It should come as no surprise that Ani DiFranco is keenly interested in the upcoming U.S. elections — her music, which has appeared on more than 20 albums since her self-released, self-titled debut surfaced in 1990, has long been preoccupied with politics. On cue, DiFranco’s latest road excursion is being dubbed the “VOTE DAMMIT!” tour, during which, if that sentiment isn’t clear enough, she will urge listeners to get out and vote for candidates who back her feminist causes.
“We need to not go slack this election year, and take all the elections very seriously because, without a Democrat majority in Congress, some very important changes will not be made,” she says in a press release from Righteous Babe, the record label she founded 25 years ago. “There are so many things that need addressing right now, and we need to, as voters, lay the groundwork for that change to happen. For someone like me, I’d rather paint the Congress green, or purple and yellow, but for right now, we get a choice between red and blue.”
The tour will largely focus on DiFranco’s most recent studio album, 2014’s hypnotic
Allergic to Water , another Folk-fortified effort inevitably and subtly shaded by her other genres of choice, like Hip Hop, Punk and Jazz, the latter of which has become more cultivated since her move to New Orleans.
Another new development in DiFranco’s life influenced the record and its frequently subdued nature — motherhood.
“It’s such a humbling, and grueling, thing to raise children,” she says. “And that makes playing music more precious and makes me more grateful. It’s a real balancing act, but it also has a balancing effect.”
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This article appears in Mar 23-30, 2016.
