During the toughest years of my life, music sustained me as I drove home from insurance sale appointments listening to music on my eight-track player. (Anybody remember those?). And one of the artists who was incredibly important to me at the time was Janis Ian. Her often heart-breaking lyrics touched my very soul.<\/p>\n
As a seventh-grade girl in Bisbee\u2019s Greenway School, I was already six feet tall. I was smart and wore thick glasses which made me pretty much a social outcast in junior high and high school. So when I heard Janis Ian\u2019s song At Seventeen it really spoke to me. In case you don\u2019t remember the lyrics, I\u2019m posting them here:<\/p>\n
I learned the truth at seventeen
\nThat love was meant for beauty queens
\nAnd high school girls with clear skinned smiles
\nWho married young and then retired
\nThe valentines I never knew
\nThe Friday night charades of youth
\nWere spent on one more beautiful
\nAt seventeen I learned the truth<\/p>\n
And those of us with ravaged faces
\nLacking in the social graces
\nDesperately remained at home
\nInventing lovers on the phone
\nWho called to say – come dance with me
\nAnd murmured vague obscenities
\nIt isn’t all it seems at seventeen<\/p>\n
A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
\nWhose name I never could pronounce
\nSaid – pity please the ones who serve
\nThey only get what they deserve
\nThe rich relationed hometown queen
\nMarries into what she needs
\nWith a guarantee of company
\nAnd haven for the elderly<\/p>\n
So remember those who win the game
\nLose the love they sought to gain
\nIn debentures of quality and dubious integrity
\nTheir small-town eyes will gape at you
\nIn dull surprise when payment due
\nExceeds accounts received at seventeen<\/p>\n
To those of us who knew the pain
\nOf valentines that never came
\nAnd those whose names were never called
\nWhen choosing sides for basketball
\nIt was long ago and far away
\nThe world was younger than today
\nWhen dreams were all they gave for free
\nTo ugly duckling girls like me<\/p>\n
We all play the game, and when we dare
\nWe cheat ourselves at solitaire
\nInventing lovers on the phone
\nRepenting other lives unknown
\nThat call and say – come on, dance with me
\nAnd murmur vague obscenities
\nAt ugly girls like me, at seventeen.<\/p>\n
When I heard those words for the first time, I thought, \u201cShe and I must have walked in the same moccasins.\u201d Later, when I learned she\u2019s only four-ten, I realized the moccasin thing was dead wrong, but who cares?<\/p>\n
When I began doing public appearances, I often closed events by singing At Seventeen. But then a strange thing happened. Over a decade ago, Janis and I met and became friends. When we appeared together in Tucson a few years ago, we billed ourselves as The Long and the Short of It. We\u2019re both women of a certain age\u2014artists with one foot in the world of art and the other in the world of business. Right now, as I\u2019m about to launch off on a tour, so is Janis\u2014she\u2019s on tour, and no, our paths aren\u2019t going to cross until later this fall.<\/p>\n
Her new album, I\u2019m Still Standing just came out, and it speaks to me now just as At Seventeen once did and still does.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s out on the road. Some of her performances are sold out, but not all of them. I\u2019m posting her schedule below and hoping that some of you will grab a carload of your vaccinated and boosted pals and go see her, because not only is she still standing, so are we!<\/p>\n
As for the last two lines of the song\u2014the ones that say:<\/p>\n
And dreams were all they gave for free
\nTo ugly duckling girls like me.<\/p>\n
That may have been true for both of us back then, but it\u2019s equally true for both of us that our fans are what have made all our dreams come true.<\/p>\n
FEBRUARY
\nThur 24 Jean Cocteau Theatre, Santa Fe NM
\nFri 25 Jean Cocteau Theatre, Santa Fe NM
\nSat 26 Jean Cocteau Theatre, Santa Fe NM Sold out
\nSun 27 Jean Cocteau Theatre, Santa Fe NM* 1pm master class with performances<\/p>\n
MARCH
\nThur March 03 The Rialto, Tucson AZ
\nFri March 04 MIM, Phoenix AZ Sold out
\nSun March 06 Magnolia Theater, El Cajon CA
\nFri March 11 McCabe\u2019s, Los Angeles Sold out
\nSat March 12 McCabe\u2019s, Los Angeles Sold out
\nSun March 13 McCabe\u2019s, Los Angeles * Master class noon Sold out
\nWed March 16 Painted Table, Fresno CA
\nFri March 18 Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga CA
\nSun March 20 Freight & Salvage, Berkeley CA sold out
\nSun March 27 Mountain Stage, Morgantown, WV
\nThur March 31 Capitol Theater, Clearwater FL<\/p>\n
APRIL
\nSat April 02 Parker Theater, Ft. Lauderdale with Livingston Taylor\/ Tom Chapin
\nSun April 03 Lyric Theater, Stuart FL
\nThur April 14 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY
\nFri April 15 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY
\nSat April 16 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY
\nMon April 18 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY * master class with performances
\nThur April 21 Katherine Hepburn Theater, Old Saybrook CT
\nSat April 23 Lynn Auditorium, Lynn MA with Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin
\nSun April 24 Shea Theater, Turner Falls MA
\nWed April 27 Whitaker Center, Harrisburg PA with Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin
\nFri April 29 Tin Pan, Richmond VA sold out
\nSat April 30 The Birchmere, Alexandria VA<\/p>\n
MAY
\nSun May 01 Newton Theater, Newton NJ
\nTues May 03 Private radio station event
\nThur May 05 Scottish Rite Aud., Collingswood NJ with Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin
\nFri May 06 Ocean City Music Pier, Ocean City NJ w\/ Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin
\nSat May 07 Society for Ethical Culture, New York with Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin
\nSun May 08 Suffolk Theater, Riverhead NY
\nWed May 11 Goodyear, Akron OH w\/ Tom Rush
\nFri May 13 Stoughton Opera House, Stoughton WI
\nSat May 14 Old Town School, Chicago IL sold out
\nSun May 15 Old Town School, Chicago IL * master class 1pm with performances
\nWed May 18 The Southern, Columbus OH w\/ Tom Rush
\nThur May 19 Memorial Hall, Cincinnati OH w\/ Tom Rush
\nSun May 22 Englert Civic Theater, Iowa City IO
\nWed May 25 Sheldon Theater, St. Louis MO with Livingston Taylor
\nFri May 27 CMA Theater, Nashville, TN with Livingston Taylor<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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