Janis Ian Continues Work on Massive Archives Project
Published
Janis Ian Continues Work
On Massive Archives Project
Her Collection Includes Thousands of Items
From Personal Library, Video Work,
Rare Janis Ian Action Figure
To Correspondence with Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson,
And Other Famous Friends
The Janis Ian Archives Launches
In Fall 2024 at Berea College in Kentucky
Left: “At Seventeen” notes for an appearance on the “Tonight Show”
Above: Janis’ songbooks
BEREA, KY — As if legendary artist Janis Ian hadn’t already poured enough of her heart and soul out in music and words throughout her near 60-year history, she’s sharing even more of herself with the Janis Ian Archives set to launch to the public in Fall of 2024 at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.
The prolific singer/songwriter and feminist icon, who’s won two GRAMMY Awards and is a 2023 Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, has spent much of 2023 curating the collection which includes her song notebooks, personal diaries, a journal that includes the first poem she’d ever written at age 10. Intimate correspondence with fellow artists, famous friends, and collaborators including Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Willie Nelson, Mel Torme, Chick Corea, and Stella Adler, will be on view, along with publishing, recording, and live performance contracts, copyright paperwork, financial negotiations, and tax returns.
The collection begins with Ian’s grandparents’ immigration papers from 1916 and follows the journey of her father’s 1937 Martin D-18 guitar, while chronicling the HUAC (House Un-American Archives Committee) years with insights into her parents’ FBI files (and what FBI surveillance cost Ian’s family over the decades). Fans will also get insight into the civil rights, women’s, and LGBTQ movements, and get to see some unique items such as a vintage Janis Ian action figure, stage clothing, rare 8-track tapes, and more.
“I haven’t got enough time to describe the scale and the importance of this archival collection. Needless to say, it is immense and exciting,” says project archivist Peter Morphew of Berea College, who has been combing through Ian’s life’s work for the past several months.On why she wants this archive available to the public, Ian says, “It’s something that nobody else has done that I’m aware of. I thought if you really want to educate people about a career that’s had almost 60 years in the music industry, or in the arts, let them see the book contracts, let them see the movie contracts, let them see the behind-the-scenes negotiations. Eventually, it will all be available — every scrap, weird as that is.”
Ian chose Berea College because she believes in its tuition-free model and its impressive history of social justice. “I can’t think of a better place to house my life’s work,” she adds. “I’ll be back sometime in early spring to shoot some more videos before it opens next Fall. We’re planning a pretty cool event, with a master class, music, some surprise guests, and videos, maybe even a film screening. At that point the archives will be available for anyone attending to see, to touch portions, to listen, to meet, and in general to have a big time.”
Meanwhile, the artist has also been mining her own musical vaults for a variety of compilations to be released. The first two are Worktapes & Demos Vol 1, which includes a mix of early versions, outtakes, and unreleased songs from her decades-long career, and Live at the Calderone Theater 1975, recorded at the famed theater in Hempstead, New York. Also on deck is a feature-length documentary film about her life, career, and musical legacy, and a January 2024 appearance at TradFest in Dublin, Ireland where she’ll wax poetic about her life in a special evening dubbed, “Janis Ian – A Life Between the Lines.”
For more information on Janis Ian, visit www.janisian.com.
For more information on the Janis Ian Archive, visit https://www.berea.edu/
