instantly fell in love with MEM when it first came out. I was really into folk/ anti-folk singer songwriting at the time. I loved the idea of 1 person and their instrument.
Then Ys came out and I didn’t understand it for years. The orchestration kind of felt like a betrayal to the rawness I loved about folk. I abandoned her music for a few years.
Then randomly one day Emily came up on an Apple Music playlist and it was like a light went off. I deep dived into Ys and HOOM. Fell in love all over again.
P.s. still think string arrangements on Ys are not that great in a lot of parts and distract from the songs at many parts of the album but I have learned to love that album. I know this is a controversial opinion.
Same re: MEM. I was 14, i think i read about her in Teen Vogue, downloaded the free track (Bridges and Balloons) and immediately begged my mother to let me use her credit card to order the album!
I needed a few listens and the right song. In 2010 right around the release of HOOM I had a few friends really into her and at first I didn't like her voice so didn't think much about her. But for whatever reason a few weeks or months later I listened to '81 and I was sold. I listened "around" her voice until I got used to it. I listened to HOOM over and over that summer as well as Ys and MEM. Good times.
A little of both? I remember listening to Ys and Have One On Me years ago and thought they were clearly good but didn’t immediately blow my mind
Then, sometime later, I was in a record store, saw Ys on vinyl and bought it on a whim and fell properly in love.
I think the difference was that my initial listens of Ys and Have One On Me were very passive and Joanna’s music obviously rewards a very active listener
I listened to Ys one time just because I knew that it was an acclaimed folk album and I thought it was ok. Then I kept returning to Emily again and again and got to love it over a pretty long period of time. The next song I loved was Good Intentions Paving co.
After all this I started getting into songs of hers here and there. Right now Ys is my favorite album of all time and Only Skin is my favorite song of all time, and my most streamed. I think it’s peak music and poetry and I’m almost sure nothing better can be ever recorded.
Yes, to answer your question, it took me quite a while.
I highly disliked her voice when I first discovered her (before HOoM came out) there was even an LG commercial with Bridges and Balloons that played on TV a lot and I'd cover my ears when it came on lol. But I decided to listen to all of her albums at one point and didn't immediately become a fan. It took several months, but she's been my favorite artist ever since.
Love at first listen.
I remember the first time I saw the video for Sprout and the Bean, on 90 Minutes (I think) on some satellite channel here in the UK, towards the end of 2004, and my tiny mind was blown.
I was immediately like WHAT IS THIS I NEED ALL OF THIS IN MY BRAIN AND HEART, and used many £s in many internet cafes to find out more. I discovered that she'd released an album earlier that year, spent more of my small monies ordering it from the US, as it was nowhere to be found locally, and the rest, my fellow delvers, is history.
Thank you, OP, for encouraging this sweet trip down memory lane.
I heard milk eyed mender when it first came out. I listened to it a lot and thought it was super weird and cool and became interested in her as like a local cult underground Bay Area figure. We kind of suspected she might be a genius, but a lot of people thought she was pretentious and/or just putting on an act. When Ys came out genius was confirmed (at least for me).
I heard Sapokanikan and felt literal ecstasy and sadness at the same time from the "to the western front..." section and the rest is history. But I had heard that her voice was bad or an acquired taste for some years before I ever really had the time to sit down and listen and I loved it immediately, even as I went back to Ys/MEM (and even like early 2000s live videos lol). MEM and early does feel quite unruly, but from Ys and on I really feel like she came into her own as a vocalist and the inflection/intentionality thats so apparent in her lyrics and composition seems matched now by her vocal performance.
I'm a classical musician who has always loved the harp too, so I knew that I would at least be here for that, but imagine my surprise to note how different her playing is from the usual pretty, classical european style or even really a 'lyre' celtic folk style too.
I had heard Ys a few years ago and it didn’t really register for me, then sometime late last year everything suddenly made sense to me.
But tbh, I still struggle with the first album. I have zero problems with the others, and own them on vinyl as well. Maybe I’ll come around to her debut one day.
