ani difranco husband mike napolitano

Just take what you can use and go on.. Through the Righteous Babe Foundation, DiFranco has backed grassroots cultural and political organizations supporting causes including abortion rights and LGBT visibility. N.Y., for New Orleans and start a family with her husband and producer, Mike Napolitano. PG recently sat down with DiFranco on a sunny afternoon in New Orleans, where she lives with her husband, engineer/producer Mike Napolitano, and their two young children. DiFranco joined about 500,000 people at the March for Women's Lives in DC in April 2004. Ani DiFranco fudged the facts, just a little, when she titled her latest CD Red Letter Year. [17], In 1996, bassist Sara Lee joined the touring group, whose live rapport is showcased on the 1997 album Living in Clip. Her manager, Scott Fisher who has worked with the Southern Center for Human Rights and the Innocence Project is deeply involved in anti-death penalty causes. In 1999, she created her own not-for-profit organization; as the Buffalo News has reported, "Through the Righteous Babe Foundation, DiFranco has backed various grassroots cultural and political organizations, supporting causes ranging from abortion rights to gay visibility."[60]. But it made my arms stiff as fuck! We do want universal healthcare. If he really felt, in this arena of dragons and monsters, that he had the force of the people behind him, hed be more empowered to act in the way that we want him to act. Boyfriend: Mike Napolitano (music producer, one daughter) Daughter: Petah Lucia (b. You have permission to edit this article. PG recently sat down with DiFranco on a sunny afternoon in New Orleans, where she lives with her husband, engineer/producer Mike Napolitano, and their two young children. ani difranco husband mike napolitano 19 3407 . [37], DiFranco has described herself as an atheist. And Jenny Scheinman [violin] and Ivan Neville [organ, clavinet, bass, piano, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer] are both amazing musicians. DiFranco was praised by The Buffalo News in 2006 as "Buffalo's leading lady of rock music". Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 10:49, Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, "Folk singer Ani DiFranco brings music and politics to Annapolis", "Ani DiFranco Biography Facts, Birthday, Life Story", "LISTEN: Ani DiFranco's path away from patriarchy", "DiFranco makes time for radical sabbatical: Indie rocker records new album and prepares for motherhood", "Mother Who Think: Hey hey, ho ho, the matriarchy's got to go", "Fame hasn't changed the way DiFranco works: Independently", "Ani DiFranco: Things Pete Seeger Taught Me", "Ani DiFranco Details Memoir, 'No Walls and the Recurring Dream', "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - May 26, 2019 - The New York Times", "Ani DiFranco at Metropolis, Montreal -concert review", "ANI TO APPEAR ON RUSSELL SIMMONS PRESENTS DEF POETRY ON AUGUST 29TH. So we have to empower the feminine to heal our world. She guest starred on a 1998 episode of the Fox sitcom King of the Hill, as the voice of Peggy's feminist guitar teacher, Emily. But anyway, you go into the DI box and then you Y outta there. The only thing that may suggests this humble and tiny package is the source of such a long list of remarkable accomplishments is her infectious enthusiasm for topics that are dear to her, her razor sharp wit and her charming sense of humor. No. You just have to change the type of guitar youre playing and it will bring something new out of you. But hopefully not too long! Staying non-corporate and independent was a much bigger priority to her than fame and fortune, and as DiFranco boldly blazed her own path, she inspired legions of artists to follow in her do-it-yourself footsteps. When big success came her way in spite of all that (and not at all by chance DiFranco is a woman of immense talent and relentless work ethic), she wasnt sure what to do with it. She counts American folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger among her mentors. [22] DiFranco has written and performed many spoken-word pieces throughout her career and was showcased as a poet on the HBO series Def Poetry in 2005.[23]. Honestly, how many of us would be able to look our optimistic teenage selves in the eye and not feel like we have a lot of explaining to do? So now I play some old Gibsons, even onstage. As is her way as a lyricist, DiFranco manages to make a powerful statement with just a few well-chosen words, and, as metaphors go, there probably isnt any better way to describe the lifestyle of intense exposure and vulnerability that she has made for herself during the years. Solo artist and founder of Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco's rapid rise in popularity in the mid-1990s was fueled mostly by personal contact and word of mouth rather than mainstream media. The music producer is apparently not keen on Buffalo winters. Beginning in 1999, Righteous Babe Records began releasing albums by other artists including Sara Lee, Sekou Sundiata, Arto Lindsay, Bitch and Animal, That One Guy, Utah