Ani Difranco without labels.

Ani Difranco adds book to list of achievements

Depending on who you ask, Ani Difranco represents something different. Diy-indie label innovator, political activist, poet, high priestess of the ’90s Lgbt-and-women’s rights movement in the alternative community. Along the way, she’s developed a passionate following for each of these aspects of her career.

Each label comes with a certain expectation and emotional attachment. While Difranco understands and appreciates that, she rejects them all.

“I guess I don’t think of it so much as upholding an image; I’m standing in this body,” she said. “People look to me to do so much, to be so much. I’m trying to be myself. I get it; people are starved for community and understanding for their culture, and aching to see yourself affirmed.

“You’re like, ‘Is it me? No, I’m not alone,’ ” Difranco continued. “It’s an important experience. It’s important for me, too. I feel not alone in my shows, and it feels good to be part of that, instigating, getting people together, giving each other strength.”

Difranco’s drive comes from creation. While pleasing an audience isn’t essential to that process, the end goal is to have created a body of work that has had some sort of impact on people.

“I continually try to create things because that’s what excites me,” Difranco said. “If there’s no new song on the set list, it disappoints me. I hate to regurgitate things. I’ve always got to be pouring myself into something.

“I’ve got to believe I did something in this world,” she added. “And with my audience, I’ve been on this whole journey with you. It makes me feel like I’m not going in circles, I’m not alone. It’s not just me.”

Lately, that journey has been on Difranco’s mind. Just a few weeks ago she finished writing her memoir, an 18-month project that marked the longest spell she’s gone without writing new music. While her lyrics are frequently autobiographical in nature, actually writing her autobiography was a completely different experience.

“It’s just night and day from writing songs,” she noted. “I didn’t know how to make a book. It’s a whole new bag of doughnuts.

“I just wrote and wrote and wrote, then I tweaked and tweaked and changed things back,” Difranco said. “The toughest part for me was how far can I push things? It’s the same as writing a song in that sense, how far can I push my listener?”

Difranco’s autobiography is scheduled for a May 2019 release. Now that the writing is complete, she’s back to focusing on music. A couple weeks ago, she started her fall “Rise Up” tour, a successor to the 2016 “Vote Dammit!” tour.

Tonight, Difranco is playing The Egg. It’ll be her first time back to Albany since the day after the 2016 presidential election. While she doesn’t remember that show in particular, she remembers how she felt in the immediate aftermath of the election.

“Life is usually a blur, but that time period was particularly blurry,” she said. “It was very emotional. We (herself and the audience) were trying to process things together.”

That time period was a disheartening one for Difranco. But now that the nation is heading into another election cycle full of important congressional races, she feels energized and ready to use her voice to get people engaged with and involved in the political process.

“I guess, basically I’ve rewound to where I was before the election,” she said. “Last time I was flying my flag under the banner of ‘Vote Dammit!.’ So much suffering is wrought from lack of participation and faith in the process.

“So I’m gearing up to get back in that space,” Difranco continued. “Democracy only exists if we do it. I’ll keep saying that until it (everyone voting) happens, then I’ll sit down.”