East Coast native and freshman filmmaker Tara Veneruso’s passion for the ever-evolving music scene in Austin led her to the capital of Texas for this documentary on its legendary nightlife. Janis Joplin Slept Here uses the psychedelic Sixties as the genesis, looking back at the musical roots of Texas and then winding its way through the Cosmic Cowboy scare, the blues explosion, the punk rebellion, and glossing over the New Sincerity years on its way to the emergence of the current alternative scene in the Nineties. In tracing this quirky, verdant music scene, Veneruso has patched together material from a variety of sources, including filmed interviews, oral histories, rare footage, posters, videos, and photographs, while using rock & roll’s (and Texas’) first female superstar as the humorous link through these seemingly disparate genres. Janis‘ weaknesses are its disconcerting continuity — nothing unexpected from a first-timer — and a slightly self-indulgent ending, but neither of those diminish its sheer charm and freshness. Janis Joplin Slept Here won a Silver Award for Theatrical Feature Films/Documentaries at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival.
This article appears in April 29 • 1994 (Cover).