The finest recording artists morph. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young each have changed throughout their remarkable careers. The same can be said for their fellow singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco.
The fiery Buffalo native is no longer the quirky indie chick crafting spare solo tunes. DiFranco, 54, is releasing atmospheric albums and challenging herself with other creative endeavors.
“I was such a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) girl, as you know,” DiFranco said while calling from her New Orleans home. “That’s how I was out of the gate. I was just playing my little songs and selling my CDs on the set. I was the hand-to-hand combat little folk singer. I rode that for a long time. Self-sufficiency was always what I was about. I wanted to come up with all of the answers and now I don’t even want to come up with all of the questions.”
That last line sounds like a lyric from the beleaguered DiFranco, who still champions the underdog and remains inspired by what’s on the landscape. “Unprecedented Sh!t,” her 23rd album, is inspired by the state of America, politics and women’s rights, among other topics.
The title track and “Baby Roe” hit listeners in the gut as DiFranco doesn’t mince words.
“It’s a tough time for the belief in human evolution,” she said. “It’s a tough time for the belief that we can move beyond patriarchy and into a more holistic human arrangement. It’s scary looking into the near future. It really is scarier than ever.”
DiFranco, who will perform Monday, Jan. 20, at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson, is beyond dejected more than two months after the presidential election.
“I feel very sad about what has happened and what is about to happen,” she said. “I feel exhausted on many levels. ‘Unprecedented Sh!t’ is the state of where we’re at. Many of us should have known better. If we all voted. If we all left our house in November and changed the outcome, it would be different now.
What may be on the horizon is awfully difficult for DiFranco to deal with since she has two children. “As a parent I look at these young beings that will be the subject of the future world. As a parent you can’t help but be heavily invested in what the future will look like. Even before I had kids I tried to heal these social diseases. My motivation hasn’t changed after over 30 years of being an advocate for change. We can’t sit around waiting for a perfect candidate that represents all of us. You have to get out there and do something. Sitting it out is lethal in a democracy.”
DifFranco isn’t sitting it out with “Unprecedented Sh!it.” The Grammy Award winner is conveying her message and doing so in an adventurous manner by working with producer BJ Burton.
“At this point in my career, I want to defer and collaborate,” DiFranco said. “I don’t have to produce my albums all the (expletive) time. There are other people out there who do it well and do it differently. BJ did an awesome job of taking my songs and putting them into a different direction.”
“Virus,” which was inspired by the pandemic, features some high-octane electric guitars and a distorted cello. The aforementioned “Baby Roe” has a funky bass line. DiFranco is clearly evolving, noting, “I’m doing so with a little help.”
She’s also got a potential television project in the works.
“I’m working on a TV show and I’m writing it on spec,” DiFranco explained. “It’s based on a book and I can’t say any more than that but I’m so excited about it and I hope it happens.”
No matter what happens, the singer-songwriter still has her independent label, Righteous Babe, which she launched a generation ago. DiFranco thumbed her nose at the major labels with a massive canon of music, and she doesn’t share the rights with anyone.
“I was the canary in the coal mine,” she said with a laugh. “I screamed ‘Everybody out!’ It sure is a different game than the one I came up in and it’s for the better in a lot of ways. I hope I played a part in opening things up. The age of recording artists as indentured servants is finally ending. It’s a crazy new age. I tried to help by pushing the envelope as the indie girl.”
DiFranco still plans to make a difference, saying, “I’m working on the end of patriarchy and self love. Those are still in the works.”
Ani DiFranco w/Joy Clark
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20
WHERE: The Rialto Theatre, 318 Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $36.50
INFO: ticketmaster.com
