Listen: Janis Ian Has The Mountain Stage Song Of The Week, ‘At Seventeen’

This week’s encore episode of Mountain Stage was recorded in Morgantown, West Virginia last April on the campus of West Virginia University with our friends at WVU Arts & Entertainment. Host Kathy Mattea welcomes a special performance from folk-music icon Janis Ian, who joined us on her final tour.

Our Song of the Week is Ian’s performance of her landmark hit from 1975, “At Seventeen.” It’s one of many “evergreen” songs Ian has penned since she began songwriting at the age of 14.

In promotional materials, Ian is quoted as saying, “It’s a piece of luck when you can hit on a universal theme like ‘At Seventeen.’ It’s what you strive for as a writer. I’m astonished that the song has lived this long, but I’m also horrified that it, and ‘Society’s Child,’ are both still so relevant. I would have hoped that by now so many things would be better.”

The song was awarded a Grammy in 1976 for Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female.

We’ll also hear from Italian singer/songwriter and guitarist Beppe Gambetta, who shows off some dazzling finger-style fretwork. Colombian-Canadian performing artist Lido Pimienta joins us with an innovative sound and songs from her critically acclaimed effort Miss Columbia. We’ll hear a solo performance from New England’s Philip B. Price, who fronts the alt-folk group Winterpills. We’re also treated to a set from Morgantown-based singer/songwriter and professor Chris Haddox, whose self-titled release was produced by Mountain Stage Band leader Ron Sowell.

Join us for the entire episode of Mountain Stage starting Friday, April 15 on these NPR Music stations.

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