Myself and a guy I worked with, as the only musicians in the office, used to gift each other random CD’s. Our tastes were very different but we would each bump into music that the other would like so we’d gift it. He dropped Ys on my desk one day saying “I think this is your kind of thing.” I stuck it on right away and it was an instant hit.
I actually got into her because when I was a little kid I was weirdly obsessed with the Muppets so when I saw her in that Muppet movie I was like damn I gotta check this out so I loaded up Ys on Youtube at the age of 10 or 11 haha
It was pretty quick for me! A bunch of my friends were fans, and one of them gave me electronic copies of MEM and Ys right around the time that Ys came out. (although Ys was missing Cosmia and Monkey and Bear, so I didn’t know that those songs existed until several months later). I went into it knowing that her voice was “divisive,” so it really didn’t faze me.
I kept hearing Bridges and Balloons on the radio (Triple J in Australia) and thinking what *is* that?! After hearing it a few times I had to hear more and bought the album, which I loved. I had a similar experience with Grace Cummings a couple of years ago and hearing Raglan here and there. Polar opposite voice to JN but also very unique.
When Ys rolled around I didn’t listen to it for ages because I was put off by the song length. Once I finally did, I loved it right away and it became my favourite album ever. Obviously I then learned to just listen to Joanna 😂
i got into her immediately as a teen. the first song i listened to was Peach, Plum, Pear and the second i heard her voice, i was HOOKED.
i always loved listening to women with distinct voices so joanna was an incredible find
I feel like my experience was opposite from most people I talked to. I loved her milk eyed mender era immediately. Her voice was an instant selling point for me, and I loved the simplicity of those songs. Mem got me on the hook.
Hoom took me a while to warm up to but once I did, it was very rewarding.
Divers and YS didn't take long at all for me to fall in love with.
I think I first heard Monkey and Bear and my immediate reaction was to start laughing. I was maybe in 7th grade at the time and had never heard anything like her voice and I couldn’t tell if I liked it or not. Then started listening to the rest of Ys and fell in love.
i tried getting into her multiple times but i was never really able to digest/pay attention to her lyrics and i thought i was just too dumb for her. i gave her another shot after a painful breakup and something clicked and ive been obsessed ever since
It’s a mix! I instantly loved what I heard from MEM, but it took me years to fully appreciate her.
I remember only liking Monkey and Bear from Ys when I moved on to that album, but going on these long solo road trips and just letting the CD continue to play and eventually unconsciously humming or singing parts of Only Skin. How amazing is it that a 5 song album took years to get through? I love that many (by no means all) of her songs are not necessarily instantly enjoyable or accessible, but they are so rewarding if you take the time with them. I hope that doesn’t come across as a backhanded insult.
For me it was instant. I live in Nevada City, her hometown, and had heard some talk about her so I went to a concert at St. Joseph’s Church and I was astounded. It was only her on harp and I think only a bohdra player. It was so unique and exciting and sounded to me like a full orchestra. It was the single most exciting musical discovery I’ve ever had and I’ve seen many starting from Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Who, Procol Harum, in the sixties. But the added thrill of knowing nothing going in and being thoroughly surprised and delighted makes her standout for me.
Absolutely instant. I found her because 2 of my friends were talking about her on a Facebook post linking to Sprout and the Bean saying how weird and awful her voice was. And I literally sat there like .. “I’m going to like this aren’t I” and I clicked it… yep
My wife got really into her quickly. She played her stuff around me and I really didn't like it. I thought her voice was bad from hearing the earlier work the most. Eventually Y's just clicked. I realized how great of a musician and writer she was. Cosmia was the first one I enjoyed. Then Go Long started sounding great from Hoom. Then once Only Skin clicked I was a full on fan.
It was instant for me. I remember the exact moment. A friend of mine, who I wanted to be exactly like, posted the Only Skin lyrics to MySpace in 2007. I had been stalking her page and it piqued my curiosity. I was in love with Victoriana, folksy, haunting things and literature even at that age (12 or 13). I pulled up Only Skin on YouTube and that was it. Instant adoration. I pictured antique beekeepers and diving helmets and I have never been the same since. It was instant, pure love.
