ani difranco

Ani DiFranco's Kay acoustic was modded by Reuben Cox of L.A.'s Old Style Guitar Shop. "He puts rubber around the bridges of guitars and they end up very funky, dead, and earthy, like an old dude on a porch suddenly playing it," she says.

Photo by Katie Sikora

The acoustic firebrand recorded with a band of masked strangers, using her modded vintage Kay acoustics for the songs of social upheaval and survival on her 22ndalbum, Revolutionary Love. Then, she got arrested.

While the world lay dormant under strict lockdowns, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and activist Ani DiFranco stepped out to make a strong political statement. DiFranco and her crew went to a Shell oil refinery to film the video for "Simultaneously," from her latest release, Revolutionary Love. They were immediately arrested for trespassing. "We were just standing by the side of the road. We didn't touch any of their shit and we didn't jump a fence," explains DiFranco. "They detained us for a long time and didn't say anything to us like, 'You're trespassing, please leave.'" The matter had to ultimately be resolved in Zoom court. "They charged each of us and we all had to pay a fine. One of the kids that was working on the video with us was working for so little that it would have negated his salary, so I paid his fine."

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For 30 years, new tunings and sounds, collaborations, and staying in the moment have been the acoustic guitar slayer's bedrock, but making music to "amplify truths" is what really keeps her inspired.


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