As singer/songwriter/feminist/activist gears up to release her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream on May 7, she is also announcing her summer run of tour dates. She kicks off her run on May 3 at JazzFest in New Orleans before a block of book events, then returns to performing May 31 in Houston. For tickets, go to her website. In addition, at the shows DiFranco is offering a “No Walls” Mixtape, her current take on the songs related to the memoir. The “No Walls” Mixtape will also be available digitally on May 9.
DiFranco addresses this to her fans. “So here is my mixtape for you, like the kind that I would make you on cassette if it was, like, 1993 and I was really into you. It’s a flight of Ani songs that I took the liberty of revisiting, solo stylie, twenty… (thirty?!) years later, songs that factor (either literally or figuratively) into my memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream.”
In her memoir, DiFranco recounts her early life from a place of hard-won wisdom, combining personal expression, the power of music, feminism, political activism, storytelling, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and much more into an inspiring whole. In these frank, honest, passionate, and often funny pages is the tale of one woman’s eventful and radical journey to the age of thirty. Ani’s coming of age story is defined by her ethos of fierce independence–from being an emancipated minor sleeping in a Buffalo bus station, to unwaveringly building a career through appearances at small clubs and festivals, to releasing her first album at the age of 18, to consciously rejecting the mainstream recording industry and creating her own label, Righteous Babe Records. In these pages, as in life, she never hesitates to challenge established rules and expectations, maintaining a level of artistic integrity that has impressed many and antagonized more than a few. Ani continues to be a major touring and recording artist as well as a celebrated activist and feminist, standing as living proof that you can overcome all personal and societal obstacles to be who you are and to follow your dreams. Tour dates and book events are listed below.
May 3 – New Orleans, LA – JazzFest
May 7 – New York, NY – Tishman Auditorium w/ Cecile Richards*
May 8 – Boston, MA – Coolidge Corner Theatre w/ Robin Young*
May 9 – Washington, DC – Sixth & I Synagogue w/ moderator TBA*
May 10 – Chicago, IL – Wilson Abbey w/ Jessica Hopper*
May 13 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre w/ moderator TBA*
May 14 – Berkeley, CA – First Congregational Church of Berkeley w/ moderator TBA*
May 15 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall w/ Cari Luna*
May 16 – Pasadena, CA – Pasadena Presbyterian Church w/ Valarie Kaur*
May 17 – Austin, TX – Central Presbyterian Church w/ Rachel Rascoe*
May 19 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Bound Literary Festival w/ Rhiannon Giddens*
May 22 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans JCC w/ Gwen Thompkins*
May 31 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall^
June 1 – Tulsa, OK – Williams Theater @ Tulsa Performing Arts Center^
June 2 – Wichita, KS – The Wave^
June 4 – Columbia, MO – Rose Park^
June 5 – Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst Theater^
June 6 – Davenport, IA – Codfish Hollow Barn^
June 9 – Fargo, ND – Fargo Theatre^
June 10 – Duluth, MN – NorShor Theatre^
June 12 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue^
June 13 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Cain Park w/ special guest Lucy Wainwright Roche
June 15 – Croton-on-Hudson, NY – The Great Hudson River Revival
June 16 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
August 1 – Anchorage, AK – Barnes & Noble w/ moderator TBA*
August 2 – Ninilchik, AK – Salmonfest
August 4 – Kaslo, BC – Kaslo Jazz Etc. Summer Music Festival
August 10 – Edmonton, AB – The Edmonton Folk Music Festival
August 16 – Lyons, CO – Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
*book tour event
^with special guest Diane Patterson
