Ani DiFranco, who is a poet, singer, songwriter and gifted guitarist, was born in Buffalo, New York in 1970. As with many talented artists Ani began displaying her gift for words and music at an early age and was to go on to create her own uniquestyle in the future.
By the time she was nine years old she was already busking with Michael Meldrum, her guitar teacher, and playing Beatles covers in public around her hometown in cafes and bars.
When she was fifteen years old she began converting some of her poetry into songs and had written over one hundred by the age of eighteen.
Her love of poetry and play on words continued to blend with her lyrics and she began taking poetry classes at the ‘New School’ in New York City when she was nineteen. She played her music during weekends at festivals and clubs when ever she could.
In 1989 Ani started her own record label,’Righteous Records’, which changed to ‘Righteous Babe’ in 1994. It was under her own label that her first record was released in 1990 which achieved Hugesuccess.
Ani has a very forthright and confident nature which is creatively expressed in her work. She isn’t afraid to take a stand and highlight what she believes in with her lyrics, which often get straight to the point as well as the heart.
Ani, who is know for being bi-sexual and for promoting gay rights, married sound engineer Andrew Gilchrist, much to the dismay of her gay following. She and Gilchrist had an amicable divorce after five years of marriage.
The Ani Difranco band consists of Todd Sickafoose, Allison Miller and more recently Erin Mckeoun and Natalie Merchant, touring regularly within a tight schedule. The only time that touring had to be canceled was when Ani had tendinitis and could not perform.
In 2006 her acclaimed album, ‘reprieved’, was released and was very successful. Another of her albums, ‘Evolve’ earned her a Grammy Award. She also had a ‘Woman of Courage’ award in 2006.
Soon to be released, after her latest album ‘Canon’ is a book entitled ‘Verses’ which contains her poetry and artwork. It would seem that there’s just no end to her talents.
She also makes time for her daughter Petah Lucia who was born in 2007 and was fathered by Mike Napolitano, co-producer of ‘Reprieve’.
Ani keeps herself extremely busy, which is normal for her as she has managed to produce at least one album a year for the past sixteen years. She addresses many of todays problems facing society and is not afraid to Speakher mind. This gives her the edge over many contemporary artists as she’s able to relate to peoples struggles and experiences.
Her style is natural and raw with the lyrics often containing irony and messages to the public through Indie and Urban rock and quirky rhythms.
Sources. www.artistdirect.com/nod/music /artist/card/o,423431,00.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani-Difr anco-60k
www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/a rticle-display.jsp?
folkmusic.about.com/6/a/257879 .htm22k
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