Folk Legend Janis Ian to Play Rockwell Hall
The Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall proudly presents folk music legend Janis Ian on Thursday, May 6 at 8:00 p.m. This concert at the Performing Arts Center is part of the 2003-2004 Great Performers Series, presented by M&T Bank.
Ticket prices for Janis Ian range from $25 - $15. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, 1300 Elmwood Ave. or by calling 716-878-3005. Box Office hours are Monday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Ella Fitzgerald once called her "The best young singer in America," while Chet Atkins has said, "You ought to listen to her play that guitar; she runs rings around me!" Rolling Stone once stated, "Before there was Jewel, there was Janis Ian." One of the indisputably great American troubadours, Janis Ian has spent almost four decades writing classic songs like "At Seventeen," "Jesse," and "This Old Town," songs covered by everyone from Joan Baez to Cher, Stan Getz to Etta James, John Mellencamp to Puff Daddy. Known for her remarkable lyrics, poetic wordplay, and sublime melodies, Janis's songs take on a special dimension when she performs them herself.
Raised on a farm in southern New Jersey, she started piano lessons at age 3, and took up the guitar soon after. In 1966, at the age of 15 she had her first chart-topping hit, "Society's Child," which she wrote, performed and arranged. The controversial saga of interracial love topped the charts and created a storm of discussion that featured Ian on The Tonight Show and in Life, Look, Time and Newsweek. Her debut album, 1967’s Janis Ian, garnered her the first of her nine Grammy nominations to date.
She achieved a new level of popularity in the 1970s with her trio of masterpieces Stars (1973), Between the Lines (1975) and Aftertones (1976). The first contained Jesse which became a pop standard after Roberta Flack topped the charts with it. The second contained At Seventeen that sold over a million copies and earned Ian her first two Grammy Awards. The third was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of its day and featured Ian’s friends Odetta and Phoebe Snow as supporting vocalists. She won her next Grammy Award for children’s music because of her work on the 1982 album In Harmony 2.
The summer of 2003 saw Ian marry her partner of 14 years, criminal defense attorney Patricia Snyder. We got married because we could, Ian says. If we could have gotten married in the United States, we would have. When the opportunity to get married in Canada presented itself, we grabbed it. As a couple, we wanted the same rights and the same social recognition our heterosexual friends have. We also got married because, just like coming out, public figures need to do that to make the rest of the world aware. I think it's important that people are made aware, because at the end of the day it's a civil rights issue.
This spring she released her 18th studio album, Billie's Bones. The result is a resplendent mix of unadulterated folk, jazz and blues performed in Ian's unpretentious styling. The album stretches from the subtle imagery of "Billie's Bones", a homage to Ian's hero Billie Holiday, to the suffering in "Matthew", a "co-write" with Woody Guthrie titled "I Hear You Sing Again", and Ian's first guitar instrumental, "Marching On Glasgow". Selections from that beautiful, masterfully crafted blend of folk, jazz and blues will highlight her current tour.
Ian's last project before commencing her 2004 world tour was The Making of a CD, a real-time walk-through of the creative process that is featured on her website, www.janisian.com. An unprecedented look into the world of recording, fans are able to see all the drafts of each song, from the first scribbled thought to the final version, allowing them a look inside the songwritess that's rarely available to laymen. There are MP3's of the earliest rough worktapes, the first and final studio takes, the overdubbed mixes, and the final mixes, all of which are downloadable. Each week features a diary of that week's creative process, as well as Janis speaking about each song, the musicians, and the album itself.
Janis Ian’s appearance is sponsored by M&T Bank, WBFO, and the Buffalo News.
Ticket prices for Janis Ian range from $25 - $15. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, 1300 Elmwood Ave. or by calling 716-878-3005. Box Office hours are Monday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Ella Fitzgerald once called her "The best young singer in America," while Chet Atkins has said, "You ought to listen to her play that guitar; she runs rings around me!" Rolling Stone once stated, "Before there was Jewel, there was Janis Ian." One of the indisputably great American troubadours, Janis Ian has spent almost four decades writing classic songs like "At Seventeen," "Jesse," and "This Old Town," songs covered by everyone from Joan Baez to Cher, Stan Getz to Etta James, John Mellencamp to Puff Daddy. Known for her remarkable lyrics, poetic wordplay, and sublime melodies, Janis's songs take on a special dimension when she performs them herself.
Raised on a farm in southern New Jersey, she started piano lessons at age 3, and took up the guitar soon after. In 1966, at the age of 15 she had her first chart-topping hit, "Society's Child," which she wrote, performed and arranged. The controversial saga of interracial love topped the charts and created a storm of discussion that featured Ian on The Tonight Show and in Life, Look, Time and Newsweek. Her debut album, 1967’s Janis Ian, garnered her the first of her nine Grammy nominations to date.
She achieved a new level of popularity in the 1970s with her trio of masterpieces Stars (1973), Between the Lines (1975) and Aftertones (1976). The first contained Jesse which became a pop standard after Roberta Flack topped the charts with it. The second contained At Seventeen that sold over a million copies and earned Ian her first two Grammy Awards. The third was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of its day and featured Ian’s friends Odetta and Phoebe Snow as supporting vocalists. She won her next Grammy Award for children’s music because of her work on the 1982 album In Harmony 2.
The summer of 2003 saw Ian marry her partner of 14 years, criminal defense attorney Patricia Snyder. We got married because we could, Ian says. If we could have gotten married in the United States, we would have. When the opportunity to get married in Canada presented itself, we grabbed it. As a couple, we wanted the same rights and the same social recognition our heterosexual friends have. We also got married because, just like coming out, public figures need to do that to make the rest of the world aware. I think it's important that people are made aware, because at the end of the day it's a civil rights issue.
This spring she released her 18th studio album, Billie's Bones. The result is a resplendent mix of unadulterated folk, jazz and blues performed in Ian's unpretentious styling. The album stretches from the subtle imagery of "Billie's Bones", a homage to Ian's hero Billie Holiday, to the suffering in "Matthew", a "co-write" with Woody Guthrie titled "I Hear You Sing Again", and Ian's first guitar instrumental, "Marching On Glasgow". Selections from that beautiful, masterfully crafted blend of folk, jazz and blues will highlight her current tour.
Ian's last project before commencing her 2004 world tour was The Making of a CD, a real-time walk-through of the creative process that is featured on her website, www.janisian.com. An unprecedented look into the world of recording, fans are able to see all the drafts of each song, from the first scribbled thought to the final version, allowing them a look inside the songwritess that's rarely available to laymen. There are MP3's of the earliest rough worktapes, the first and final studio takes, the overdubbed mixes, and the final mixes, all of which are downloadable. Each week features a diary of that week's creative process, as well as Janis speaking about each song, the musicians, and the album itself.
Janis Ian’s appearance is sponsored by M&T Bank, WBFO, and the Buffalo News.
Media Contact:
Jeff Marsha, Director of Operations, Performing Arts Center | 7168783032 | marshajl@bscmail.buffalostate.edu