(Btw this is Claire.clairvoyant on IG and claire_sf on x)
My first Joanna song was Sprout and the Bean. I didn't like her voice at first, but I was mesmerized by her harp so I kept listening till her voice grew on me lol
I tried a few times to get into her at first and failed. I heard sapokanikan and Emily and was like “well I’m sure this is for someone but just not me”
Generally the course went like this
Listen to the song the first time: “ew wtf is this”
Then a small part would stick in the back of my mind, then I would listen to it a few more times and slowly the song revealed itself to me. And then I was obsessed with the song.
Now I own all her albums and love her.
Instantly. Discovered her when I watched the Sapokanikan music vid when it was released in 2015. It was just the fucking best song I ever heard and she looks so beautiful.
I had Ys pop up in my recommended youtube videos one time. I let it play in the background and by the time Emily had finished, I had to rewind it to process what I had just heard. I ended up listening to the full album twice consecutively.
The next day as I was going to lunch I decided to google just who Joanna Newsom was, and as I was looking up info on her I found out that she was on tour.
And she was in my city.
And she had a concert that night.
And there were still tickets available.
So I ended up going to a live show within 24 hours of hearing of her. The whole time I was frantically writing down lyrics so I could look up the songs that I didn't recognize after.
I started with Milk-Eyed Mender and really liked it. I loved her unique voice and found the songs sweet and haunting. Then did Ys - loved her more.
I was a teen and my mom got me a copy of HOOM from the library when it first came out (🥹) and I exploded
Me, it was instant. The voice, singing , melodies, arrangement. Totally crazy in a good way, and of course, professional. I saw her performing in our newest concert hall, only once, though. I adore her
Kind of a mix for me! I fell in love with her lyrics and musical arrangements immediately, but it admittedly took me some time to warm up to her voice (pre-HOOM days), but I quickly learned to love its uniqueness!
Same. I remember hearing Peach Plum Pear and loving everyone but her voice. I kept searching for covers on YouTube, but nothing sounded as good as the original. That’s when I started to warm up to her voice and the unique quality it lends to her songs :)
I remember the first time I heard about her was probably around 2010 when someone posted a link to listen to "Emily" somewhere saying that it was some of the greatest lyric writing of all time. I checked it out but wrote her off completely for at least a couple years. I just had no frame of reference and didnt understand the appeal at all. Im not even sure how exactly i got into her after that but it took years for me to fall in love with the whole discography. At this point I believe she may be the greatest song writer to ever live honestly.
I agree with that assessment of Emily ☺️
Took me years. I had a hard time with her voice, but my wife LOVED her and I would just hear her around the house and got more used to it. THEN we saw her live 2 nights in a row in Vancouver and Seattle and it was incredible, and I’m fully converted. Her voice still gets to me a little tiny bit on a couple of songs, but I completely think she’s an amazing genius…
I think she’s incredibly brilliant and one of the best living artists, but I also occasionally still have issues with her voice. I love her voice overall though. On top of all her other skills, her voice is amazingly expressive
I was put off by her squeakiness for a long while but the soothing and bright sound of the harp (maybe also the novelty after hearing only guitars in folk) made me stay and keep trying. As I listened I was checking the lyrics and that's maybe how the voice also clicked?
I loved her instantly! I worked in a coffeehouse at the time, and I would play Milk Eyed Mender back to back until someone complained about Joanna's voice. I also played Coco Rosie, which got similar reviews from patrons. I didn't care one bit. I played Milk Eyed Mender until the CD broke.
I knew about her for years but never checked her music out. One day I decided "Today I'll listen to Joanna Newsom". I listened to Ys on a walk around the neighborhood and was hooked right away. Probably the best first listen I've ever had. The combination of seeing trees swaying and birds flying overhead paired with Sawdust and Diamonds hit really hard.
HS girlfriend played Emily for me and it was like a lightning bolt. Was a massive Bob Dylan fan (still am) — for some, JN’s early voice is an acquired taste, but I had been happily subjecting myself to Dylan’s harmonica solos for YEARS before hearing her music. I was immediately drawn to her lyricism, but she’s a virtuoso musician too. Undeniable genius.
