"She waits till she's written music anyway, then tries to get it perfect, and only then do we get to listen to it (unless she tests it out while she's touring, that is)."
i'm afraid we have broken her of that endearing quality
"That said, it's her choice to reveal information about herself, just like it's her choice to make music, etc., and we need to really make the distinction between the different aspects of her public existence, between Joanna the personality and Joanna the artist, rather than meshing them together as one big sparkly JOANNA NEWSOM product."
i'm really not sure i agree here, yes she has a right to privacy, all artists(read that people)do...but and it is a big but here....once u publish something written or made some of the rules of the road change and when that something is emotionally charged and potentially "confessional" in nature, face it people are going to pry with full rights to do so. An artist can't be an artist if they are so thin skinned that they can not take criticism or an attempt to unravel the "truth" behind the lyrics they have written. What i think has happened to Ms Joanna is that she was unprepared to deal with the "press", things she has said have been misconstrued or spun out of context...she just didn't like how these press contacts made her feel and "look" early on. But she has grown more accustom to how things come out looking and has become more savvy at dealing with the press. She seems to have expressed this at many points and as far as dealing with "us" fans, she seems to have decided to ignore us rather than get upset about what one or another says concerning her. i sense a great deal of the need for control on her part as to do with her art and her public persona, whereas in real life with her friends i would wager she is warm funny and a hoot to be around. It does sadden me that "we" affect her so, wishing very much it was otherwise and she was quite comfortable with our wide and varied "persona" and realized that we are her friends very much(with notable exceptions). Love to have that conversation with her sometime....
dwain