Travelling
"A vibrant, multifaceted portrait of a music enigma" Guardian
"A powerful portrait" Irish Independent
"Displays a bracing rigour and an exhilarating curiosity about its subject, coming closer than most to catching up with Mitchell on her lonely road" Times
Celebrated music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of the legendary Joni Mitchell
What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed popular music: of a homesick wanderer forging ahead on routes of her invention, and of me on her trail, heading toward the ringing of her voice.
One of the most celebrated artists of her generation, Joni Mitchell has inspired countless musicians and writers, while never stopping still herself.
In Travelling, celebrated music critic Ann Powers seeks to understand the paradox of Mitchell – at once both elusive and inviting – through her myriad journeys. Drawing on extensive interviews with Mitchell’s peers and deep archival research, Powers takes readers to rural Canada, charts the course of Mitchell’s musical evolution, follows the winding road of Mitchell’s collaborations with other greats and explores the loves that fed her songwriting.
Kaleidoscopic in scope and intimate in detail, Travelling is a fresh and fascinating addition to the Joni Mitchell corpus – and one that questions whether an artist can ever truly be known to their fans.
Ann Powers has been a music critic for more than thirty years, working for NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and other publications. In the decade she has worked with NPR, she has written extensively on music and culture and appeared regularly on the All Songs Considered podcast and on news shows including All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Her books include a memoir, Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America; Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White; Body and Soul in American Music; and Piece by Piece with Tori Amos. Powers lives in Nashville.