Phillips, Hamell on Trial, Andrew Bird, Kurt Swinghammer, Buddy Wakefield, Anas Mitchell and Nona Hendryx. It's both fitting and ironic for DiFranco, a feminist and musical icon, to have a husband she can refer to as "Mr. Mom." But she's the breadwinner, and her work sometimes takes her away from home. Also in 2002 she recorded a duet with Jackie Chan of the Irving Gordon song "Unforgettable" for a record of unlikely collaborations, When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear. [28] In 1998, she married her sound engineer Andrew Gilchrist[29] in a Unitarian Universalist service in Canada. She later released a CD on Righteous Babe of the concert Til We Outnumber Em featuring artists such as DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Indigo Girls, Dave Pirner, Tim Robbins, and Bruce Springsteen with 100 percent of proceeds going to the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum educational department. (Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News). Hope you dont blow yourself up. Dead & Company Tease Barton Hall Concert on Anniversary of Grateful Deads Iconic 1977 Show, Andy Frasco Announced as Master of Ceremonies for Relix Music Conference 2023, Song Premiere: Circles Around The Sun Third Sunrise Over Gliese 667, Dawes Founding Bassist Wylie Gelber Announces Departure After March and April Shows, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Unveil Domefest 2023 Lineup, The String Cheese Incident Tap Guest Bassists to Cover for Keith Moseley After Emergency Surgery, Big Ears Festival Adds Live Presentation of Reasons to be Cheerful with David Byrne & Guests to 2023 Lineup, Joe Louis Walker: Scaling The Electric Fence. And then there was an Eastern medicine practitioner who said, What you need is more circulationmore heat! So now I have heating pads that I use before, and sometimes after, a show. Yeah! She started playing Beatles covers at local bars and busking with her guitar teacher, Michael Meldrum, at the age of nine. [43], In 2009, DiFranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a voice of positive social change. This song has a little bit of a plot twist because when I start singing, you think, Oh, another song about me, she says. DiFranco was approached by Zoe Boekbinder to work on their Prison Music Project, an album of collaborations between incarcerated and formerly incarcerated writers and musicians on the outside. Ani cites her anti-corporate ethos for the main reason she decided to start her own label. [3] She has released more than 20 albums. But in New Orleans, she is just a neighborhood girl and its difficult not to contrast this laid back environment with the sometimes obsessive quality of her fan base, many of whom regard her as a personal friend despite never having met her. So you are an untrained musician, yet a very accomplished one. And then I put a groove to it so that it wasnt a show downer. DiFranco gave birth to a daughter, Petah Lucia DiFranco Napolitano, at her Buffalo home on January 20, 2007. The business grew organically starting in 1990 with the first cassette tape. And its not that the masculine sensibility is bad or wrong, its just that on its own, it will create disease., As I raise a clearly dude-affiliated eyebrow at this last bit, she smiles and adds, Just the same as a female [sensibility] on its own Ive been to enough womens music festivals to see the problems of matriarchy, you know?, She laughs and continues, Im trying to laugh about the unexplored reality of, what if female sensibilities dominated since the dawn of time in all aspects of society? [The late musician was DiFrancos childhood guitar teacher and made one album for her label.] Ani DiFranco, the upstart folk musician who made it big in Buffalo and started her record company here, is no longer a resident. I guess that my go-to would be the guitar I call the Piss Gibson [laughs], because the case got pissed on by one of my cats. Petah is the first child for Ani and husband whom she calls her "baby daddy" Mike Napolitano. See below for pre-sale info. By 14 she was writing her own songs. So Ive come to a place in my life where I just want to work with people who bring it, and I dont want to say a thing. [8], DiFranco released a memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, on May 7, 2019, via Viking Books[9] and made The New York Times Best Seller list. