A highlight of the Women In The Arts Festival in East Lansing this weekend is a screening of “Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.” It’s a documentary about the iconic singer’s life and career.
Ian will be there in person to answer audience questions.
She burst onto the music scene in 1967 with her first hit song “Society’s Child,” about a mother’s reaction to her daughter’s interracial relationship. Ian wrote it when she was just 14 years old.
Her biggest hit was “At Seventeen." Her look at adolescent rejection earned her a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 1976.
Ian has told her story in an autobiography that was updated last year, and there’s also the documentary film called “Breaking Silence” which came out in 2024. It was included in the PBS TV series “American Masters.”
Ian will be in East Lansing for a screening of “Breaking Silence” at this weekend’s Women In The Arts Festival.
Speaking from her home in Florida, she says she’s pleased with director Varda Bar-Kar’s approach to the project.
“I think she saw my work first and my life second, which made me happy,” she explained,
“I think she understood that what is important in a life like mine is the work, and not who I loved or who I left, but the work that I accomplished.”
There will be a question-and-answer session at the screening, but Janis Ian no longer sings publicly.
What she describes as a “weird virus” scarred her vocal cords and ended her last world tour as a singer several years ago.
“I never had any vocal problems because I always had good teachers, and that’s the irony, because this is not something that happened because I was over singing or overusing my voice,” she said. “It was just luck of the draw, and even though it’s better now, and I don’t sound raspy all the time, I don’t have any confidence in my ability to stay in tune.”
Deciding to end her live performance career was rough, but Ian says she’s fortunate to still be able to make music with friends.
Talkback sessions with fans also help her scratch that itch to be in front of crowds.
“It’s still being involved as a performer. It’s still getting to be funny and interact with an audience. Sure! I enjoy them,” Ian said.
“I also enjoy them because having toured my entire life, staying home for months on end is really alien to me, you know? I don’t quite understand how people do that.”
The Women In The Arts Festival is November 13 and 14 at Edgewood United Church in East Lansing. Janis Ian will be there for the screening of “Breaking Silence” Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
UPCOMING ARTS EVENTS
The Moth Mainstage storytelling program is returning to East Lansing at Michigan State University's Wharton Center, Friday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. The theme is “Tightrope: Stories From the Brink.”
On Saturday, November 14, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra presents “West Side Story” featuring clarinetist Guy Yahuda at 7:30 p.m. at the Potter Center.
Comedian Carlos Mencia appears in Lansing on Sunday, November 15 at Grewal Hall. Doors open at 6.
TRANSCRIPT
Scott Pohl: With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl.
A highlight of the Women In The Arts Festival in East Lansing this weekend is a screening of “Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.” It’s a documentary about the iconic singer’s life and career. Ian will be there in person to answer audience questions.
For Inside The Arts this week, I talked with Janis Ian.
Janis Ian burst onto the music scene in 1967 with her first hit song “Society’s Child,” about a mother’s reaction to her daughter’s interracial relationship. Ian wrote it when she was just 14 years old.
(Soundbite of song, "Society's Child")
Janis Ian: (Singing) Now I could understand your tears and your shame. She called you "boy" instead of your name. When she wouldn't let you inside. When she turned and said, "But honey, he's not our kind."
Pohl: Her biggest hit was “At Seventeen”. Her look at adolescent rejection earned her a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 1976.
(Soundbite of song, "At Seventeen")
Ian: (Singing) I learned the truth at seventeen,
that love was meant for beauty queens, and high school girls with clear skinned smiles, who married young and then retired.
Pohl: Ian has told her story in an autobiography that was updated last year, and there’s also the documentary film called “Breaking Silence” which came out in 2024. It was included in the PBS TV series “American Masters.”
(Soundbite of trailer from "Breaking Silence")
Ian: I had no money. I had nowhere to live. In those years, it was not cool to be out of the closet.
Patricia Snyder: We were writing every day, and of course, we fell in love.
Pohl: Ian will be in East Lansing for a screening of “Breaking Silence” at this weekend’s Women In The Arts Festival. Speaking from her home in Florida, she says she’s pleased with director Varda Bar-Kar’s approach to the project.
Ian: I think she saw my work first and my life second, which made me happy, and I think she understood that what is important in a life like mine is the work, and not who I loved or who I left, but the work that I accomplished.
Pohl: There will be a question-and-answer session at the screening, but Janis Ian no longer sings publicly. What she describes as a “weird virus” scarred her vocal cords and ended her last world tour as a singer several years ago.
Ian: I never had any vocal problems because I always had good teachers, and that’s the irony, because this is not something that happened because I was over singing or overusing my voice. It was just luck of the draw, and even though it’s better now, and I don’t sound raspy all the time, I don’t have any confidence in my ability to stay in tune.
Pohl: Deciding to end her live performance career was rough, but Ian says she’s fortunate to still be able to make music with friends. Talkback sessions with fans also help her scratch that itch to be in front of crowds.
Ian: It’s still being involved as a performer. It’s still getting to be funny and interact with an audience. Sure! I enjoy them. I also enjoy them because having toured my entire life, staying home for months on end is really alien to me, you know? I don’t quite understand how people do that.
Pohl: The Women In The Arts Festival is Friday and Saturday at Edgewood United Church in East Lansing. Janis Ian will be there for the screening of “Breaking Silence” Friday night at 7:30.
With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl.
