Oct 9, 2002
'Maybe You're It This Time'
Every Ani DiFranco Song Has A 'You'
Trying to compare the funky, tender, resolutely outspoken Ani DiFranco to, well, anything else, is an exercise in futility. She is an individual. Simply herself, as she'll tell you in her sweet, girlish voice; a voice that somehow seems a far cry from the unwaveringly strong and increasingly popular vocal vibrations she lets go on-stage. "When I'm on the stage I'm just myself. There's not a lot of theater to it," says the 32-year-old Buffalonian who, in the space of 13 years - and without the help of major labels or distributors - has become a true hero to young women everywhere who believe that girl power is
much more than just a cartoon character's battle cry.
She is touring in support of her latest album, a live masterpiece called So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter, a paean to the synergistic relationship between musician and audience in which she hand-picked favorite songs and even included some on-stage rants about the election debacle in Florida, her feelings for the people of Afghanistan and her usual slew of thought-provoking anthems condemning avarice, intolerance and gender inequity.
"It had been like five or six years... and many musical lifetimes since my last live album (1997's Living in Clip). It just seemed like the songs, the band and the show had changed so much that it was time for another document."
Growing up in what she calls a "blue-collar, politically liberal town" like Buffalo, DiFranco says she was influenced early on by a local "barfly personality" who used to take the budding guitarist out to hear the local musicians making statements.
"These were just the examples around me," says DiFranco, explaining why she infuses her music and lyrics with her signature, rhythmically pounding, beatnik-like personal political manifestos.
"Buffalo seems to be a place... you have to be from here to really appreciate it. I think it's a rough belt... it's progressive."
DiFranco studied ballet early on, but was drawn back to music and found herself, at 19, the object of adoration by friends and future fans, all begging her to put her own musical statements - statements they could relate to - on tape.
She did, and one year later, she decided to found her own record company, Righteous Babe Records, in her hometown.
"There's not a lot of models in the music industry for what I'm doing. I always try to do it with a political focus," she says. "I hate to say it because it sounds trite but (I try to) literally change the world by changing the world around myself."
Her entrepreneurial venture has allowed her the freedom to play music with those she respects, such as the folk legend Utah Phillips and James Brown's former sax man Maceo Parker. It has also given her a sort of cult status in the world of the independent artist - and increasingly in the mainstream.
"I didn't start out with money... I just started out with songs and maybe a tirelessness to go out there and play them for people," she says on being the darling of the independent movement. "I'm sort of the opposite of the industry model where you go out in support of the record. I tour, and that has allowed me to produce records. I don't know if it's a pitfall or a blessing. It's just the difference."
She admits she loves the exhaustion of the open road and that, as much as anything, is why she considers herself a live musician rather than a studio musician.
"When I'm not on the road, I feel kind of soft... I lose my edge."
DiFranco is coming to Athens solo, despite recording So Much Shouting... with a full band that has since broken up to pursue individual interests. There is little doubt that her solo show will be as raucous, mind-bending and musically perceptive as anything with a horn section. Because at the heart, it's always been Ani and her philosophies.
"I think people should... make positive change at a local level. It's not 30 years ago anymore. There's a paralysis of the left... of the progressive movement. It's suffering from this kind of inertia that comes from having to battle the establishment on the establishment's terms. What I would like to see is for the progressive movement to activate itself, to spend time not just reacting to what is being done to us but to do something to make change. It's like the music artist who fights the major label system while they're signed to a label. Why just keep fighting the system? Why not create a new system? "
Can it be done?
"Absolutely! If you look at all the destructive and maniacal energy that's created change thus far it's astounding. With a real connection with forces that can galvanize the positive, change can occur."
Ani DiFranco says she would like, very much, to be one of those galvanizing forces.
Sarah Lee
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She is touring in support of her latest album, a live masterpiece called So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter, a paean to the synergistic relationship between musician and audience in which she hand-picked favorite songs and even included some on-stage rants about the election debacle in Florida, her feelings for the people of Afghanistan and her usual slew of thought-provoking anthems condemning avarice, intolerance and gender inequity.
"It had been like five or six years... and many musical lifetimes since my last live album (1997's Living in Clip). It just seemed like the songs, the band and the show had changed so much that it was time for another document."
Growing up in what she calls a "blue-collar, politically liberal town" like Buffalo, DiFranco says she was influenced early on by a local "barfly personality" who used to take the budding guitarist out to hear the local musicians making statements.
"These were just the examples around me," says DiFranco, explaining why she infuses her music and lyrics with her signature, rhythmically pounding, beatnik-like personal political manifestos.
"Buffalo seems to be a place... you have to be from here to really appreciate it. I think it's a rough belt... it's progressive."
DiFranco studied ballet early on, but was drawn back to music and found herself, at 19, the object of adoration by friends and future fans, all begging her to put her own musical statements - statements they could relate to - on tape.
She did, and one year later, she decided to found her own record company, Righteous Babe Records, in her hometown.
"There's not a lot of models in the music industry for what I'm doing. I always try to do it with a political focus," she says. "I hate to say it because it sounds trite but (I try to) literally change the world by changing the world around myself."
Her entrepreneurial venture has allowed her the freedom to play music with those she respects, such as the folk legend Utah Phillips and James Brown's former sax man Maceo Parker. It has also given her a sort of cult status in the world of the independent artist - and increasingly in the mainstream.
"I didn't start out with money... I just started out with songs and maybe a tirelessness to go out there and play them for people," she says on being the darling of the independent movement. "I'm sort of the opposite of the industry model where you go out in support of the record. I tour, and that has allowed me to produce records. I don't know if it's a pitfall or a blessing. It's just the difference."
She admits she loves the exhaustion of the open road and that, as much as anything, is why she considers herself a live musician rather than a studio musician.
"When I'm not on the road, I feel kind of soft... I lose my edge."
DiFranco is coming to Athens solo, despite recording So Much Shouting... with a full band that has since broken up to pursue individual interests. There is little doubt that her solo show will be as raucous, mind-bending and musically perceptive as anything with a horn section. Because at the heart, it's always been Ani and her philosophies.
"I think people should... make positive change at a local level. It's not 30 years ago anymore. There's a paralysis of the left... of the progressive movement. It's suffering from this kind of inertia that comes from having to battle the establishment on the establishment's terms. What I would like to see is for the progressive movement to activate itself, to spend time not just reacting to what is being done to us but to do something to make change. It's like the music artist who fights the major label system while they're signed to a label. Why just keep fighting the system? Why not create a new system? "
Can it be done?
"Absolutely! If you look at all the destructive and maniacal energy that's created change thus far it's astounding. With a real connection with forces that can galvanize the positive, change can occur."
Ani DiFranco says she would like, very much, to be one of those galvanizing forces.
Sarah Lee
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