Ani is as Ani does-- and she's still nailing it. For an extended tribute to Ani, see the Inspiration page on LMC Radio's website, because the station is partly dedicated to her. If you don't already know , she's an inventive guitarist, poetic songwriter, ferocious road warrior/performer, and trailblazer of her own independent label Righteous Babe Records (started in 1989--before indie labels became more common.... uh, she made them more common).
There's a reason or two that her artistic logo is the outline of her own silhouette, poppin her guns...
Tonight was my first time seeing her play in 2 years, and after a decade and a half of seeing her play regularly, I've realized she's got an amazing checklist to her talent, personality, and gig style. Let's visit the points, shall we? I'm tongue-in-cheek.. how do you boil your favorite artist, your biggest inspiration, down to a list? Maybe only the most badass list possible is acceptable. Well here goes:
* Constant Proliferation--> check.
For as long as I can remember, Ani performs new songs on tour before recording them. Can someone really be that deep of a creative well, while touring your whole life, and now being a parent? Constant new songs means occasional missed lines or botched notes-- or so she claims. Real raw versions of works in progress is what they are. Sincerely, they rarely seem botched, and how would we know anyway? Two of the new songs we heard were "splinters" and "amendment". More on "amendment" in a moment......
*Off The Cuff Amusement--> check.
Amused with herself, amused with us, the moment, the world. "After a life of confessional, political songwriting, I thought: Where do I go from here? Where? What next?" (silence, picking a tune.. eventually..) "So I'm thinking more confessional, more political.." stated in a way that made, if no one else, it made me laugh.. How wonderful to be intense and confidently amused at yourself!
* In Your Face Political Opinion--> check.
Ani's new song "amendment" is a proposal for a person's right to have an abortion.. for a woman's right to be written into The Constitution. How is she always one step ahead of me? Check out the song. Bless her heart. And I agree. We also heard some commentary on pre- and post- Obama-in-office-promises, and I think while slightly outlining disappointments, she still supports Obama and realizes how hard his friggin job is. Bless his heart too...
* Rhythmic Perfection, Jazz Phrasing--> check.
Ani is a genius at inventing rhythmic guitar riffs that are the "rhythm section" of a song, and comprised of unique and compact jazz-flavored melodies.. all coupled with sometimes-synchronized, sometimes-syncopated, sometimes-altogether-differently-timed vocal melodies. All while thumping that box. This is her brand of "folk", with those quotations really needed...
*The F-Bomb--> check.
Never abused, spontaneously spouted, strategically placed. RAWR.
*Poetry--> check.
Ani has a lyrical style that captures moments, projectile vomits raw emotion (that most people either never feel or are too shy to convey), paints pictures with metaphors or good old-fashioned concrete details, cleverly twists words, and politically punches. The first verse is sometimes the last verse of a song.. and this formula never grows old. By the time the same verse is delivered a second time, we as listeners have already been on a journey, learned a lesson, evolved into new awareness of the song's topic or catch phrases. Sometimes the song cycles around, but more often it's a spiral. We're on a whole new plane. Oh yeah..
*Humanity--> check. check. check.
Ani is one of the most personal performing artists out there. She's brutally honest in the moment and in her songs. She's full of humor, self-criticism, rage, love, cynicism, compassion, and humility. Between her song lyrics and her babbling between songs, you can't help but feel like you know this person by the end of a gig. She sings her own story in a way that invites most others to identify-- you know, the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm, the private and subjective becoming universal. She sings on behalf of people, many times on behalf of groups sometimes too tired or scared to speak up-- people of different sexes/genders, races, sexual persuasions, socio-economic levels, of soldiers, of prisoners, of victims of violence.. She sings of the earth, of the atom, of hell-bent police officers, of blinding mass media, of the ache of a dial tone, of loving a body, of entrapment, of skeletons, of numbness, beauty, and balance..
***end of checklist***
She mixes up her players often, but tonight she played with a drummer (Andy xxxx.. not Stochansky, another Andy..).. a player on xylophone/tricks/keys (missed name!).. and for a few years now, Todd Sickafoose on stand-up bass. The cheering ladies in the audience got to hear the sought-after "untouchable face".. we got treated to "both hands".. and freaked again during "shameless" and we got treated to the poetic encore "32 flavors"-- the title of which i borrowed ten years ago for an a woman-centered radio program. I got the thumbs up from Ani to use the title for the program in 1999. I think she likey...
I remember hearing "32 flavors" for the first time in the balcony of a theater. Although it's not true, I had the thought "I can do anything" as I walked home. 15 years later, there I was in a theater balcony for that perfect encore. Set on starting an independent radio station based on live music, I walked out of the theater and into the streets of Austin. Although it's not true, I thought: "I can do anything..."
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