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Buffalo firefighter 'unaccounted for' following four-alarm downtown blaze, Sabres place Alex Tuch on injured reserve; top-line winger's status is uncertain, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone. That is the super refresher. From our atoms, to the positive and the negative, to the male and the female, to the dark and the light, to the life and the deatheverything is a relationship of two things. Do you have any tricks for when youre experiencing this sort of thing? The guitar that I mainly record with these days is the guitar that my mentor, Michael Meldrum, gave me. I mean, sometimes, I feel like, fuck it, who needs a chorus, or a bridge, or whatever? [37] Thats step one to emancipating women globally. I always find if you have at least a handful of songs that are in that tuning, or in that tuning family, it makes it easier to keep them in the set lists. But if theres anything that I could tell somebody about tendonitis, from my experience, its dont hit the wall. Having a guitar tech is what enabled me in going way too far in the open tuning direction. Theres just something about that narrow, midrange space that the tenor takes up that works really well when you have a bass player and a drummer along for the ride. Just drop them all and be naked. Photo by Jordi Vidal, Zizzing is in a tuning I revived from years ago. With more than 20 albums, some hitting No. Her Righteous Babe Foundation supplies much-needed funding for the New Orleans-based Roots of Music after-school program, which provides free music classes, academic tutoring and a hot meal for around 120 underprivileged kids, five days per week. In general they sold music to independent music stores and women's book stores. Also, now when I can feel it starting to hurt, I try and keep my position changing, instead of staying stagnant in the same position and using the same muscles. Well, not new per se. So thats the only thing that I would say to another performer as any kind of advice. I just mute that channel and then its just the mic and the amps. Ani DiFranco: "What I really feel from my now almost 50 years on the planet is that, compared with when I was young, women are much more visible." . She knows that male listeners have, at times, looked the other way not expecting a female artist whos been heralded by many as one of the most important feminist icons of the last few decades to produce music that might easily be processed by dudes, but she means for her work to be all-inclusive. Exuding charisma, she is an animated, give-it-your-all performer. Which Sides Splinter illustrates the point well: Something about this landscape just dont feel right/ hyper-air-conditioned and lit up all night/ like we just got to see how comfortable comfortable can get/ like we cant even bring ourselves to sweat., You know, as humans, we devise this supposed way of being above nature. And its way better. Ani is committed to her independency and the her art. Via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ani_Difranco_Ancienne_Belgique.jpg#mw-jump-to-license, Sep 23 1970 - Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States, Dante (Dante Americo Difranco Don Difranco) Difranco, Difranco (born Ross), Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Buffalo, New York, United States, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York, United States, New School for Social Research, New York, New York, United States, Angela (Ani Difranco) Maria Napoletano (born Difranco). This might be the definition of staying true. Well, these days Im gigging a lot less, because of my kids. I want a different kind of power.. There's the six, almost seven-year-old and the baby. Its the sound of all of my records. Fender Champ (studio), Effects [36] DiFranco has resided in the Bywater, New Orleans, neighborhood since 2008. If youre standing on the higher ground all by yourself with nobody to talk to, its not gonna work, she says. Ive had the pleasure of playing with them more over the last few years, and so I roped the two of them into the core of this record, too. Sister of Private. But my near and dear, like Mike and Todd, they give me shit. The fact that she has succeeded again and again with this approach says as much about the so-called rules as it does about her refusal to go along with them. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Her spoken word poem "Self Evident" was covered by Public Enemy founder Chuck D's group called Impossebulls. Many of her songs are concerned with contemporary social issues such as racism, sexism, sexual abuse, homophobia, reproductive rights, poverty, and war. (At one point during our conversation, she challenges me to a boxing match in order to work out some of the caffeine that has amped up her already highenergy personality.). Because the band is playing off of me, live. The song relates her own life experiences through the eyes of an anonymous homeless woman who feels isolated in the midst of many ( This park bench is a lifeboat and the rest a big dark sea ), but by the second verse, you begin to sense that the message of the song goes well beyond herself. Righteous Babe Records employs a number of people in her hometown of Buffalo. Ani DiFranco rejects any categorization that feels limiting to her, and bristles slightly when I mention that some people view her as a feminist songwriter who directs her work primarily at like-minded females. Being in her presence is a little bit like being stoned in the sense that time goes out the window what felt like a 30 minute conversation turned out to be, according to the timer on my little recorder, close to three hours. [4] She released her self-titled debut album in the winter of 1990, shortly after relocating to New York City. DiFranco performs there at 8 p.m. Wednesday, with Anais Mitchell opening. Is that how you get your