Watch Joanna Newsom’s Dazzling Colbert Performance
Joanna Newsom might be married to a TV star, but her own television appearances are exceedingly rare things, especially in this country. So when we do get something like her performance on last night’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert, it feels like a rare treat. Last month, Newsom was on the BBC’s Later… With Jools Holland, performing an entirely-solo version of the Divers track “Leaving The City.” And last night on Colbert, she played the same song, but she did a very different version of it. This time around, she had some backing musicians: A keyboardist, a pianist, and a drummer. As always, though, the focus was squarely on her, and getting to watch her playing that harp up close is a pretty incredible thing. It really drives home the complexity of her instrument, and her own mastery of it. This was one hell of a performance, and you can watch it below.
Divers is out now on Drag City.