Joni Mitchell’s ‘California’ gets streaming bump thanks to Amanda Seyfried

Joni Mitchell has Amanda Seyfried to thank for her latest streaming bump.

Billboard reports that ever since Seyfried showed off her dulcimer playing skills by performing Joni’s “California” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, there’s been renewed interest in the song.

“California,” from Joni’s 1971 album, Blue, saw a 794% streaming boost. It went from just over 100,000 streams in the two weeks before Seyfried’s clip aired to over 1 million streams in the week ending March 13.

While some folks have suggested that Seyfried’s performance was an attempt to audition for Cameron Crowe’s upcoming biopic on Joni, the actress has already shot that down.

“In fact, I didn’t even consider that, which is funny,” the 39-year-old Seyfried said on the Just for Variety podcast. “What I know about that project is that I’m very, very much aged out of young Joni.”