The new biography JONI MITCHELL: IN HER OWN WORDS is one of the trickier audiobook narration projects I've taken on. The book is actually a series of three lengthy, in-depth interviews - which isn't tricky, it's wonderful - but I was reading her talking, and let me tell you it felt strange to be voicing Joni Mitchell, even in a speaking voice. I like to think it took some finesse.

When I spoke to the author in Toronto, Malka Marom, she remarked that my voice actually sounded a bit like Joni's - because of the low register. That was encouraging. I certainly didn’t make any attempt to imitate Ms. Mitchell's voice in any way, I just tried to convey her words in a natural and in some cases even neutral tone. Some of what she is asked, and the answers she gives, are quite emotionally charged, and there is no doubt that she is a passionate woman, so I was often walking a fine line as I tried to convey the intensity of what was being discussed without going into an acting job. Also, in standard interview style, it's noted in the text when Joni laughs, and the last thing I wanted to do was say "(laughs)" or to attempt some version of her particular gusto, so I just kind of huffed. I hope that works. Perhaps you will let me know.

All these kinds of choices really come down to respecting the person whose voice you're taking on. You want to remain sincere, while doing as much as you can via implication.

I also had the opportunity to read aloud many of her lyrics, and reading them as one would read poetry gave me a very different sense of them from what you get by listening to the songs. I suppose this is often the case with lyrics, but because there is a lot of detail in her imagery that you might not catch in listening to the recordings, because of her unusual phrasing, and because lyrics are sometimes written out differently from how they’re sung, you think of the words differently when you say them. It's also different from reading them silently to yourself on the sleeve of the LP. Spoken is just a totally different context.

Consider "California," by reading this excerpt, which is quoted as follows in the book, out loud -

Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
More about the war
And the bloody changes
Oh will you take me as I am
Will you take me as I am?
Will you?

- and then listening to the song (you can find it on YouTube). Do you see what I mean?

Most of the time lyrics don’t stand up to that kind of treatment, but because of the sophistication of her thinking, the built-in artistry of her stream of consciousness, her penchant for storytelling, sometimes in an outright way, sometimes through hints and images - it was an exploration to read them aloud, without melody. To find their separate music, and again, respect the delicacy of the assignment.

The audiobook is out Wednesday, November 5th, from Tantor Media, and I’m very curious to see what reviews it garners. It was an honor to narrate it, and as a songwriter myself, I plan to blog about it a little bit more in the coming weeks.