Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco isn’t folk because most of her singer/songwriter tunes center on acoustic guitar strumming. Ani DiFranco is folk because she embodies the characteristics that the genre’s forebearers possessed. She’s an activist, trailblazer, queer icon, truthseeker and independent spirit. She fits in with the early revivalist pioneers like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, the stars of the ’60s folk boom like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, her ’90s Lilith Fair contemporaries, and the songwriters she influenced. Her distinctive rhythmic playing and poetic lyrics still ring true 20 albums into her career, but truth be told she’s always been timeless.