It was the early 1990s at a small club in New York City. As the lights dimmed, a figure walked onto the stage, guitar in hand. Her head was shaved, and she was wearing combat boots. She had an acoustic guitar slung over one shoulder.

She looked out into the crowd. Her audiences looked different than other audiences at the time. There were women holding hands, and fans with brightly colored hair. They gazed up at her with love and adoration.

Ani took a deep breath, looking from person to person in the audience. She opened her mouth, as if to sing… but started to speak instead. She talked about current events, politics, and social issues like violence and inequality. Her words led into the lyrics of her music – raw and authentic. Her guitar came alive with a rhythmic “thwack, thwack, thwack” as she strummed ferociously. The sound of her band was unlike any other. It was inspired by jazz and flamenco; not quite folk, not quite punk. But the music? That was entirely Ani DiFranco: unapologetically herself.

SHOW INTRO
I’m musician and playwright Anaïs Mitchell. And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

A fairy tale podcast about the real-life rebel women who inspire us.

On this episode, Ani DiFranco – activist, musician, and feminist icon.

Ani DiFranco was born in Buffalo, New York in 1970. Her father was a research engineer and her mother was an architect, at a time when very few women designed buildings!

Ani looked up to her mom as she blazed her own path and rewrote the rules until they suited her. One day, Ani’s mom got fed up with working a full-time job AND taking care of the household work. Ani came home to see a sign on the front door: THESE PREMISES ARE NO LONGER UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE HOUSEWIFE SYSTEM. Her mom stopped cooking, cleaning, and doing anything a typical housewife did. She didn’t like the system she was a part of, so she changed it. After that, Ani started making her own meals.

Ani didn’t mind being more independent. She had lots of things she wanted to do and try! One day, she and her parents went into a music store. The shop had all kinds of instruments and gear: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, recording equipment, and more. All of it captured her imagination. Then, Ani saw something special: a kid-sized guitar, made for someone just her size! She asked her parents if she could take it home, and to her surprise, they said yes!

Ani’s guitar became a way for her to express herself, even as her world started to fall apart. Her parents weren’t getting along, and the household was tense. It was hard for Ani to see them fighting. Eventually, her parents decided to get divorced. Ani’s mother moved out, and Ani went with her.

Through it all, she found comfort in music. Then, when she was nine, Ani found her first musical mentor: a local folk musician named Michael Meldrum. Michael was a poet and a songwriter, and Ani watched him play with a big smile, and eyes full of wonder. He taught her how to play guitar with feeling, not just skill, and took her to perform at local venues.

Ani didn’t feel ready to perform! She had braces and pigtails down to her knees, and the sight of all those people watching her made her heart beat wildly. But she played anyway, her hand strumming the guitar and her great big voice flowing confidently out of her small body. By the time Ani was eleven, she was playing Beatles songs at the local market, earning tips from people passing by. She felt free and independent!

When Ani was fifteen, her mother decided to move to Connecticut, but Ani didn’t want to leave Buffalo. She had her guitar, her music, and a community that felt like home. So she made a bold choice. She stayed behind. And her mom let her!

Ani lived on her own, supporting herself with her music while she finished high school. It was hard to fend for herself, but Ani was determined to follow her own path, no matter what.

After Ani turned 18, she moved to New York City. She had hardly any money in her pocket, but she had her guitar, her voice, and her dreams. Ani’s dream was to make music for a living, but she was a long way from that. She worked in restaurant kitchens at night and made homemade music demo tapes during the day. In her few free hours she would walk from club to club, asking for a chance to perform.

One day, as she was walking down 13th Street, Ani saw a sign on a building: the New School for Social Research. She liked the way those words sounded together: new, social, research. So she walked right in and signed up for classes.

At the New School, Ani found more mentors to hone her craft. She learned creative writing from poets, and took classes about feminism and social change from people involved in the movements. She learned how to speak freely and debate peers with different life experiences.

She poured all of what she’d learned, all of what she’d seen, into her lyrics and music. And slowly, her dream started to look a little less far away. She started getting gigs, then fans, then…offers from record companies! Ani couldn’t believe it! But the offers came with strings attached. They wanted to change her, and her music. They said she could sell millions of albums if she just made her music more commercial, more mainstream, more… something other than herself.

Ani considered their terms. This was one way to get her music out there, but it wasn’t the only way. She channeled her mom, drew herself up, and in her great flowing voice, told them no.

So, at 19 years old, Ani had music to share and no record company to share it. But a little independence had never been a problem for Ani. Full of the confidence and determination that had gotten her this far, Ani and her friend slash manager Scot got together, and started their very own record label. They called it Righteous Babe Records.
The record label was small, just the two of them, but Ani’s dreams were bigger now. She wanted to control her own music, her own message, and her own career. She wanted to grow slowly and build a real connection with her audience along the way. She wanted to do it herself! They drew up a logo– inspired by a photo of Ani flexing her arms like a superhero.

Then, in 1990, 19 year old Ani recorded and launched her first album. She wrote the lyrics and music. Her friends played drums and bass, and Scot helped them record it. Ani even created the album art! She learned the business side of making music, and worked hard to promote the album to her fans through Righteous Babe Records.

Having all the control really paid off – literally! Ani was making nearly twice the amount of money on her albums that other famous musicians were at the time–over $4 per album. She was doing it her way, and succeeding.

Ani built her audience one show at a time, one fan at a time. She toured from town to town, connecting with people through her music. Her songs were honest. She sang about relationships, politics, identity, and finding your voice. In between each song, she chatted with her fans about things that mattered to young women like herself.
As Ani’s career grew, people tried to put her music in boxes. Was it folk? Punk? Jazz? The truth was, it was all of those things and more.
Ani herself couldn’t be forced into a box either. She sang about her experiences dating and loving women, and her music helped fans feel seen and embraced. At a time when girls didn’t have many openly queer role models to look up to, Ani’s music became a lifeline. Folks across the spectrum of queerness sought out her concerts as a place to be embraced just as they were. And Ani welcomed them with open arms.
Because Ani understood that expressing yourself on your own terms—is the most powerful thing you can do.

Through her music, advocacy, and self expression, Ani has lived her dream and supported the dreams of countless others along the way. She’s become a musical mentor, the way her teachers were for her. She finds musicians she loves, and uses her label to share their music with the world. One of those musicians was a young songwriter named Anaïs Mitchell – that’s me.
Today, Ani continues to create. She’s released over 20 albums – more than 200 songs! She’s written children’s books about using your voice and voting, and even won a Grammy Award. And she’s still touring, playing, and connecting with audiences all over the world.
Ani DiFranco proves that you don’t need permission from anyone to be an artist. You don’t need to fit into someone else’s box to be successful. You just need to work hard and be unapologetically yourself.

Your voice matters. So go out there and find it.

This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It’s based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This episode was narrated by Anaïs Mitchell. It was written and produced by Danielle Roth, and edited and directed by Haley Dapkus. Sound design and mixing by Carter Wogahn.

Fact-checking by Jessica Wrubel. Our production coordinator was Natalie Hara. Haley Dapkus was our senior producer. Our executive producers were Anjelika Temple and Jes Wolfe.

Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A special thanks to Ani DiFranco and the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible! Until next time, staaaay rebel!