Ladies of the Roundhouse
Ahead of an 80th-birthday tribute in London, Vashti Bunyan and Lail Arad tell Uncut about the life-changing impact of Joni Mitchell
“ICAN remember exactly where I was when I first heard Joni Mitchell,” says Vashti Bunyan. “I was living in a very damp cottage in the Lake District in 1968. There was a blackand-white television in one of the rooms and I would put on a big coat and watch it. I saw her sitting at a piano and playing – it was probably “Both Sides Now” – and for me it was hugely affecting. I thought, ‘I can never do that.’ It had a huge effect on me, because from that moment on I never ever believed in myself. For about 30 years, I gave up on music altogether. No record player or radio, I didn’t even sing to my children. I felt like such a failure, it’s awful. I don’t like to admit it, but that’s what happened.”
We’re used to hearing stories of how people were inspired to pick up guitars and write songs by Joni Mitchell, but this may be the first example of someone being literally stunned into silence by the scale of her talent. There’s something weirdly noble about it. “Of course, I think I was an idiot now!” she laughs uproariously.
Bunyan is one of the artists, alongside Emeli Sandé, Sam Amidon, Eska and This Is The Kit, assembled to pay tribute to Mitchell in her 80th year in an event at London’s Roundhouse in April, curated by singer-songwriter Lail Arad. “Everyone I approached said yes,” says Arad delightedly, although she’s under no illusions about the difficulties presented by attempting to cover Joni Mitchell. “Everything is a challenge! I have no idea how any of us will do it. She’s just exquisite in every aspect of her art. Her voice, her musicianship, her songwriting, her performance. It’s more about making it your own, that’s the only way to approach it.”
“What was I thinking when I accepted?” laughs Bunyan. “But I’ll do my best to honour Joni. I’m honoured to be asked.”
Arad absorbed Mitchell’s music while she was in the womb, later discovering it for herself as a girl. “Ladies Of The Canyon is the first album that I absolutely devoured,” she remembers.
“The rest of my class were listening to the Backstreet Boys. I was a strange 10-year-old.”
For Bunyan, it was a question of going back and hearing the songs for the first time after her long musical break. “It’s been a fantastic experience,” she says. “Discovering songs like ‘Little Green’ meant so much to me, that she could give up her child and write a song for her. I knew people at the time who’d done that. When my babies were born, because I was unmarried, I was asked if I wanted them adopted.”
Bunyan isn’t currently writing, though she has been recording with other people. “I haven’t written any songs since the last one I wrote for my album Heartleap which was 2014. But it’s been like that all my life. There’s times when there’s nothing, and then it starts again. So I’m waiting patiently. Maybe this concert will help me get back to it.”
‘The Songs Of Joni Mitchell’ takes place at London’s Roundhouse on April 24 as part of the In The Round Festival