I heard her music played around a campfire in the Catskills, the first songs worth earning callouses on new guitarists’ fingers. I listened intently to her lyrics, repeated in these voices– so honest and clear while still weaved in metaphor. I took Ani back to high school with me and then on to college. I’ve been toting her tapes, cds and mp3s ever since, but I’d never seen her in performance until last night. A powerful voice emanates from her small body while she attacks the strings on her guitar, tuned uniquely for each song, with fingers wrapped in electrical tape.
When we first decided to move to Buffalo, I daydreamed that I would meet Ani in the produce section at the Wegman’s in her hometown. Luckily for all parties involved, this hasn’t happened yet. Remember how cool I was when I met (/stalked into an Irish Bar) the Swell Season? I tried to behave better when I met Ani’s bass player at a friend’s apartment in New York, but mistakenly assumed that he played bass guitar and not the upright. Had I been listening to the music instead of the lyrics all those years, this would have been obvious. It’s not much of a defense, but I am a word person.
Speaking of lyrics, how do you like, “If you’re not getting happier as you get older/Then you’re fucking up…” It’s from one of her new songs and crystallizes her current attitude, one which seems lighter and more filled with gratitude (even though that was a song on her ‘94 record) than what I remember getting from her work as a teenager. She opened the set with “Anticipate” and closed with “32 Flavors,” but for the most part, we were treated to her latest. She played an unrecorded song early on and said, “That was new. Welcome to the rest of your night.” For the one she wrote about President Obama on November 5th, 2008, visit Righteous Babe. Having seen her now, I can say for sure that she is one.
Tags: Ani Difranco, Buffalo, Obama, Righteous Babe