Ani Difranco

Description: Folk-Rock/Punk, Singer/Songwriter

Comparisons: Ani is one of her generation's most prominent Folk pioneers, but she shows clear influences by singer/songwriters from Woody Guthrie to Joni Mitchell. If you already know and like Ani, you can check out Dan Bern or Dar Williams.

Trivia Fact: During her teens, Ani quit playing guitar for a few years to study ballet.

Artists Influenced by Ani: The artists most obviously influenced by Ani's work are a generation of up-and-comers like Doria Roberts, Ember Swift, and poet Alix Olson. There are also the artists she's worked with directly, like Dan Bern, Toshi Reagon, and Hammel on Trial.

Starter CDs: Ani Difranco (Righteous Babe, 1990). Out of Range (Righteous Babe, 1994). Living in Clip (Righteous Babe, 1997). To The Teeth (Righteous Babe, 1999). Revelling Reckoning (Righteous Babe, 2001).

Quote from Ani Difranco: "Well, CNN would probably be an impossible place to tap into anything real since all of the information is completely co-opted and controlled by corporate forces. So, yeah, it is a much better venue to pick up a guitar and walk into a bar and talk to people one on one."

Ani Difranco Biography: Angela Marie Difranco was born in 1970 in Buffalo, New York. She started playing guitar around the age of nine, and by the time she was in her pre-teen years, she was playing Beatles covers in bars and coffeeshops around town. At 15 years old, emancipated and living on her own, the poems she had been writing for years had begun to evolve into song lyrics.

At the age of 19, Ani moved to New York City to live and play among all the other folksingers in the Village. During this time, she was also taking classes at the New School, but her weekends were spent touring and playing out in the Folk clubs, bars, festivals, and coffeehouses around the northeastern US.

Her first recording in 1990 sold out rapidly, and she quickly made a second record the following year. She released each on her own Righteous Babe label, which at first was more of a concept than anything. As her career gained more momentum, Ani was courted by A&R reps from major and minor labels, but she continued to turn them down.

Now, after more than a decade of playing over a hundred shows a year, Difranco is packing clubs from the Hard Rock in Vegas to Carnegie Hall in New York. Her Righteous Babe label employs more than a dozen people in her hometown of Buffalo, and supports the recordings of cutting edge artists from Drums & Tuba to Andrew Bird and Toshi Reagan. And her rythmic, staccato guitar technique has innovated the way the instrument is played.

Ani, herself, has continued to keep the pace of releasing about an album each year. But in early 2005, she was diagnosed with tendonitis, resulting in the cancellation of several months of live performances. She began touring again in April, 2006, and released Reprieve in August of the same year.
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