Janis Joplin exploded upon the music world like a supernova blazing on the horizon. She rocketed to fame with an electrifying performance at the Monterey Pop Festival and ascended to superstardom with the release of Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills album. It's been 29 years since she passed away, yet Janis continues to rule as the queen that every talented female blues rocker is measured against.

The comparisons with Janis began for Brooklyn-based singer Halley DeVestern when she released Sugar Free in 1997. Her soulful vocals on "I'll Light Myself On Fire" plunge right into the emotional heartbeat of rocky relationships, and on "I'm Over It" she sings passionately about the gut-wrenching freedom that comes after realizing that she's reached the point of no return. The singer's vocal phrasing and the funky rhythms on "They Ain't Got the Ways" do remind me of Janis's Kosmic Blues days, but the biggest similarity between the two lies in the messages of the songs and the rockin' way they're delivered.

"It's certainly an honor to be compared to Janis Joplin because she's the female rock and roll singer's icon," says DeVestern. "She was such a great force in music, because she had such an incredible instrument. I think a lot of singers get compared to her because there really hasn't been another woman who sang with such power and such a connection to incredible emotions. She was really driven by these incredible muses, and there hasn't been anyone who's touched that in a long time. So, when reviewers and fans see somebody who has a lotta power and emotion, they get compared to Janis."

The singer's performances were limited to the metropolitan area until last fall, when she was asked to do an East Coast tour with the original members of Big Brother and the Holding Company. "It was like some kind of surreal dream at first," says DeVestern. "Here are the guys that I was listening to as a kid. I was terrified. These were big shoes to fill."

One high point for DeVestern was the experience of performing the showstopping "Ball and Chain" with Big Brother. "It's like your most favorite and least favorite song to do because it's so demanding," Says DeVestern. "It's such a powerful song, and I get to feel like a real rock and roll diva for ten minutes, cause that's totally what it's about. It's like you've totally got the audience in the palm of your hand."

The tour also enabled her to understand the undying devotion that people still have for Janis. "Sometimes people would come up to me in tears and say 'you brought it all back,'" recalls DeVestern. "If you think about it, a large part of the experience that those people have is fueled by their memories."

Halley DeVestern is a highly talented singer songwriter and this Friday's performance at the Common Ground is part of their continuing Women's Concert Series. The show gets under way at 8pm and will conclude in time for everyone to catch the fireworks at IC.