Both Sides Now

"I am a lonely painter

I live in a box of paints

I'm frightened by the devil

And I'm drawn to those who ain't afraid"

Joni Mitchell, A Case of You

Few artists have touched my heart and soul like Joni Mitchell, I've wanted to write this up since I saw the videos from Newport last year. I have loved her since I was young, I was, until last year, too young to see her live on stage. She retired from performing in 2000, had a few shows before suffering a brain anyeurysm in 2015.

Which makes her comeback more epic.

I've always felt a connection to her, the words that she wrote, those famous lyrics so much older, so much wiser, than she was when she wrote them. Then, last year Brandi Carlile brought her on stage at Newport Folk Festival. After more than twenty years of not touring, longer not releasing an album, the overwhelming joy of the crowd can be felt even through the video. She had grown into her music, twenty year old Joni was writing those songs not only for the time, but somehow for her voice now. Her deep mature voice now connecting with the lyrics in a completely different way than when she was young, the audience and performers on stage completely enraptured by her presence.

There's a moment during the first song where you can see her get her confidence back. She pushes her cane aside, looking genuinely shocked at how thrilled people are to see her sing and starts picking up the lyrics. By the end of the show she's hitting that low note in "Big Yellow Taxi" while the Lucius girls take that high note.

Now why write a milestone playlist about one artist? Mostly because it's not about one artist. Joni Mitchell has songwriting circles in her home, with big huge names and people who are just coming up. She is notoriously tough when she critiques others work, known for her stoic reactions to performances. Brandi has a great story about a fan coming up to her while Joni was sitting next to her, asking Brandi to sign the album and telling her the song "The Joke" saved their life. Joni's reaction was "Did you write that song?" "That's a pretty good song".

Joni creates community, something that I have always wanted to do. I have always wanted to bring artists together in the way that Joni, and I suppose this is just as much about Brandi since she was the one who got Joni Mitchell to get on a plane to bless the world with another performance do. There is a genuine love for artistry and a genuine love for performance with other muscians.

Creating community through art is one of the easiest things we as creators can do. I was a framer for a long time, I saw all sorts of beautiful pieces of artwork. In every way. Kids projects from school, people's first paint by numbers, a suitcase that had traveled the world and was being retired to a shadowbox, even a Banksy once. The one thing that everyone had in common was that they really loved to talk about the work. Sometimes I'd get a band poster- usually Phish it's a THING- and me and my clients would talk music, about art, about their homes, about their family members that had passed and they were just framing that painting that they meant to frame before.

Art and music have a way of connecting us like nothing else, and Joni is still doing it, she's still bringing new musicians together on stage to create something beautiful. Brandi, has taken up some of that mantle, performing with Wynona Judd, Celesse, Dolly Parton, Lucius, Marcus Mumford. The mix on the stage at Newport was inspiring, not just because it was a rather triumphant return for the international treasure who is Joni Mitchell, but also because it brought musicians of all levels of "fame" out on that stage to celebrate a life that has made an incredible difference in the art world in general.

The Joni Mitchell Newport return is one of those things that still takes my breath away. It's beautiful to watch the support and love that went into making this special show happen. The performance has brought me a lot of peace, I have seen the videos countless times.

Art is all about community, hell, it's what we do here on Vocal. The more we lift each other up the more likely we get more little miracles like Joni Mitchell back on stage. I think this performance reminded me that no matter what, art speaks and it is beautiful. There is a wiseness in this show, I highly recommend watching it in full.

There is a rareness of opportunity to be one hundred percent committed to loving something or someone, and there's so much joy in doing so. Joni is a poet who speaks my language, she is a painter who paints poetry, her dedication to community is something for which I strive.

It only takes one piece of art to change a life.

Note: when I first set out to write this the entire show was on YouTube, it is no longer so I have replaced some of the videos with older ones and others with covers. I am hoping this means there will be a release of the whole thing. For now, enjoy the throwbacks and the Brandi covers.

I've added some performances that she's done recently including the Grammys! She worked hard to recover from a stroke and is lightly touring right now! Getting the recognition she deserves.

Here's some videos of both other artists doing her work and Joni performing herself!