#97 - ani difranco

i've been an ani difranco fan for awhile now, first heard her in college and pretty much got my hands on every album i could. to date she has more than 20 albums released (17 studio and 14 live, plus a few EPs). her music could be best described as folk but really it's not easy to categorize her. she plays the guitar with lots of energy, a lot of finger picking and very rhythmical. her singing is a lot of poetry/verse. a lot of her music has a message, taking from her experiences and background as a "feminist". a list of her released albums, released on her record label, righteous babe records:

• Ani DiFranco (1990)
• Not So Soft (1991)
• Imperfectly (1992)
• Puddle Dive (1993)
• Like I Said: Songs 1990-91[33] (1993)
• Out of Range (1994)
• Not a Pretty Girl (1995)
• Dilate (1996)
• Living in Clip live (1997)
• Little Plastic Castle (1998)
• Up Up Up Up Up Up (1999)
• To the Teeth (1999)
• Revelling/Reckoning (2001)
• Evolve (2003)
• Educated Guess (2004)
• Knuckle Down (2005)
• Reprieve (2006)
• Canon (2007)

so i finally got to see her perform! she came to portland on friday, and played the crystal ballroom. it was a sold out show and i'm sure many people had already seen her, but it was my first time. i have no idea who opened the show cause we showed up an hour late. it was perfect timing though because after going to the bathroom and finding a place to stand, out she came! it was so exciting! even if i couldn't really see her (other than between people's heads, standing on my tip toes) it was a great live performance. you could tell she loves performing and has been doing it forever. there was no photography and video so i don't have any shots, but here is a performance on the leno show.

her latest album, canon, is a retrospective two-disc album of over 30 songs. some songs that i would recommend are "32 flavors" (probably most popular song), "both hands", "napolean", "untouchable face", "not a pretty girl", "little plastic castle", "gravel" and "as is". really listen to her lyrics, they are wonderfully smart and send a good message. i don't really know a lot of her new music but enjoyed what i heard the other night. she is definitely a legend, didn't need a big label or media to become one. she has been doing this for almost 20 years and has a huge fan base by just being a great singer/songwriter. it was a great show!