September 6, 2004

Posted September 06, 2004

"An art born of pain, an artist in happy exile" is the title of a wonderful feature article in the Los Angeles Times that was in yesterday's newspaper and is appearing online with their "Calendar Live" songwriters series. Equal parts history and interview, it's a revealing snapshot of a contented post-retirement Joni today. The story covers a wide range of topics: early inspirations, influences and opinions ("I thought 'Both Sides Now' was a failure," Joni says), her creative process, her rocky relationship with the music industry and her take on the current pop world are just a few of topics Joni talks about. "I'm so happy," Joni tells writer Robert Hilburn, speaking of life since retirement from the music biz. In addition, there's a multimedia feature with photos, music and interview excerpts.

Interviews with Joni are few and far between these days; this one is like paying a visit to a friend to talk about old times and catch up. I think Joniphiles will love reading it.

I wish I could reprint the article here, but I think there would be some ruffled feathers at the newspaper! The stories in the "Calendar Live" series are only available by subscription; if you're not interested in subscribing to the newspaper, you can subscribe to "Calendar Live" online for $4.95/month. If you're only interested in the Joni story, you might want to take advantage of a 14-day free trial. If you do this you'll have to give them a credit card number, but you won't get billed if you remember to call them to cancel 14 days later (888 448-5959).