Janis Ian Q&A During Folk+ on March 8th
Published
Janis Ian’s Live Q&A Session
At Folk Alliance International’s Folk+
On Wednesday, March 8 at 1:00p.m. Central
In case you missed it at #Folk2023 last month, Folk Alliance International (FAI) will be airing the short mini-documentary of Ian’s Lifetime Achievement Award honor, followed by her inspiring speech during the IFMAs. She will then participate in a LIVE Q&A session moderated by Mary Sue Twohy from Sirius XM.
To join Ian’s Q&A session, register for Folk+ here.
Folk+ is completely pay-what-you-can.
You can support FAI by paying for a ticket
ranging from $10 to $75, or you can select the free option.
Janis Ian Wins Artist of the Year
At the 2023 International Folk Music Awards
“Trust Your Talent,” said Ian in Accepting
Lifetime Achievement Award the Folk Awards
Basketball Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Waxes Poetic on Ian’s Cultural Relevance
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — “This is a complete surprise,” said singer/songwriter Janis Ian moments after
winning Artist of the Year at the International Folk Music Awards 2023 in February.
“I was already up for lifetime achievement, and I thought, ‘How many awards can you fit in your suitcase?’” she quipped. In all seriousness, the iconic artist was deeply honored, and humbled, by this award, adding, “I want to thank the folk community for honoring people like myself, and for not forgetting that we all have roots, and we stand on them.”
Ian’s roots run deep as she has helped bolster folk music since the early days of her music career and some of her earliest works still make statements to today’s influencers. On the eve of the IFMA, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is also a social activist and has been writing for a variety of outlets including The Los Angeles Times, wrote about Ian’s groundbreaking song “At Seventeen” on his February 1 Substack titled Music: When Art Is a Mirror, Janis Ian: Society’s Biographer Reveals Our Deepest Truths.
“I chose ‘At Seventeen,’ for which she won a GRAMMY, because it is one of the most honest and moving songs about coming-of-age ever written. It is Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye of music. Please listen to the whole song because it is a joy to hear the poetry of her insights. The words ring just as true today as they did 48 years ago,” wrote Abdul-Jabbar.
Ian, who also accepted the IFMA’s Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award for Living Legend, is currently readying a bevy of creative projects ranging from digging into hundreds of live shows, work-tapes, and videos in her vaults with an eye to upcoming releases, and sharing her life’s work in the newly-established Janis Ian Archives at Berea (Kentucky) College.
Her generosity as an artist, and to the folk community, was exemplified in her lifetime award acceptance speech with these words of wisdom for her colleagues: “As the saying goes, I now have more years behind me than I have before me, and I want to say two things to my colleagues, who by now should have realized the thrust of this is really about you, and how quickly things can change. First, trust your talent. It knows better than you do. When that little bell rings, listen to it, be it in business or in the creative act. Trust your talent.
“Second, be brave. Be brave. And when you’re afraid – because we’re all afraid – pretend to be brave. Imitate bravery, in your work and in your life. Act like a hero, and you will become a hero. In our world, appearance is everything, be it the format of a song, or the living of a life. And honestly, there is more sleight-of-hand to this legendary hero business than one would imagine.”
In choosing Ian for the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Folk Alliance said, “Janis Ian is a music icon whose songs and performances have resonated with the public for over five decades. Much of her music has poignantly focused on social issues, as Ian is a pioneer of both confessional singer-songwriters’ music and social protest.”
“Her first hit, ‘Society’s Child,’ written when she was just fourteen,” they continue, “spoke empathetically about interracial romance, and her indelible song ‘At Seventeen’ remains the anthem for ‘ugly duckling girls’ maligned by false beauty standards. Her music defies easy categorization, with albums like ‘Stars’ and ‘Between the Lines’ becoming classics in both the adult contemporary and folk rock idioms. Ian was also a pioneer of artist-run labels with her Rude Girl Records and, after coming out with her groundbreaking 1993 album Breaking Silence, she’s been a beacon for LGBTQIA+ awareness in the folk community. Ian (was just forced to retire) from performing, making this the perfect time to honor this living legend.”
Fans can watch the International Folk Music Awards 2023 on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/live/
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