Joni Mitchell’s comeback performance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival may soon be immortalized as a live album. The legendary singer-songwriter said a lot in a recent interview with Elton John, noting that she and her team were “trying” to record the performance on tape.
Mitchell was a surprise guest during Brandi Carlile’s set at the Folk Festival in July, taking the stage for the first time in years to sing alongside the likes of Carlile and Wynonna Judd. She even sang a guitar solo during “Just Like This Train,” which she discussed in a conversation with John. “I couldn’t sing the key,” she said, “I became the alto, I wasn’t a soprano anymore.” “I thought people might get comfortable if I just played the guitar… It was well received, to my great pleasure.”
Mitchell has mostly retired from public life in recent years after a brain aneurysm she suffered in 2015, but she appears to be in good health these days, as she recently announced another gig. On June 10, 2023, she will perform at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington, and will be the first full concert announced in 20 years. Tickets for this event are now on sale via Ticketmaster.
Mitchell recently received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music and was involved in the Archives Collection The Asylum Albums (1972-1975). Find out how the folk legend’s work ranks on our list of the 100 greatest albums of all time.
