Arts
A Woman of Many Firsts: Janis Ian
A Woman of Many Firsts
More magic from Janis Ian
by Susan McMillan
It
was 1999 when I first met Janis Ian. The Alaskan nights were getting long
and cold. It was an intimate concert in a rustic bar with a
disruptive sound system. I went to the show because, honestly, there's
not much to do in Fairbanks as winter approaches.
I remembered the singer from her teen-angst
hit, "At Seventeen." I expected a folk singer strumming old
tunes. Instead, I met an artist who is bold, outspoken, talented, and
has been that way for 50 years. Long before Melissa, long before the Indigo
Girls, long before k.d. lang, this gifted kid taught herself to play piano
and guitar and stormed the music industry at the age of fifteen. She was
featured in Life, Time, and Newsweek and appeared on the Tonight Show.
She received death threats for her controversial hit song, "Society's
Child," and by seventeen, she'd had a breakdown, and she was called
a "washed-up-has-been."
Janis Ian has lived her life with an intensity
to be admired, with several significant firsts. She was one of the first
to be involuntarily 'outed,' back in 1976 with Elton John and David Bowie.
She headlined the first NGLTF AIDS benefit in New York. She was the first
woman to receive five Grammy nominations in one year. She was the first
musical guest on Saturday Night Live. She is the first to document the
making of a CD on her website.
Ian has been called too old, too young,
and too gay. Labels notwithstanding, she has nine Grammy nominations,
two Grammys, and is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. She has awards in pop,
folk, jazz, and children's music and has recorded duets with country greats
Willy Nelson and Dolly Parton. No wonder it's a hunt to find her CDs in
the racks. Her music is easy to listen to but hard to label.
Last month, Ms. Ian released her eighteenth
studio album, Billie's Bones, six months on the tail of a live
double CD, Janis Ian Live: Working Without A Net. Here are two
more collections, both diverse and intriguing, to add to her astonishing
legacy. On Working Without A Net, you hear the breadth and depth
of Janis Ian's musical catalog. She is an accomplished guitarist, not
afraid to wander the stage to perform a big solo. She jokingly admits
she has spent years building a reputation on depression, but her work
is clever, funny, and moving. In "Boots Like Emmy Lou's" she
humorously looks at life as a country singer. The terrifically inspiring
"Days Like These" reveals the hope Janis mustered on the day
the IRS took her last dollars. "Ride Me Like A Wave" is as sensual
as a song can legally be.
Ian candidly admits these recordings are
not always "the best singing I've ever done but are wonderful performances."
At times, you can hear the strain of the road, but she weaves heart and
perfection into each performance. This is a 'best of' CD worth owning.
Billie's Bones is a return to Janis
Ian's roots. It is a folk album, with moments of blues, country, and jazz.
"My Tennessee Hills," a duet
with Dolly Parton, exposes a mutual love of their home state. "Matthew"
is a sultry contradiction touching on the fear provoked by Mathew Shepard's
murder. You can hear Janis smiling on "Mary's Eyes," a tribute
to Mary Black, although many swear it reflects Ian's love for Ireland.
The title song evolved from a poem written in the 1960s reveals the yearning
to live up to her idol, Billie Holliday. This album once again proves
that she is a masterful singer and songwriter.
Janis Ian considers her sexual orientation
of little importance but absolutely identifies as gay. In 1989, she was
approached by the head of what is now HRC. When she heard the statistics
on gay teen suicide, Ian agreed to publicly come out. She did not want
anyone, any child, for a moment, to think she was ashamed of being a lesbian.
It is of no concern to Ian that k.d. lang beat her as the first mainstream
female artist to come out. Ian bluntly takes pride in her accomplishments.
She was born a lesbian but has made herself a consummate singer/songwriter.
Is this woman of so many firsts a feminist?
Ian says she has "lived my life as a feminist," but does not
identify that way. Labels are too restricting. True to her nature, she
declared "but if you tell me I can't do something because I'm a girl,
I'll be in your face!"
She is a devoted spouse. Janis married
her partner, Patricia, this summer in Toronto. Together fifteen years,
they are opting not to renew their vows in Massachusetts. Describing it
as almost aiding and abetting the opposition, Janis replied, "who
else has to get married in every state" to have a valid marriage?
And when asked if she will publicly fight the Federal Marriage Amendment,
she decided it will surely make its way into her show.
Janis and Pat do not seek publicity. "We're
just as happy to not be the latest and greatest and coolest. It's a lot
of pressure on a relationship." All the fanfare heaped on Ellen DeGeneris's
and Melissa
Etheridge's romances is not unnoticed. After exchanging vows in Canada,
Ian wrote "I do note that of all those couples who were media darlings
for a heartbeat, we are the only ones left standing together." Their
success comes from being "old enough to compromise," Ian reflects,
"you realize how fragile life is."
Ian frequently ventures out of the music
industry. Her accomplishments are wide-ranging. Her non-profit Pearl Foundation
has raised $114,000 to provide scholarships to returning students. Always
insightful and humorous, she was a columnist for The Advocate
in the mid-90s and still writes a monthly column in Performing Songwriter.
Stars, published in 2003, assembled an impressive group of sci-fi authors,
including Ian herself, offering short stories inspired by her lyrics.
She has openly battled the Recording Industry Association of America's
stand on free music downloads.
At the cellular level, first and foremost,
Ian is a performer. Her songwriting allows her to be a magician, she says,
"turning lead into gold." It is an "immense privilege,"
she acknowledges, "to have the talent and luck" to do what she
loves, a hundred nights each year.
It was my privilege to see Janis Ian perform
"What About the Love," a harsh examination of the real value
of our lives. On that cold night in Fairbanks, something magical happened
to me. I realized my life had to be about more. I signed on as a Big Sister,
and met Alaska's greatest seven-year old, Vallyn, who by the way, is also
a Janis Ian fan.
Janis Ian will be performing in Albany,
NY at The Egg on May 8 and in Northampton, Mass at The Iron Horse on May
12. More info and free downloads at janisian.com.
Susan McMillan has been referred to as a friend by Janis Ian, a term
Janis generously bestows on fans, especially ardent ones like Susan. McMillan
is still in touch with her Little Sister, Vallyn, who lives in Fairbanks.