Janis Ian
Janis Ian
Janis Ianis an American singer-songwriter who was mostly active in the 1960s and 1970s; her most successful song, At Seventeen, was released as a single from her 1975 album Between the Lines which reached number 1 on the Billboard chart...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth7 April 1951
CityBronx, NY
CountryUnited States of America
guitar one-day irs
I bought all my friends guitars and I had a good time with my money. But then one day the IRS came knocking.
guitar playing-guitar
I played for anybody and everybody from the time I started playing guitar, when I was 10 or 11.
rights parent movement
My parents both were doing the Civil Rights Movement, were very involved with the civil rights to Congress. And my friends' parents were as well.
writing people peers
It's what I do well - I write about things that make people uncomfortable. That's probably the only thing I do better than my peers.
mean europe careers
I mean, I would love to have the career Joan Baez is having in Europe right now, but God knows I don't begrudge her that career.
girl school thinking
I was one of I think three white girls in my school. So, I was very much an outsider. And plus I was Jewish and all of my friends were black and Baptist because they listen to the coolest music. We were all listening to Ray Charles and what was then called race music.
thinking lazy musician
I think one of the reasons musicians keep doing what they do and writers keep doing what they do, is that we're totally unsuited for anything else. And I for one am much too lazy.
play half world
I'm a huge Peter Mayer fan, but only when I don't feel like killing him for being so good. I love Peter's work, though it irritates me that he plays so much better than I do. If I rocked half as hard as Peter does, I'd own the world by now.
philosophy enemy doe
Truth is not the enemy and whatever does not kill us, sets us free.
self people ignorant
Some people would rather stay ignorant and self-satisfied.
wish weavers mary
Wish I'd written Tikkun Olam – a Weavers or Peter Paul & Mary hit!
more-time leaving-me
Going off the road just leaves me more time to be a writer.
country son gay
I think these last 10 years have seen just a huge shift in the psyche of this country as regards gay people. I think AIDS had a lot to do with it. So many families who really believed they'd 'never met one' were suddenly confronted with their sons becoming ill, and friends of sons. I think that brought a lot of it into the open.
real writing talking
I write a lot from instinct. But as you're writing out of instinct, once you reach a certain level as a songwriter, the craft is always there talking to you in the back of your head...that tells you when it's time to go to the chorus, when it's time to rhyme. Real basic craft... it's second nature.