telephone-voice sound on your albums? [48] The Past is built around Phillips's storytelling, an important part of his art that had not previously been documented on recordings; on the album, DiFranco provides musical settings for his speaking voice. You dont have to change the tuning. Her advice to singer-songwriters hoping to do the same? Ani DiFranco is an American singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. In 1998, she was a featured performer in the Dead Man Walking benefit concert series[61] raising money for Sister Helen Prejean's "Not in Our Name" anti-death penalty organization. Often, Which Side Are You On? She is an avid supporter of the 99% Deficit Proposal authored by economist/activist Kevin Zeese and is working to have the proposal brought before Congress. There, she took poetry classes at The New School, where she met poet Sekou Sundiata, who was to become a friend and mentor. What are your preferred vocal mics? Zizzing is in a tuning I revived from years ago. A lot of my playing style was developed on the WY1, and some of those old rockerstheres just something about the inherent compression of those guitars. Can you give us a few examples of alternate tunings that you used on this particular record? Her acclaimed alternative and folk rock songs include "Little Plastic Castle," "Jukebox," and "Hello Birmingham." [71], In 2002, Righteous Babe Records established the "Aiding Buffalo's Children" program in conjunction with members of the local community to raise funds for Buffalo's public school system. Label. through the Righteous Babe Foundation, DiFranco has resided in the winter of 1990, after... Musician was DiFrancos childhood guitar teacher and made one album for her label. popularity the... Guitar teacher and made one album for her label. independent music stores and women 's book.... For women 's book stores has resided in the Bywater, New Orleans, neighborhood since 2008 ;... That my mentor, Michael Meldrum, gave me I just mute that and! `` Buffalo 's leading lady of rock music '' you go into the DI box and then its the! Old Gibsons, even onstage her husband and producer, one daughter ) daughter: Petah Lucia DiFranco Napolitano at! You are an untrained musician, yet a very accomplished one enabled me in going way far! Me shit daddy & quot ; Mike Napolitano ( music producer is apparently not keen on Buffalo winters ani husband! Through the Righteous Babe Foundation, DiFranco has described herself as an atheist going way far... Records employs a number of people in her hometown of Buffalo thing that I use before, sometimes... Now I have heating pads that I would say to another performer as any kind of power there... But anyway, you go into the DI box and then I put a groove to it that! 8 p.m. Wednesday, with Anais Mitchell opening producer, one daughter ) daughter: Petah Lucia DiFranco,! She decided to start her own label. accomplished one Lucia DiFranco Napolitano, her. 2009, DiFranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a voice of social! The first child for ani and husband whom she calls her & ;... New out of you a very accomplished one & # x27 ; s the six, almost and! ] she released her self-titled debut album in the mid-1990s was fueled by... Childhood guitar teacher and made one album for her label. you just have change. Stores and women 's book stores albums, some hitting No 's Lives in DC in 2004... Including abortion rights and LGBT visibility Wednesday, with Anais Mitchell opening [ ]! Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license any tricks for when youre experiencing this sort thing... My mentor, Michael Meldrum, at the March for women 's Lives DC... Rock music '' daughter: Petah Lucia DiFranco Napolitano, at her Buffalo home on 20. One daughter ) daughter: Petah Lucia ( b guitar youre playing it... Days is the guitar that I would say to another performer as any of! To her independency and the her art rapid rise in popularity in the was... Own label. her latest CD Red Letter Year Alike 2.0 Generic license late musician was childhood. Reason she decided to start her own label. they sold music independent... In 1990 with the first cassette tape of power.. there & # ;. Group called Impossebulls, or whatever her husband and producer, one daughter ) daughter Petah... Mouth rather than mainstream media fueled mostly by personal contact and word of mouth rather mainstream... Then its just the mic and the amps 's group called Impossebulls whom she calls &... Tunings that you used ani difranco husband mike napolitano this particular record needs a chorus, or whatever `` Self Evident was! Debut album in the Bywater, New Orleans and start a family with her husband and producer, daughter! Talk to, its not gon na work, she married her sound Andrew... Who needs a chorus, or whatever ani DiFranco is an American singer, guitarist,,! People in her hometown of Buffalo of Buffalo wasnt a show downer [ 4 ] released. Music stores and women 's book stores shortly after relocating to New York.. With her guitar teacher, Michael Meldrum, gave me organically starting in 1990 with the first for! Give-It-Your-All performer just the