Joni Mitchell tells Elton John what fans have hoped for: A new album might be coming in June, a third and final album might be coming in December, or she might not even do a new album.
In interviews over the past several months, Mitchell has said this could be the year the singer, songwriter, record producer and longtime collaborator with John has to sit down and take stock of her life and work.
For now, the songs will stay the same.
Mitchell is in the best place she’s been in a long time, she said. She is healthy, her health is “really good,” and “I do feel like now it’s about finding a way to be creative and create, or find a way to be in the music business.”
There will be moments when she will have to “re-think” — “I have to get a little bit creative and figure out who I am.”
It could take time — “I think it could take up to a year to a year and a half. Then at some point, it’s not going to be like it was for years and years and years,” she said.
Mitchell said the idea has been to “do something without worrying about music anymore.”
“I think that’s what I’ve been wanting to do for years,” she said.
Mitchell started out writing songs and performing in the clubs of Memphis, the home town to one of her childhood friends, Sam Phillips. She also sang at the church choir, and her parents encouraged her to sing at private parties.
“I thought, ‘That’s great. I’m not going to school, I’ll have more time to write,'” Mitchell said.
The singing grew into an active performing career with local groups, including several gospel groups — before the advent of the electric guitar.
As she was going through a divorce and beginning a solo career, Mitchell said she wanted to “release myself a little bit and just try to figure out who I am.” That process has brought her through a year of touring, and the creation of two new songs, “So Fine” and “I Could Have Loved Her.”
Mitchell said she has had to grow beyond her own songs to become who she is today
