The “Little Folksinger” is bringing her big voice and powerful lyrics to the local stage.
98.3 FM The Penguin and Huka Entertainment announced Monday that legendary singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco will play Brooklyn Arts Center on Jan. 22 in support of her latest album, “Allergic to Water.” Anti-folk hero Ed Hamell’s one-man punk project, Hamell on Trial, will open the show.
For more than two decades, DiFranco has been championing originality–and encouraging her dedicated growing fan base to do the same.
Over the years, she has evolved beyond her acoustic solo roots in intimate settings to create a unique blending of jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. That mixture is prevalent “Allergic To Water,” an album that also lends voice to her personal reflections on life in New Orleans, where she is raising two children with her partner, producer Mike Napolitano.
“It’s such a humbling, and grueling, thing to raise children,” DiFranco said. “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.”
Becoming a mother, she added, has brought her closer to listeners who have followed her music since she began performing in New York City during the early 1990s. But no matter her notoriety, DiFranco has always held fast to her focus on integrity and independence.
Human rights has stayed a constant theme in her music and work, playing numerous benefit concerts around the world.
And at a time when record labels still held an oversized influence, DiFranco stood ahead of the curve in launching her own Righteous Babe Records. The company has released more than 20 of her albums to date, ranging from the popular two-disc live album, “Living In Clip,” to the expansive “To The Teeth,” which included notable guests like R&B saxophonist Maceo Parker and Prince.
She was joined by well-known traditional New Orleans musicians on 2012’s “Which Side Are You On?” and the Crescent City can be heard on “Allergic To Water.”
Tickets to DiFranco’s Wilmington show go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday. Doors for the all-ages concert will open at 7 p.m. and the music will get started at 8. Click here for details and to purchase tickets.
