Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco sent me a Christmas card back in 1996, along with a note listing her New Year’s resolutions: “Do more,” “Be more,” “Give more” and “Sleep at night.” She’s certainly done, been and given more in the past eight years, but I doubt she’s been sleeping at night. A workaholic who tours almost eight months out of the year — and records when she’s not touring — DiFranco is the embodiment of D.I.Y., producing, recording, and releasing her own albums. Now she’s decided to play all the instruments herself, too. DiFranco’s extremely ardent fans watched her go from the classifieds section of The Village Voice to the cover of Spin — a 10-year process — and shift her songwriting style from overtly political folk to painfully poignant love songs and experimental, funk-infused jazz jams. Even so, she still thinks of herself as “the little folk singer,” and she gets crabby if treated like a rock star.