Joanie. Her final album and final tour. Whistle Down the Wind is a soulful return to her folkie roots (“And I wish the wars were all over”). An amazing career and a perfect finish to an amazingly stellar career. I saw her at the Winspear several years ago and her ‘new’ lower voice of the past two decades has stood her in good stead.
There is a sense of our time and the old melancholy, and a sense of closure here. She does songs by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom Waits, Josh Ritter, Zoe Mulford, Joe Henry, Tim Ericksen, and Eliza Gilkyson, continuing her ongoing quest to find others’ songs to suit her purposes.
Joanie is an honest-to-goodness legend who deserves a happy retirement and who deserves standing o’s all the way on her final tour. She remains The Ultimate Loyal Conscience of ’60s Folk Music.