page_title: Joanna Newsom
section_title: 2002–2005: Career beginnings and The Milk-Eyed Mender
hierarchical_section_title: Joanna Newsom / Career / 2002–2005: Career beginnings and The Milk-Eyed Mender
caption_attribution_description: Joanna Newson. Sasquatch Music Festival @ The Gorge, WA
context_page_description: Joanna Caroline Newsom is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth, and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francisco–based indie band The Pleased.
  After recording and self-releasing two EPs in 2002, Newsom was signed to the independent label Drag City. Her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, was released in 2004 to critical acclaim, and garnered Newsom an underground following. She would receive wider exposure with the release of Ys, which charted at number 134 on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for a 2007 Shortlist Music Prize.
  She released two further albums: Have One on Me, and Divers, the latter of which outsold all of her previous albums. Newsom has been noted by critics for her unique musical style, sometimes characterized as psychedelic folk, and her prominent use of harp instrumentation. She has also appeared as an actress, with roles in the television series Portlandia and in the 2014 film Inherent Vice.
context_section_description: In 2002–03, after appearing as a guest musician on Nervous Cop's self-titled collaboration album, Newsom recorded two EPs, Walnut Whales and Yarn and Glue. These homemade recordings were intended to serve as a document of her early work. These EPs were not intended for public distribution. At the suggestion of Noah Georgeson, her then-boyfriend and recording engineer of the EP, she burned several copies to sell at her early shows. Newsom's friend and bandmate in Golden Shoulders, Adam Kline, gave one of her CDs to Will Oldham at a show in Nevada City. Oldham was impressed with Newsom's music and asked her to tour with him. He also gave a copy of the CD to the owner of Drag City, his record label. Drag City signed Newsom and released her debut album The Milk-Eyed Mender in 2004.
  Shortly thereafter, Newsom toured with Devendra Banhart and Vetiver to promote the album, and made an early UK appearance at the Green Man Festival in Wales. In December 2004, she performed with Smog and Weird War at the Drag City "It's a Wonderful Next Life" Christmas party. She also appeared as a guest musician on Vetiver's 2004 self-titled album, and the following year, on Vashti Bunyan's Lookaftering (2005). The track "Sprout and the Bean" was featured in the 2008 horror film The Strangers.
  The Milk-Eyed Mender had sold 200,000 copies of as 2010, and helped garner Newsom an underground following. The album was remarked as a "neo-folk benchmark" by music historian John Morrish in 2007, and named the 12th best folk album of all time by NME. The album track This Side Of The Blue featured in the 2007 advertising campaign for Orange, with the core subject being that of the New York Blackout of 2003. Several of the albums' songs have been covered by Newsom's peers: "Bridges and Balloons" was covered by The Decemberists on their 2005 EP Picaresqueties.  "Sprout and the Bean" has been covered by The Moscow Coup Attempt and Sholi. "Peach, Plum, Pear" has been covered by Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) on the 2006 EP Young Canadian Mothers, as well as by Straylight Run. M Ward has played "Sadie" at some of his live shows.
caption: Newsom at the Sasquatch! Music Festival, Washington, May 2005
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