Best National Folk
Ani DiFranco
No shelter from this storm
![[Ani DiFranco]](http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/bmp/image/AniDifranco.gif)
Call her hurricane Ani.
Because this singer/songwriter/label-owner blew
into the folk mainstream and knocked the damn house down. A few years ago she
was developing her craft on the folk- and women's-music scenes, writing toothy
ditties about love, revenge, and life's other niceties. Now she's everywhere --
headlining sold-out theaters, commanding space in Rolling Stone, even
landing a place on the charts with her new double-CD Living in Clip (on
her Righteous Babe imprint). First as a solo performer and now with her acoustic-guitar-led trio, DiFranco has put the punk back in folk -- not only in
the attitude of her delivery, but in her look (whatever she damn pleases,
thanks) and her D.I.Y. aesthetic. (Righteous Babe, a product of her desire to
control her own . . . er, product -- has sold over a half million of
her previous releases.) She's also an emotional vocalist whose crafty phrasing
and range indicate she could handle jazz, gospel, R&B, or any other
ingredient to spice up her singing and power-strumming recipe. Which she'll
likely do. Given the restless nature of her lyrics, DiFranco seems not only to
want change but to thrive on it.
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