While its arrangements remained relatively spare, it saw her expanding her instrument palette beyond guitar, bass, and drums to include trumpet, Hammond organ, and synthesizer, among other instruments. She reached a career-high number 22 on the U. After having been nominated in the folk and rock categories, DiFranco took home a Grammy Award for 's Evolve in the packaging category.
Featuring lusher arrangements that included a string quartet and brass band, her 16th studio album, Red Letter Year , was a surprise release in , and she reached the Billboard for the 16th time counting compilations and live albums with 's Binary. She began her career at the age of nine, when her guitar teacher helped her land her first gig -- performing a set of Beatles covers -- at an area coffeehouse. Befriended by the likes of Suzanne Vega and Michelle Shocked , she later gave up music to study ballet, but at the age of 14 returned to the guitar and began composing her first songs.
A year later, alienated from her crumbling family structure, she left home, living with friends while making the rounds of the Buffalo folk club circuit. DiFranco had written over original songs by the age of 19, and after briefly studying art, she relocated to New York City to further her musical aspirations; besieged by requests from fans for tapes of her performances, she recorded a demo and pressed copies of a self-titled cassette to sell at shows.
The tape -- a Spartan acoustic folk collection of intensely personal essays on failed relationships and gender inequities -- quickly sold out, and in DiFranco founded Righteous Babe to better distribute her recordings.
In the meantime, they were slowly spreading across the country on the strength of a substantial word-of-mouth following. In , after issuing the assured Not So Soft , DiFranco hit the road alone, touring the nation in her Volkswagen and playing gigs wherever she could find them.
Her cult blossomed, and her distinct image -- shaved head, tattoos, and body piercings -- soon became the de rigueur look for her fans as well. As albums like 's Imperfectly and 's Puddle Dive expanded her musical ambitions as well as her following, DiFranco became the subject of considerable major-label interest, yet she steadfastly rejected all offers as Righteous Babe grew to become a highly viable business venture. DiFranco continued playing over dates a year, and soon even the mainstream media took notice of her cottage-industry music.
The live set Living in Clip followed in Her most musically diverse release yet, it was also her highest-charting album to date, and set the stage for the release of Up Up Up Up Up Up the following year. Another full-length, To the Teeth , appeared in as well, and in mid the odds-and-ends compilation Swing Set was released.
A long-awaited live album was released in Living in Clip featured 31 songs performed in various cities across the United States, as well as snippets of DiFranco's between-song banter that she has become known for. The album was widely praised. She also placed songs in six movies that year, including the title song to the Julia Roberts vehicle My Best Friend's Wedding , and her tour that year was confirmed as one of the top-grossing tours of the year.
DiFranco embarked on several collaborations with her personal idols in She told The Progressive that a collaboration between her and the storyteller was a logical choice: "Our uniforms look very different, and our ages and our audiences, and yet we're telling a lot of the same stories in our own ways. That instinct is maybe more important than what 'it' is on any given night. That's your mission. That's what originally drew me to Maceo as a performer, just going to a show and realizing this guy holds nothing back.
He just plays until the last bead of sweat drips off and falls over. To me, that's what performing is all about.
She continued her prolific output into the new millenium, releasing at least one new studio album every year as well as another double-CD live album, So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter , in Her music took a jazz-influenced turn on the albums Up Up Up Up Up Up and To the Teeth , but her wide range of influences best manifested themselves on 's Revelling: Reckoning , an album Time called "her most ambitious, accomplished work yet, melding folk, jazz, funk, and rock into music that's as elemental and unpredictable as the weather.
DiFranco went through some changes in both her career and personal life in A split with her husband, a return to playing solo after years of playing with a band, and a move down to New Orleans promised to influence the music DiFranco composes and the direction in which her career moves.
As DiFranco's popularity grows, she's faced with difficult decisions and growing pains; she's caught between fans who want her to remain accessible, and her untapped fans, reached only through more exposure. She has managed to balance her increasing mainstream recognition with her staunch political beliefs, refusing to compromise her values and beliefs for money.
She has kept Righteous Babe in Buffalo for over a decade, helping to grow the economy there. There were probably only 6 people who moved to Buffalo in the last 30 years! DiFranco told McDonnell, "I believe in The possibility of emancipation and control and independence is so much greater now.
Began playing music at age nine; sang in local coffeehouses starting at age eleven; moved out on her own at age 15 to pursue a career in music; at the age of 18 moved to New York City and began touring the country, performing at college campuses, coffeehouses, bars, and music festivals; started Righteous Babe Records music label in Buffalo, NY, ; released first album Ani DiFranco, ; released at least one album a year, Not So Soft , Righteous Babe, Imperfectly , Righteous Babe, Puddle Dive , Righteous Babe, Out of Range , Righteous Babe, Dilate , Righteous Babe, Others are more serious, such as confusing Ani's longtime drummer Andy Stochansky with her first husband, Andrew Gilchrist.
Quirino fixed the errors and re-released the book in with the title Ani Difranco: Righteous Babe Revisited. The revised biography seems to receive positive reviews on Amazon. Although Ani now lives in New Orleans with her family, she has not left her hometown of Buffalo behind. In , Ani purchased an old Gothic Revival church with the vision of creating a cultural center in the city's downtown that would serve not only as an arts space, but also encourage economic development in the area.
In , "Babeville" as the building was renamed, opened with the main sanctuary rebuilt as a 1, seat performance venue, and a gallery space on the first floor, a screening room in the basement, and Ani's Righteous Babe record label offices on the second floor. Ani performed for the first time at the new venue on September 11, The song was included on Dar's album My Better Self. Dar Williams said in interviews at the time that she felt the song could serve as a commentary on the Presidential election.
This award is given to women who have made great contributions to the feminist movement. She was one of the first musicians to earn the award. For more information about Ani Difranco and her music, visit her website www. Her site includes information on all her albums and songs, along with tour dates and the latest news.
Hi newbizmau - Glad you learned something new from this hub. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! I appreciate it! Hi theframjak - Glad to share some little known tidbits about Ani. And it's always great to meet another fan!
Thanks, hpedneau - I think a lot of Ani fans have experiences like yours. I'm glad her music has been such a positive force in your life. Personally, I appreciate that she writes songs from a perspective that I share and can understand. I'm eyeing some of her upcoming shows too! Thanks again!! Great hub purl3agony.
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