The musician pays a visit to New York, and the ’90s.
Less than two minutes into our interview, Ani DiFranco says the word fuck for the first time, and it sounds like music. Her f is fricative and percussive, much like DiFranco’s habit of thwacking the side of her acoustic guitar as she plays it. Then comes the vowel sound, which has a gentle lilt that mirrors the way DiFranco sings: in dulcet tones that sometimes release a guttural growl.
We’re sitting at a corner table in the Standard Hotel on Cooper Square. Geographically, we’re not far from where DiFranco lived in the East Village for much of her late teens and early 20s, but spiritually the posh café is as far away as you can get from her scene in the 1990s— the decade when she was a vital component of the alternative-feminist-rock wave. She’s visiting New York in part to see the Broadway premiere of Hadestown, a show written by the singer-songwriter, Anaïs Mitchell. In 2010, DiFranco helped Mitchell develop the show’s songs into a concept folk album originally released on DiFranco’s label, Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver both sang on the album, which grew into a theatrical spectacle that was nominated for 14 Tony Awards on April 30. DiFranco is overjoyed to see the project hit Broadway, and didn’t realize there would be a whole red-carpet situation. “Now I’m in a panic because of I fucking … I didn’t pack,” she says. “I’m going to be underdressed. I was going to do black jeans and a T-shirt.”
This story is from the May 13-26, 2019 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 13-26, 2019 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Unmasking Diddy
The rap mogul shook off decades of rumored bad behavior with wholesome PR revamps. Now the allegations against him are his legacy.
Staging Sufjan
How playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury turned a classic indie-rock album into a Justin Peck-choreographed dance piece that's now Broadway bound.
Justin Kuritzkes Serves an Ace
With his first movie script for the erotic tennis drama Challengers, he has gone from struggling playwright to in-demand screenwriter.
To Brooklyn, by Way of Paris and Rome
A whirlwind week with Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri as she stages the brand's first New York runway show in a decade.
A Burlesque Family at Home
Showbiz couple Angie Pontani and Brian Newman’s high-spirited Marine Park house.
A Bistro With Shish Barak
Huda impressively balances its many influences.
THE 'DEBATE ME BRO
Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.
THE MAN WHO GOSSIPED TOO MUCH
For almost two decades, JOHN NELSON anonymously published blind items skewering the Hollywood elite on the blog CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS. Then his identity was revealed in the midst of a messy affair.
TODD BLANCHE IS A SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT LAWYER. AND HE'S ON TRACK TO KEEP HIS CLIENT OUT OF JAIL UNTIL THE ELECTION. IN DEFENSE OF TRUMP
TODD BLANCHE WAS looking for his man. Or it could be a woman, but probably not.
Self: Emma Alpern
In Outer Space Why do so many women believe their bodies are controlled by the moon?