Count Ani DiFranco among the artists combining political activism and popular music. The folkie is taking her tour to swing states.
By BRIAN ORLOFF
Published September 16, 2004
[AP photo]
Ani DiFranco, who recently visited political prisoners in Burma, says she was “reinspired about the ideal of democracy and the travesty that we have all this power we do not use.”
With so many artists now fronting tours with political agendas, folk singer Ani DiFranco faced a challenge: how to make her own contribution to the issues-heavy fall music lineup.
"I've been wondering too, how am I going to make this particular tour especially unique?" DiFranco says from her home in Buffalo, N.Y.
DiFranco's solution is to visit political swing states with her Vote Dammit! tour, advocating voter registration. DiFranco, who will be joined onstage Saturday in Tampa by upright bassist Todd Sickafoose, has invited politically minded musicians to perform with her, including folk singer Dan Bern, who will open the show. In some cities, DiFranco will share the stage with artists such as Margaret Cho and the Indigo Girls, and politicians such as Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean.
Activism is nothing new for DiFranco, who in July visited political prisoners in Burma on a trip sponsored by the United States Campaign for Burma.
She was more than eager to talk politics, sharing convictions just as passionate as her poetic songs.
Times: Why was it important to you to do this tour of swing states?
DiFranco: To try and be involved in what amounts to the most primary political issue facing us this fall, I suppose, which is regime change around here. That's pretty urgent, just in the ramifications it has for all kinds of other issues. It just feels good to be active whenever one is faced with crisis. It seems like a lot of people are talking about the same thing: voting even if you never have before.
Times: You're playing a bunch of shows in Florida.
DiFranco: Yeah, I have Floridian friends who are going to do poll watching on voting day. People have to go to greater lengths in places like Florida to try and ensure their rights. You can't even walk into a booth and pull a nice metal lever that you can count on.
Times: This might be a generalization, but it seems like your fans are probably already anti-Bush and politically minded.
DiFranco: Yes, the people that come to my shows are probably, by and large, progressive thinkers and active people, but (they're) not necessarily voting. I wouldn't underestimate the disillusionment with the political system. . . . I think it's going to be the collective re-embracing of such things as democracy that will actually pull us out of this quagmire.
Times: In 2000, you performed at several Ralph Nader benefits but suggested that, in swing states, people should vote for Gore. What are your feelings about the situation with Nader now?
DiFranco: I haven't been in touch with Ralph. I think it was not expedient for him to go through with the race in 2000. I think bowing out and handing over his support would have been the right thing to do then, so certainly now I think it's terribly misguided to be doing what he's doing. I hate to say anything negative about people I know who have done amazing work in the past, (who have) a great activist history. But, yeah, something is misfiring at this point. I think he doesn't really pose a big threat to the race. I think a much bigger threat is this computer voting system.
Times: Organizations such as Move On have used artists to produce anti-Bush commercials. The message of the artistic community seems to be: Get the message out in whatever medium possible.
DiFranco: We can't, any one of us, make some sweeping gesture and change the world. But our collective effort and convictions will absolutely change the world.
I was just in Burma, where there's basically a campaign of ethnic cleansing going on. People, all they want in the world, is democracy. It was so invigorating to be there because it was just the most devastating political circumstance I've ever been thrown in the middle of, but (there still was) the transcendence and the conviction, the fearlessness of people fighting for their highest ideal, which is democracy, the right to vote. People are dying for it there daily.
Really, to come back to my bloated, apathetic, privileged, duped, brainwashed, hypercommercial culture was to be reinspired about the ideal of democracy and the travesty that we have all this power we do not use.
Times: Having been so inspired there, do you feel responsible for sharing your experiences?
DiFranco: I don't know. I've had a lot going on in my life recently, so there's been just a whole lot to think about and write about and decompress from. And I don't know how it will come out. But, yeah, I'm responsible to everything I see and feel and experience as a human being even more than a performer. I feel responsible to be present and try to contribute certainly, which goes back to that shared responsibility.
PREVIEW: Ani DiFranco, 8 p.m. Saturday, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa. $35.
