Janis Ian - Janis Ian Live: Working Without a Net (2003)

In the mass of singer/songwriters that seem to surface weekly it is easy to forget that older masters of the craft still walk among us and offer vital work. Janis Ian's brilliant 2000 release God & the FBI got lost in this glut--more's the pity. Working Without A Net sums up a career to date that while producing the justly famous "Society's Child," "At Seventeen," and "Jesse," also given us such lesser known gems as "Love Is Blind," "Boots Like Emmy Lou's," and many of the others included here. Over a decade's worth of live performances reveal an emotionally wrenching singer, a fine guitarist, and a remarkably consistent writer. Hopefully Working Without A Net will make people want to go back and explore gems like Breaking Silence, and the aforementioned God & the FBI. At the very least it raises the bar for the current crop of would-be troubadours. --Michael Ross