Joanna Newsom wsg Bowerbirds
Calvin College Chapel, Grand Rapids
March 12, 8 p.m.
$20, $10 with Calvin ID

Everyone calls Joanna Newsom quirky. She's a singer/songwriter who plays piano and harp, whose voice either grates you or titillates you, depending on your tolerance for the bizarre. Though, if you find yourself among the former, you be warned that she grows on you. Her appearance at Calvin College this month coincides with the release of her third, full-length studio album, Have One on Me, officially released Feb. 23. Newsom, who belongs to Drag City along with label mates Pavement, Silver Jews, Jim O'Rourke and Bill Callahan among others, does not scrimp on her latest release. A three-disc set, her songs are long and meandering, unfolding entire tales with the delicacy of fairy-telling. There's a touch of folk here, of rock there ("Good Intentions Paving Company" begins with such a convicted downbeat), and Newsom's power seems to lie in her ability to conjure scenes out of films that don't exist. Can you believe this chick is dating Andy Samberg? There's no real good way to mash-up "I'm on a Boat" with "Peach Plum Pear," is there?