Icon Janis Ian Celebrates Her 10th GRAMMY Nomination by Opening Her Vaults
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LOS ANGELES — ‘Tis the season to give the gift of music! Singer/songwriter Janis Ian is celebrating her 10th GRAMMY nomination for The Light at the End of the Line, which is up for Best Folk Album on February 5, 2023, by opening her vaults for a massive online sale running through December 20 featuring items exclusively available through her website.
Two of the hottest items, among the hundreds in the sale, are a remastered edition of first GRAMMY winning album, Between the Lines, and a new, signed vinyl version of her latest nominated album, along with a bevy of music in all forms (vinyl, CD, and digital), signed and unsigned items, sheet music, clothing, books (audio and paper), clothing, video/DVDs, and even some free items.
She worked with the late Brooks Arthur, who produced and engineered the album and won two GRAMMYs and who passed this October, along with Mark Wilder (hands-on engineering) and Steve Berkowitz (five-time GRAMMY winner, in part for work with Miles Davis’ and Bob Dylan’s catalogs) on the audio recreation of Between the Lines.
“Over the course of six months,” she continues, “we struggled with questions like: Should we try to make the album sound more contemporary, or should it sound exactly like the original vinyl? Or should it sound like what Brooks Arthur would have done then if he’d had the current tools available? In the end, that’s what we decided on, tested it in different ways for another two months, and I think it’s an unbelievably fine product.”
Another new item up for sale is the signed vinyl edition of her The Light at the End of the Line available on her “All Things Signed” section of the Janis Ian store atstore.janisianstore.com. “Remember, you audiophiles — every vocal track on this was recorded at a live show or is a ‘first-take’ vocal. If you hear the occasional breath or spit sound, that’s why. We did as little to everything as possible. No vocal limiting or compression. Enjoy,” says Ian.
Fans can purchase asigned bundle of “BTL” and “Light” CDs, along with signed laminates, VIP passes, and/or memorabilia like laminate luggage tags, along with lanyards, on the site now. (For as long as they last!) Other signed items up for sale include rarely seen test pressings, promotional singles, various CDs and LPs, bundles with bumper stickers and tour laminates, and more.
For the budget minded — and a great way to introduce Ian’s important body of work to younger generations on your holiday shopping list — she offers a “Free Stuff” section, as well as digital downloads of singles for as low as 22 cents. Among her freebies up for grabs are digital downloads of music, interviews, special recordings, and posters.
A large percentage of all sales will go to fund the Janis Ian Archives Fund at Berea College, which will include not just the standard memorabilia but contracts dating back to 1963, negotiations, master classes, correspondence with other artists, tax returns, and her family’s FBI files. You can see the early steps of the archives, which will eventually also be available on line, at www.berea.edu/give/jiaf .
Meanwhile, The Light at the End of the Line, her first album of all-new material in 15 years, is in the running for Best Folk Album at the 65th GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles in February, alongside Judy Collins, Madison Cunningham, Aoife O’Donovan, and Punch Brothers. This is Ian’s 10th nomination over her six-decade career, in eight awards categories. Only a few artists, including Quincy Jones and Glen Campbell, have achieved such an accomplishment. She previously won two GRAMMYs: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “At Seventeen” in 1975 and Best Spoken Word Album for “Society’s Child: My Autobiography” in 2013.
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