Joanna Wallfisch - Far Away from Any Place Called Home (2019)

"Far Away From Any Place Called Home" is a song cycle inspired by Joanna’s unique musical quest down the west coast of America in 2016, by bicycle.

In her words: “In the summer of 2016 I released my third record “Gardens In My Mind,” on Sunnyside Records. I was in the midst of feeling wing-clipped by New York City, exhausted by the hustle, and jaded by the prospect of losing money on the road. Wondering where the other more adventurous and fearless half of myself had run off to, I had an idea: I would tour my music down the west coast of America, 1154 miles from Portland to LA, by bicycle. I called it The Great Song Cycle. In four panniers I carried everything I would need for the six week odyssey, from my instruments to my camping gear, and performed 16 solo shows in as many different cities. What transpired was a concert tour turned effervescent. My eyesight improved, my sense of time was altered, my encounter with nature and humanity as vital as you could imagine, and the journey toward the truest version of myself as an artist absolute.

This song cycle, inclusive of spoken word and voice memos from the trip itself, depicts a kaleidoscope of ever-present memories from the road. I sing of freedom and wanderlust (When We Travel), of friendships with those no longer with us (Green Sleeping Bag), a mysterious encounter with a blue-eyed stranger ( Sapphire Blue & Far Away From Any Place Called Home), the bizarre and almost hallucinogenic clarity I developed during hours of biking (Mountain Pass), and the conflicting joy and pain that comes with completing a journey (Final Flight). There are surreal and comedic stories about a friendship with inanimate fairground statue in the song Rex The Travelling Dog, and in Ballet of Birds I have tried to encapsulate the mesmerising murmurations I witnessed over the California hills.

I orchestrated the songs so that each instrument, be it the bass clarinet (Oran Etkin), Mellotron (Jesse Elder) or even the Kazoo (yours truly) illustrates a character, a place and a feeling. I wrote each lyric, melody and arrangement with the intention to invite you, the listener to travel with me, and trust in your ability to do anything you set you mind and heart to.

Since the original tour I have not only written and recorded this song cycle, (and recorded and released the intermittent album Blood and Bone), but I’ve also written a full length memoir of the same story which is being published by University Of Western Australia Press in September, 2019. I have toured the music around the world from National Sawdust, NYC, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, UK, National Concert Hall, Dublin, Boston Court Theatre, Los Angeles, and more. In celebration of the album and book I am planning THE GREAT SONG CYCLE, DOWN UNDER; Brisbane to Hobart, in the fall of 2019.