Folk legend and multi-Grammy winner Janis Ian (“At Seventeen”) will be in concert at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, September 21

In her fifth decade of songwriting and performing, Janis Ian won her second Grammy Award, adding to her total distinctions of nine nominations in eight categories. Her 2013 Grammy is for Best Spoken Word Album for her audiobook autobiography Society's Child. She says, "I wrote my first song at 12. Was published at 13. Made a record at 14, had a hit at 15, and was a has-been at 16. So 'At 17' means more to me than you can know," muses Janis Ian. Indeed, “At Seventeen” became her trademark song and, along with the album on which it debuted, Between the Lines, it earned five Grammy nominations and two awards including Best Pop Female Performance and Best Engineered Recording. The song has since joined “Society’s Child” as inductees in the Grammy Hall of Fame. This acclaimed songwriter, singer, musician, columnist and author, Janis Ian will make her debut appearance at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, September 21, at 8 p.m.

As a restaurant partner of the Playhouse, Bissell House (378 Main St., Ridgefield) will pour a free glass of house wine or draught beer with dinner the night of this show when tickets/stubs are presented. An AllShows.com VIP Party Pass ($25 addt'l per person), which includes a cocktail party from 6:30 – 7:15 p.m. with open bar, hors-d’oeuvre and priority parking, is available for this show by calling the box office (203-438-5795). This event is partially underwritten by AcousticMusic.org and is part of the Doyle Coffin Architecture Singer/Songwriter Series with media sponsor WSHU.  

Music and lyrics are about life experiences and, as Janis’ life has been full and colorful, so have her songs, which have earned her an impressive number of honors including Dove Award nominations. Her music has been recorded by singers as diverse as Cher, John Mellencamp, Céline Dion, Hugh Masakela, Nana Mouskouri, Charlie Daniels and Roberta Flack.

 Always one to follow her heart and her beliefs, Janis was one of the first celebrities to come out publicly. She began her mostly stellar, sometimes stormy, professional life at the age of 12 when she wrote her first song and was published by Broadside Magazine. That led to her first “real” show, at New York’s venerable Village Gate, where she shared a stage with Tom Paxton (with whom she recently toured the east coast of the U.S.), Lou Gossett Jr., Judy Collins, Phil Ochs, and a host of other singer-­songwriters.

For tickets ($35), call or visit the box office at The Ridgefield Playhouse, (203) 438-5795. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT; ridgefieldplayhouse.org.