I still remember the exact moment I heard her for the first time. I was in grad school and a friend played *The Sprout and the Bean* and I had such a visceral reaction. Immediately had to know who it was and was instantly HOOKED. A long while later and she’s still my top favorite artist by a mile. The second I heard it, it just called out to my soul. And then there was no turning back.
Instant for me. First time I listened to The Milk-Eyed Mender I was hooked! Then I saw her live when Ys came out and my admiration reached a new level!
i remember not really liking divers at first but i fell in love with ys instantly. and i think liking ys gave me more perspective in appreciating and eventually liking divers and then the rest of her albums.
When she released her first album, I wasn’t a fan at all and would play it on YouTube just to annoy my sister (she never lets me forget this now!). I never really thought of her again until the pandemic. I had heard so many amazing things and so much time had passed that I thought why not. I listened to Have One On Me while working remote and was hooked. It moved me so much. I then went to Divers which I loved even more. My partner then got me into Ys. I’m definitely a fan that needed time to mature and understand the magic of what I was listening to.
I honestly don’t really remember how I got into her. Pretty sure I saw stuff about her online and got curious and checked her out. However, I don’t recall needing to get used to her voice. I think I basically immediately got super into Ys. Then HOOM came out and slowly sank deep into my soul and the rest is history
I first saw her on Jools Holland pre-Milk Eyed Mender (or during that time) performing Book Of Right-On. It was the strangest thing but the lyrics were so captivating. For a long time I didn't know her name and couldn't discover it. Eventually I think my wife bought me Milk Eyed Mender (before Ys came out) and I've been hooked ever since.
I instantly fell in love with MEM when it first came out. I was really into folk/ anti-folk singer songwriting at the time. I loved the idea of 1 person and their instrument. Then Ys came out and I didn’t understand it for years. The orchestration kind of felt like a betrayal to the rawness I loved about folk. I abandoned her music for a few years. Then randomly one day Emily came up on an Apple Music playlist and it was like a light went off. I deep dived into Ys and HOOM. Fell in love all over again. P.s. still think string arrangements on Ys are not that great in a lot of parts and distract from the songs at many parts of the album but I have learned to love that album. I know this is a controversial opinion.
Same re: MEM. I was 14, i think i read about her in Teen Vogue, downloaded the free track (Bridges and Balloons) and immediately begged my mother to let me use her credit card to order the album!
I needed a few listens and the right song. In 2010 right around the release of HOOM I had a few friends really into her and at first I didn't like her voice so didn't think much about her. But for whatever reason a few weeks or months later I listened to '81 and I was sold. I listened "around" her voice until I got used to it. I listened to HOOM over and over that summer as well as Ys and MEM. Good times.
A little of both? I remember listening to Ys and Have One On Me years ago and thought they were clearly good but didn’t immediately blow my mind Then, sometime later, I was in a record store, saw Ys on vinyl and bought it on a whim and fell properly in love. I think the difference was that my initial listens of Ys and Have One On Me were very passive and Joanna’s music obviously rewards a very active listener
I listened to Ys one time just because I knew that it was an acclaimed folk album and I thought it was ok. Then I kept returning to Emily again and again and got to love it over a pretty long period of time. The next song I loved was Good Intentions Paving co. After all this I started getting into songs of hers here and there. Right now Ys is my favorite album of all time and Only Skin is my favorite song of all time, and my most streamed. I think it’s peak music and poetry and I’m almost sure nothing better can be ever recorded. Yes, to answer your question, it took me quite a while.
I highly disliked her voice when I first discovered her (before HOoM came out) there was even an LG commercial with Bridges and Balloons that played on TV a lot and I'd cover my ears when it came on lol. But I decided to listen to all of her albums at one point and didn't immediately become a fan. It took several months, but she's been my favorite artist ever since.
