Grab the Creative Loafing that hits newsstands this afternoon (or tomorrow, depending on where you live) and check out my Ani DiFranco cover story (or just click here). A women's studies majoring girlfriend of mine in college played me DiFranco's Little Plastic Castle and I was hooked. Seeing the dynamic folk-punk singer perform live left me awed on all three occasions. One of the finest songwriters of her generation and an artist I have total respect for as an activist and fiercely independent businesswoman, DiFranco had been on my must-interview list ever since I started as a music critic. On the phone, she was quite adorable talking about her boyfriend, their 13-month-old daughter Petah and finding happiness.
Here's an excerpt from the Q&A portion of my DiFranco piece:
Me: A recent concert review noted that you said from stage something along the lines of "My new thing is 'happy.'" Is this a direct result of having a daughter?
DiFranco: My daughter has contributed, but her father before that is really what it's about. He changed my life. When we first hooked up three years ago, I was much more melancholy. I got to a place in life where it was the rock-star syndrome: Everyone wants you when you're on stage and then you walk off to a lonely life of catastrophic isolation. I went into the typical spiral. Immediately when we hooked up, Mike noticed. [DiFranco then mimics the voice of a man.] "You're listening to too much bummer music, dude."
Ani DiFranco w/Over the Rhine
7:30 p.m., Tues., March 11, Tampa Theatre, Tampa, $35.
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2008.