“I developed my playing style from being in bars, playing solo. People are shouting over your music… silences make them notice themselves – and then they notice you”: Ani DiFranco on the dark arts of acoustic –and why she’s over online ‘perf

By her own description, Ani DiFranco set out on her career in the early ’80s as “this little chick in the corner with an acoustic guitar, trying to get the attention of people who were not naturally predisposed to pay attention to her little heartfelt numbers”.

Four decades later, in almost every respect, the 53-year-old New Yorker is unrecognisable. Since finding major-league success with mid-90s albums such as Dilate, DiFranco has commanded a global fanbase who hang on every socially charged lyric.

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