Ani DiFranco

Over the course of her long and storied career, singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco has become both a feminist icon and a godmother to the alternative folk movement. Born in Buffalo, New York in 1970, DiFranco lends her staccato guitar playing style and rhythmically complex lyrical phrasing to large and varied songbook just as full of tunes delving into her rich personal life with breathtaking honesty as it is packed with vehement, left-wing political tracts. Her signature style—shaved head, piercings and tattoos—has largely been adopted as the de rigur uniform for many of her alt-folk brethren.