Ani DiFranco has positioned herself as a jack of all trades, and quite frankly a master of many, over her 30-year career as a singer-songwriter, guitarist, activist, entrepreneur, and author. On Tuesday, DiFranco added another skill to her repertoire with the creation of Righteous Babe Radio, a new program from her company, Righteous Babe Records.
Righteous Babe Radio will launch today, April 15th at 10:00 p.m. ET from the artist’s home studio in New Orleans, LA. According to a statement posted to Facebook, the non-profit radio show will feature live music, soundboard material, bootlegs, interviews, book excerpts, and much more from DiFranco and other Righteous Babe artists. The first bootleg to air on the 24-hour station will be DiFranco’s performance at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA on September 25th, 2013. Every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night will see broadcasts of unreleased shows from the DiFranco archives at 9:00 p.m. CT. Righteous Babe Radio will offer an interview series airing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12:00 p.m. CT and again at 5:00 p.m. CT.
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“A few years back, I got approached by a large media company to host my own radio show but the deeper we got into discussions, the more the whole thing seemed governed by corporate policy,” DiFranco said in a statement. “Like the record deal I’d avoided all these years was coming back in another form to try to convince me to take a tiny step away from freedom and authenticity (towards the patriarchy!),” she continued. “It was then that the dream of righteous babe radio began.”
In closing, DiFranco noted that she hopes Righteous Babe Radio “Will help to keep your spirits up while we work together to defeat Covid-19.”
Click here to tune in and read DiFranco’s entire statement below.
Like virtually all musicians, the postponement and cancellation of live events throughout the country have impacted DiFranco’s tour schedule. While she is currently scheduled to perform with the Indigo Girls at Summerstage NYC on June 22nd, as well as at Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, NJ on September 19th, the status of these shows is in doubt. Head to DiFranco’s website for the latest information.