Hit like lightning upon first listen, heavy rotation ever since
Love at first listen. I remember the first time I saw the video for Sprout and the Bean, on 90 Minutes (I think) on some satellite channel here in the UK, towards the end of 2004, and my tiny mind was blown. I was immediately like WHAT IS THIS I NEED ALL OF THIS IN MY BRAIN AND HEART, and used many £s in many internet cafes to find out more. I discovered that she'd released an album earlier that year, spent more of my small monies ordering it from the US, as it was nowhere to be found locally, and the rest, my fellow delvers, is history. Thank you, OP, for encouraging this sweet trip down memory lane.
i needed like 12 years then i had a miscarriage and listened to baby birch which led me to divers and the rest is history
I heard milk eyed mender when it first came out. I listened to it a lot and thought it was super weird and cool and became interested in her as like a local cult underground Bay Area figure. We kind of suspected she might be a genius, but a lot of people thought she was pretentious and/or just putting on an act. When Ys came out genius was confirmed (at least for me).
I heard Sapokanikan and felt literal ecstasy and sadness at the same time from the "to the western front..." section and the rest is history. But I had heard that her voice was bad or an acquired taste for some years before I ever really had the time to sit down and listen and I loved it immediately, even as I went back to Ys/MEM (and even like early 2000s live videos lol). MEM and early does feel quite unruly, but from Ys and on I really feel like she came into her own as a vocalist and the inflection/intentionality thats so apparent in her lyrics and composition seems matched now by her vocal performance. I'm a classical musician who has always loved the harp too, so I knew that I would at least be here for that, but imagine my surprise to note how different her playing is from the usual pretty, classical european style or even really a 'lyre' celtic folk style too.
I had heard Ys a few years ago and it didn’t really register for me, then sometime late last year everything suddenly made sense to me. But tbh, I still struggle with the first album. I have zero problems with the others, and own them on vinyl as well. Maybe I’ll come around to her debut one day.
Once I heard Sapokanikan accidentally and immediately felt I needed to listen to her entire discography
Myself and a guy I worked with, as the only musicians in the office, used to gift each other random CD’s. Our tastes were very different but we would each bump into music that the other would like so we’d gift it. He dropped Ys on my desk one day saying “I think this is your kind of thing.” I stuck it on right away and it was an instant hit.
I actually got into her because when I was a little kid I was weirdly obsessed with the Muppets so when I saw her in that Muppet movie I was like damn I gotta check this out so I loaded up Ys on Youtube at the age of 10 or 11 haha
My friend started me with Have One on Me and I was pretty much immediately in love.
Heard “book of right on” on Sirius XM back around 2004 and was immediately hooked!
It was pretty quick for me! A bunch of my friends were fans, and one of them gave me electronic copies of MEM and Ys right around the time that Ys came out. (although Ys was missing Cosmia and Monkey and Bear, so I didn’t know that those songs existed until several months later). I went into it knowing that her voice was “divisive,” so it really didn’t faze me.
I kept hearing Bridges and Balloons on the radio (Triple J in Australia) and thinking what *is* that?! After hearing it a few times I had to hear more and bought the album, which I loved. I had a similar experience with Grace Cummings a couple of years ago and hearing Raglan here and there. Polar opposite voice to JN but also very unique. When Ys rolled around I didn’t listen to it for ages because I was put off by the song length. Once I finally did, I loved it right away and it became my favourite album ever. Obviously I then learned to just listen to Joanna 😂
i got into her immediately as a teen. the first song i listened to was Peach, Plum, Pear and the second i heard her voice, i was HOOKED. i always loved listening to women with distinct voices so joanna was an incredible find
I feel like my experience was opposite from most people I talked to. I loved her milk eyed mender era immediately. Her voice was an instant selling point for me, and I loved the simplicity of those songs. Mem got me on the hook. Hoom took me a while to warm up to but once I did, it was very rewarding. Divers and YS didn't take long at all for me to fall in love with.
