Acclaimed singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco will return to Australia in April 2020 for the first time in ten years, for a national tour which will include performances at Bluesfest. This tour will take her to Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay and tickets are on sale now.
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. Her collaborators have included everyone from Utah Phillips to legendary R&B saxophonist Maceo Parker to Prince. She has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Greg Brown, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Chuck D., and many more. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream was released in May 2019.
Rejecting the major label system has given her significant creative freedom. She has referenced her staunchly-held independence in song more than once, including in “The Million You Never Made” (Not a Pretty Girl), which discusses the act of turning down a lucrative contract, “The Next Big Thing” (Not So Soft), which describes an imagined meeting with a label head-hunter who evaluates the singer based on her looks, and “Napoleon” (Dilate), which sympathizes sarcastically with an unnamed friend who did sign with a label. After recording with Ani in 1999, Prince described the effects of her independence. “We jammed for four hours and she danced the whole time. We had to quit because she wore us out. After being with her, it dawned on me why she’s like that – she’s never had a ceiling over her.”
Her lyrics are often autobiographical, and strongly political. “Trickle Down” discusses racism and gentrification, while “To The Teeth” speaks about the need for gun control, and “In or Out” questions society’s traditional sexuality labels. Most recently, the 2016 single “Play God” has become a battle cry for reproductive rights. Rolling Stone said of her in 2012, “The world needs more radicals like Ani DiFranco: wry, sexy, as committed to beauty and joy as revolution.”
Ani has been the recipient of many honours and awards, including a Grammy for best album package (Evolve), the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and the Woody Guthrie Award. At the 2013 Winnipeg Folk Festival she received their prestigious Artistic Achievement Award, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from A2IM (a nonprofit trade organization that represents independent record labels) and the Outstanding Achievement for Global Activism Award from A Global Friendship.
PERTH ASTOR THEATRE – MONDAY 6 APRIL
Book at Ticketek 132 849 http://www.ticketek.com.au
MELBOURNE HAMER HALL – WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL
Book at Arts Centre Box Office 1300 182 183 http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
or Ticketek 132 849 http://www.ticketek.com.au
SYDNEY – STATE THEATRE – THURSDAY 9 APRIL
Book at Ticketmaster 136 100 http://www.ticketmaster.com.au
TICKETS ON SALE NOW