Joni tells John new album plans in rare interview

During a rare interview with Elton John on his Apple Music 1 show, Rocket Hour, Joni Mitchell opened up about her plans to document her set at Newport Folk Festival in July. It was Mitchell’s first show in 25 years and she was joined by Brandi Carlile, Blake Mills, Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd, and Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. 'Shine' was her last album of original songs and came out in 2007

“[We] didn’t have any [rehearsal],” Mitchell said of the Newport Folk Festival set. When talking about the performance of “Just Like This Train,” during which she played an electric guitar solo, Mitchell said, “I couldn’t sing the key—I’ve become an alto, I’m not a soprano anymore, so I couldn’t sing the song. And I thought people might feel lighted that if I just played the guitar part, but I like the guitar part to that song. So, anyway, it was very well received, much to my delight.”

John used part of his interview to urge Mitchell to record a studio album at her house. “One day, I want you to sit in this room like we’re doing now, but with some recording equipment,” he said. “I want you to make an album in this room because it’s so magical. Every corner of this room is Joni. Everything about it is Joni… and I really want you to consider making a record, maybe new songs, the way you are going, you are tearing up the world at the moment.” Mitchell didn’t announce any plans to do so, but she did reveal that she had recorded “some background vocals up in the balcony once.”