Singer/songwriter/feminist/activist/author Ani DiFranco is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of her ninth studio album, the iconic Little Plastic Castle. DiFranco’s label Righteous Babe Records is offering a 25th anniversary edition remastered by Heba Kadry, with the addition of three bonus bed tracks mixed by Tchad Blake, and a new CD package and first-time release on vinyl (2 LPs). The first offering is a double single of “Gravel,” both the 2023 remaster of the album version and the bed track, available today on DSPs HERE. Pre-order Little Plastic Castle HERE.
Recorded at Congress Hall in Austin after promoting her seminal live album Living in Clip, Ani is joined by longtime collaborators drummer Andy Stochansky and bassist Jason Mercer, as well as bassist Sara Lee. LPC also prominently features outside musicians including drummer Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls), a horn section composed of three Austin session musicians who add flavor to “Little Plastic Castle” and “Deep Dish,” and trumpeter Jon Hassell (Brian Eno, Talking Heads) who provided the sustained subtle solo on the 14-minute final track “Pulse.”
Chosen as one of the “Greatest Albums Made By Women” by NPR in 2017, Little Plastic Castle was also DiFranco’s highest charting album to date on the Billboard charts and led to her third Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance – Female (“Glass House”). LPC has proven to have an enduring legacy as DiFranco regularly incorporates six songs from the album (the title track, “Fuel,” “Gravel,” “As Is,” “Two Little Girls”, and “Swan Dive”) into her live shows. With LPC, DiFranco’s words still deeply resonated with her engaged fanbase, while also exposing the artist to a wider audience, who eagerly got on board with her independent, outspoken style. And with greater commercial success came new challenges DiFranco had to navigate.
About Little Plastic Castle, DiFranco notes, “On the occasion of this 25th anniversary reissue, I would like to say an extra special thanks to those who took this record, and me, into their hearts fiercely, and loved without judgment. When it’s all said and done, it is your love- our collective resonance- that sticks with me the most. If I go tomorrow, it will be as a grateful little folksinger.”
DiFranco’s latest release was in January when she dropped “The Knowing,” the single to accompany her debut children’s book THE KNOWING, out March 7 (Penguin Kids). The song is the book itself, as the lyrics are the musical version of the written word. To pre-order THE KNOWING, go HERE.
DiFranco kicks off a round of March tour dates, beginning March 15 in Boulder, CO. A full list of dates are below and on her website HERE.
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. Her collaborators have included everyone from Utah Phillips to legendary R&B saxophonist Maceo Parker to Prince. She has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Bon Iver, Brandi Carlile, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Chuck D., and many more. Her most recent albums include 2021’s Revolutionary Love and the July 2022 25th Anniversary Edition reissue of her iconic live album Living In Clip, both on her own label Righteous Babe Records. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream was released in May 2019 by Viking Books and was a New York Times Top 10 best seller.
Ani DiFranco Tour Dates
SPRING 2023
3/15 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater – SOLD OUT*
3/16 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater – SOLD OUT*
3/18 – Breckenridge, CO – Riverwalk Center *
3/19 – Fort Collins, CO – Washington’s – SOLD OUT*
3/21 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room – SOLD OUT*
3/22 – Bozeman, MT – The ELM*
3/24 – Missoula, MT – Wilma Theatre*
3/25 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest – Concert
3/25 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest – Artist Conversation
4/13 – New Orleans, LA — French Quarter Festival
*with Pieta Brown