There's STILL Nobody Like Joni Mitchell

This week’s episode comes to you in the afterglow of two sold out
Joni Mitchell performances at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles,
where molecules were rearranged, hearts were broken wide open and
17,000 fans basked in her brilliance. Though she has a bit of FOMO
over missing out on being part of the Joni Jam, this week’s first
guest, Shawn Colvin, has plenty of Joni stories. After initially
discovering Clouds as a teenager at church camp, Shawn found
herself many years later recording her 2nd album at Joni’s house
with Joni’s then-husband Larry Klein, and Episode 7 guests Béla
Fleck and Bruce Hornsby. Shawn says that she learned everything she
could from Clouds, including a percussive approach to guitar, and
it set her on a path to a solo approach to performing and writing
songs which would not have happened without Joni Mitchell. She
tells host/producer Carmel Holt about her “big brother”
relationship with Bruce Hornsby and how he helped her overcome the
heartbreak of a terrible New York Times live show review by sharing
a folder of his own scathing media clips, one of which called him a
“gherkin” (UK speak for pickle). MUNA guitarist,
multi-instrumentalist and writer Naomi McPherson grew up in a
family of jazz musicians. Like several of our guests, their gateway
to Joni Mitchell was Blue and then the fretless bass of Jaco
Pastorius on Hejira locked them in. From there, they went hardcore
into 70s and onward Joni while listening to cassette tapes of
Turbulent Indigo, Night Ride Home and Miles of Aisles in their 1998
Honda Accord. Naomi says that they are still learning from Joni’s
music and that because of her, they play exclusively in open
tunings. They talk about how Joni’s music spans genres and how much
sonic exploration there is to mine in her catalog - from folk to
the jazz era to 80s pop influences. Naomi thanks Joni for her
fearlessness and considers her to be the greatest songwriter of all
time.