Ani DiFranco on Political Songwriting and Using Music for Social Change

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview.

Though Ani DiFranco's music has evolved since the acoustic sparseness of her eponymous debut album over 26 years ago, she's always remained a folk singer at heart — never compromising, always political, and forever for herself and the people.

Over 20 albums later, DiFranco continues to be an outspoken champion of political and social movements, from reproductive rights and LGBTQ visibility, to anti-racism efforts and global peace.

And despite recent tragedies and political divisiveness in America, DiFranco remains optimistic.

"We look at these dire circumstances that we're in. This insane amount of gun violence and death. Endemic racism that's still so incredibly brutal in our society...We think we feel hopeless and we feel powerless. But we're not," she says in a conversation with Takeaway Host John Hockenberry.

Below are two songs from DiFranco's in-studio performance for The Takeaway. First is 1999's "To The Teeth," and the second is a poem entitled "Nowhere but Barstow and Prison," by Spoon Jackson, an incarcerated California inmate and poet, to which DiFranco has written into music.

This August is DiFranco's inaugural Babefest, a music festival she’s curated in her hometown of Buffalo, New York. In addition to her in-studio performances, DiFranco discusses the political protest music she's listening to and creating ahead of the 2016 election.

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear our full interview with Ani DiFranco. 

Below: Ani DiFranco performing "To The Teeth" live for The Takeaway.

Below: Ani DiFranco performing "Nowhere but Barstow and Prison" for The Takeaway.