There is a particular kind of courage in “Society’s Child” that still stops you cold if you let it. Janis Ian was sixteen years old when she wrote it — a song about an interracial romance, at a time when radio stations refused to touch it, when the controversy was sharp enough to cut — and she sang it anyway. That a teenager could look at the world that clearly, and then find the words and the nerve to say what she saw, is as remarkable now as it was in 1967. On Tuesday, August 18, in the 110-seat listening room at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, you will have the chance to sit across from her and ask her how she did it.
About Janis Ian
Ian is one of the few songwriters alive who has lived through nearly every era of the American folk and pop landscape — from the coffeehouse circuit of the late 1960s through the singer-songwriter renaissance of the 1970s, through the commercial pressures and artistic reinventions that followed. Her 1975 album Between the Lines produced “At Seventeen,” which became one of the defining songs of the decade, and she is a multiple Grammy Award winner across a career that spans more than six decades — including a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her autobiography. She will turn 75 during this residency, and she carries that history not as a weight but as something she seems genuinely compelled to hand down.
“I can bring 63 years of experience in all parts of the music business to the metaphorical table,” Ian has said. “And I intend to pass on as much knowledge and experience as possible, from guitar tricks to contracts, from songwriting to performance physicality.”
She has stepped back from touring, and yet she is not done. The Q+A on August 18 is one event within Caffè Lena’s first-ever Artist in Residence program — a month-long initiative built around Ian’s presence in the building and her insistence on treating the folk and singer-songwriter tradition with the seriousness it deserves. “There are plenty of residencies for classical musicians, and jazz musicians,” she has said, “but folk artists and singer-songwriters are still considered ‘Just for fun’ rather than serious craftspeople and artists. That needs to change.”
The full August residency includes a four-part workshop series called “Janis Ian Explains The World,” a guest appearance at the venue’s Songwriting Club, a session with the Rochmon Record Club, a mentorship workshop for teenage musicians through the Troubadour In Training Summer Camp, and an Open Mic hosting night on August 31. For anyone serious about songs — writing them, understanding them, tracing the thread from where the tradition has been to wherever you are going — the calendar is worth the full look.
About Caffè Lena
Founded in 1960, Caffè Lena is the longest continuously operating folk music venue in the United States. Its 110-seat room at 47 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs has held the folk tradition through decades of change and financial uncertainty. A significant anonymous donation in December 2025 helped secure its future and made possible expanded programming like this residency — the first of its kind in the venue’s history. Executive Director Sarah Craig put it plainly: “Janis Ian exemplifies our best hopes for songs. She shows how a powerful song can change how people see the world.”
The room itself — intimate enough to see a performer’s hands, quiet enough that silence means something — is a fitting setting for a conversation about the craft. In the best listening rooms nothing is wasted, and Caffè Lena has been proving that for more than six decades. That the venue’s first-ever artist residency belongs to Janis Ian feels not like a coincidence but like a conclusion.
Tickets & Show Details
The Q+A with Janis Ian takes place on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. This is an adult-focused, interactive session — come prepared with your questions. Tickets are $35. For more upcoming shows across the Capital Region, browse our full calendar.