Spotlight On: ANI DIFRANCO

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

When I use the phrase “feminist icon” who comes to mind? Gloria Steinem? Angela Davis? Patrice Cullors? What about in music? Beyonce? Bikini Kill? There is one womxn who should be on the tip of our tongues when we think of trailblazing musicians, who single-handedly rewrote the narrative about what womxn in music should look like, sound like, and write about, and simultaneously forever changed how we think about the business of music by rejecting major labels and forging her own independent path with Righteous Babe Records, now home to a multitude of other artists and bands. Her collaborations range from folk hero Pete Seeger to Prince. And not only has she spent her career being outspoken about gender equality, she has supported a broad range of social causes including racial justice, reproductive rights, environmental issues and prison reform. Ani Di Franco just celebrated the 30th anniversary of both that label and her self-titled debut, hot on the heels of her first memoir No Walls and The Recurring Dream. She also just turned 50. Now about to release her twenty-second album Revolutionary Love on January 29th, Ani Di Franco spoke with me from her home in New Orleans about this powerful moment of both looking back, and taking stock of where she is now. 

Our playlist features new music from Barcelona band Mourn, who just released their excellent new album Self Worth, a new Beach Bunny song off their brand new EP Blame Game, and from Japan, a very early taste of the new CHAI album Wink!, which comes out on Sub Pop in May. We also celebrate two SHERO Birthdays this week, both born on the same day: Alicia Keys is 40 on 1/25 and Etta James would have been 83.

The Radio SHERO of the week is Laura Shine - the Assistant Program Director/Afternoon Host/Producer of Live Lunch at WFPK in Louisville, Kentucky. She chose to take us out with a previously unreleased track by Aretha Franklin doing the West Side Story classic “Somewhere”.