I think I first heard Monkey and Bear and my immediate reaction was to start laughing. I was maybe in 7th grade at the time and had never heard anything like her voice and I couldn’t tell if I liked it or not. Then started listening to the rest of Ys and fell in love.
i tried getting into her multiple times but i was never really able to digest/pay attention to her lyrics and i thought i was just too dumb for her. i gave her another shot after a painful breakup and something clicked and ive been obsessed ever since
It’s a mix! I instantly loved what I heard from MEM, but it took me years to fully appreciate her. I remember only liking Monkey and Bear from Ys when I moved on to that album, but going on these long solo road trips and just letting the CD continue to play and eventually unconsciously humming or singing parts of Only Skin. How amazing is it that a 5 song album took years to get through? I love that many (by no means all) of her songs are not necessarily instantly enjoyable or accessible, but they are so rewarding if you take the time with them. I hope that doesn’t come across as a backhanded insult.
I fell hard on the first listen of Sapokanikan. ❤️
For me it was instant. I live in Nevada City, her hometown, and had heard some talk about her so I went to a concert at St. Joseph’s Church and I was astounded. It was only her on harp and I think only a bohdra player. It was so unique and exciting and sounded to me like a full orchestra. It was the single most exciting musical discovery I’ve ever had and I’ve seen many starting from Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Who, Procol Harum, in the sixties. But the added thrill of knowing nothing going in and being thoroughly surprised and delighted makes her standout for me.
Absolutely instant. I found her because 2 of my friends were talking about her on a Facebook post linking to Sprout and the Bean saying how weird and awful her voice was. And I literally sat there like .. “I’m going to like this aren’t I” and I clicked it… yep
My introduction to Joanna was Emily and I loved her instantly.
My wife got really into her quickly. She played her stuff around me and I really didn't like it. I thought her voice was bad from hearing the earlier work the most. Eventually Y's just clicked. I realized how great of a musician and writer she was. Cosmia was the first one I enjoyed. Then Go Long started sounding great from Hoom. Then once Only Skin clicked I was a full on fan.
It was instant for me. I remember the exact moment. A friend of mine, who I wanted to be exactly like, posted the Only Skin lyrics to MySpace in 2007. I had been stalking her page and it piqued my curiosity. I was in love with Victoriana, folksy, haunting things and literature even at that age (12 or 13). I pulled up Only Skin on YouTube and that was it. Instant adoration. I pictured antique beekeepers and diving helmets and I have never been the same since. It was instant, pure love. (Btw this is Claire.clairvoyant on IG and claire_sf on x)
My first Joanna song was Sprout and the Bean. I didn't like her voice at first, but I was mesmerized by her harp so I kept listening till her voice grew on me lol
Instant enchantment. Very rare for me
My partner played Ys on a road trip early in our relationship and I was completely blown away
I listened to "Sleepy bedtime mix for young ones" so many times, and after hearing sprout and the bean a few times I had to look into her discog
I found Y's through a youtube recommendation in 2019 and it was pretty immediate. I listened to the album maybe 5 times that first day
I tried a few times to get into her at first and failed. I heard sapokanikan and Emily and was like “well I’m sure this is for someone but just not me” Generally the course went like this Listen to the song the first time: “ew wtf is this” Then a small part would stick in the back of my mind, then I would listen to it a few more times and slowly the song revealed itself to me. And then I was obsessed with the song. Now I own all her albums and love her.
Instantly. Discovered her when I watched the Sapokanikan music vid when it was released in 2015. It was just the fucking best song I ever heard and she looks so beautiful.
I had Ys pop up in my recommended youtube videos one time. I let it play in the background and by the time Emily had finished, I had to rewind it to process what I had just heard. I ended up listening to the full album twice consecutively. The next day as I was going to lunch I decided to google just who Joanna Newsom was, and as I was looking up info on her I found out that she was on tour. And she was in my city. And she had a concert that night. And there were still tickets available. So I ended up going to a live show within 24 hours of hearing of her. The whole time I was frantically writing down lyrics so I could look up the songs that I didn't recognize after.
I started with Milk-Eyed Mender and really liked it. I loved her unique voice and found the songs sweet and haunting. Then did Ys - loved her more. I was a teen and my mom got me a copy of HOOM from the library when it first came out (🥹) and I exploded
Me, it was instant. The voice, singing , melodies, arrangement. Totally crazy in a good way, and of course, professional. I saw her performing in our newest concert hall, only once, though. I adore her