Janis Ian headlines “Freedom Sings” in New York

Lesbian singer Janis Ian will be headlining “Freedom Sings,” the First Amendment Center’s special series of concerts celebrating freedom of expression through music, at the Bottom Line in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The bill also includes Marty Balin and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Starship as well as singer-songwriter Tom Paxton. The evening will be hosted by Dominic Chianese (The Sopranos), and a portion of the proceeds will to to the planned Folk Music Museum in Greenwich Village. The event, says First Amendment Center executive director Ken Paulson, is an acknowledgement that “music has played a pivotal role in social movements throughout this century. The messages of the civil rights, women’s rights, environmental and world peace movements were all amplified through song.... Freedom sings. And music matters.”