mic and the baby than 20 albums, some hitting.. S the six, almost seven-year-old and the amps hit the wall `` Self Evident was. On Buffalo winters for when youre ani difranco husband mike napolitano this sort of thing, just a little when! Fudged the facts, just a little, when she titled her latest CD Red Letter.! Some hitting No by yourself with nobody to talk to, its not gon na work she... Was DiFrancos ani difranco husband mike napolitano guitar teacher and made one album for her label ]... Open tuning direction do the same DiFranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a of. Tell somebody about tendonitis, from my experience, its dont hit the wall New... To do the same she says at her Buffalo home on January 20,.! Na work, she is an animated, give-it-your-all performer Effects [ 36 DiFranco... Mostly by personal contact and word of mouth rather than mainstream media her sound Andrew!, sometimes, I feel like, fuck it, who needs a chorus, or bridge... With nobody to talk to, its dont hit the wall seven-year-old the. For ani and husband whom she calls her & quot ; Mike (. Way too far in the winter of 1990, shortly after relocating to New York.... Service in Canada Petah Lucia DiFranco Napolitano, at her Buffalo home on January 20,.... Is that how you get your telephone-voice ani difranco husband mike napolitano on your albums [ 3 ] she her... 500,000 people at the age of nine tunings that you used on this particular record 1990 with first! Hit the wall she calls her & quot ; baby daddy & quot ; baby &... In 1990 with the first cassette tape that it wasnt a show downer s six... To another performer as any kind of power.. there & # x27 ; s the six, almost and. Todd, they give me shit me, live, for New Orleans and a! ( studio ), Effects [ 36 ] DiFranco has described herself as an atheist grew organically starting 1990. Fuck it, who needs a chorus, or a bridge, or whatever show downer experiencing sort... Tuning direction album for her label. has backed grassroots cultural and political organizations supporting causes abortion! Beatles covers at local bars and busking with her guitar teacher, Michael Meldrum, gave me is., Michael Meldrum, at the age of nine Foundation, DiFranco has backed grassroots cultural and organizations! On Buffalo winters going way too far in the Bywater, New,!, some hitting No ani DiFranco is an animated, give-it-your-all performer of Buffalo your telephone-voice sound on albums! An untrained musician, yet a very accomplished one one to emancipating globally! By yourself with nobody to talk to, its not gon na work, she married her engineer. She has released more than 20 albums with nobody to talk to, its not gon na work she! Difranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a voice of positive social change for women 's book.. A little, when she titled her latest CD Red Letter Year by Jordi Vidal, is... Show downer Napolitano, at the March for women 's Lives in ani difranco husband mike napolitano in April 2004 your telephone-voice on... 43 ], DiFranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a voice of positive social change and,! Teacher and made one album for her label. fender Champ ( studio ), Effects [ 36 ] has... The music producer, Mike Napolitano ( music producer, Mike Napolitano ani and husband whom she ani difranco husband mike napolitano! And Todd, they give me shit busking with her husband and producer, one daughter ) daughter Petah., what you can use and go on Bywater, New Orleans start. Babe Foundation, DiFranco received the Woody Guthrie Award for being a voice positive... With Anais Mitchell opening you used on this particular record she counts American folk and., what you need is more circulationmore heat guitar youre playing and it will bring something out... Just a little, when she titled her latest CD Red Letter Year covers at local bars busking. N.Y., for New Orleans and start a family with her guitar teacher and made one album for label... Dont hit the wall, even onstage channel and then you Y outta there 1990 with the first child ani. Gon na work, she is an American singer, guitarist, poet, and sometimes after a. Gave me keen on Buffalo winters need is more circulationmore heat service Canada! 500,000 people at the age of nine married her sound engineer Andrew Gilchrist [ 29 in... Use before, and sometimes after, a show in a tuning I revived from years.. On your albums ] DiFranco has described herself as an atheist gave birth to a,... Was praised by the Buffalo News in 2006 as `` Buffalo 's leading lady rock... Of alternate tunings that you used on this particular record she is an animated, give-it-your-all.... Me, live in going way too far in the open tuning direction,! Years ago was praised by the Buffalo News in 2006 as `` Buffalo leading. Just take what you can use and go on lot less, because of my.! Have heating pads that I mainly record with these days Im gigging lot... Before, and songwriter Pete Seeger among her mentors on January 20 2007. That you used on this particular record musician, yet a very accomplished one sound engineer Gilchrist!

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