Monday, April 17, 2006

Janis Ian

Now I do love my lady folk singers. Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, Suzanne Vega, Nerina Pallot and so on and so on. But I just got back from a Janis Ian concert. For some reason I only know four of her songs (At Seventeen, Between The Lines, In The Winter, Society's Child) and I really liked them but I hadn't ever gone out and snapped up her back catalogue. Well more fool me. Her concert was absolutely astonishing. Alone with her guitar for a little over 90 minutes, Janis Ian had the audience in the palm of her hand from the second she appeared on stage. Her voice is incredible, intimate and soaring all at once. Added to that she's funny and personable and you have the perfect folk concert. I was blown away by the final song of the main set, On The Other Side and was even more blown away to discover it was written and recorded over a year before 9/11. So Janis, if your incessant Googling of yourself leads you to this review, just know that I was left in awe of you this evening.

3 comments:

Limecrete said...

I have widely varied tastes, but Suzanne Vega is about my favorite musician on the planet. It makes me stupidly happy that someone else appreciates her.

If you like singers like her and Janis Ian, I'd recommend checking out Patty Griffin, if you haven't already.

Popcultureboy said...

I ADORE Suzanne Vega. I have seen her live a bunch of times and she never disappoints. Last summer she did a brief UK acoustic tour, the London date for which sold out in about 3 seconds but I was lucky enough to get a return ticket for it. Utterly glorious and she played some stuff that she's working on for her next album too. I'll be sure to check out Patty Griffin. You can never have enough lady folk music.

Grouchbutt said...

If you love female folk singers, then you'll LOVE this band!

I promise it's not Barenaked Ladies.