Ani DiFranco is an artist who exemplifies a blue-collar musician. In 1990, Miss DiFranco came out with her self-titled album. In the 12 years that followed, she has produced new material each consecutive year. During these 12 years, Ani has gained a loyal and powerful fan base of young Americans that during the time of her "breakout" album Dilate caused such an inside buzz among the music industry that labels began courting the little folk singer. Ani stayed true to her own voice, vision, and self by seeing through the padded words of some music executives, and staying with her own label Righteous Babe Records (RBR). RBR has been behind every Ani album, and has come to produce a small challenging group of musicians since its inception.

Ani DiFranco is an artist who exemplifies a blue-collar musician. In 1990, Miss DiFranco came out with her self-titled album, and in the 12 years that followed she has produced new material each consecutive year. During these 12 years, Ani has gained a loyal and powerful fan base of young Americans who, during the time of her "breakout" album Dilate, caused such an inside buzz among the music industry that labels began courting the little folksinger. Ani stayed true to her how own voice, vision, and self by seeing through the padded words of some music executives, and staying with her own label Righteous Babe Records(RBR). RBR has been behind every Ani album, and has come to produce a small, challenging group of musicians since its inception.

Varying from my usual review of new CD's, I didn't feel anything else in this month's new releases carried the weight or impact of Ani DiFranco's new DVD, Render: Spanning Time With Ani DiFranco. Render marks a first for Ani because for years her fans have been clamoring for a video of her performances. Many die-hard fans, in fact, have made a small business out of selling bootleg copies. Render allows her fans and passers by a view of a musician whose work ethic, as well as her humanity, is unparalleled. Ani is a staple of college radio, and despite having only one video played on MTV, she remains a strong voice of truths and emotion.

Upon first starting DVD, one sees the little folk singer on stage, which is nothing new since Ani is constantly touring. Her shows are not adorned with pyrotechnics or massive stage props, but instead they are full of light, music, and energy. Ani's presence on stage is that of a person seized by her own emotions and music as she rocks hard, with her guitar strapped over her shoulder and a joyful smile of her face. Ani's fun nature creeps out, and her honest candor with the audience continues to make her endearing to her fans. Her performance of Imagine That embodies her constant awareness of her audience as she jokes around with them mid-song.

Render is not merely a collection of concert clips. Behind Ani's music is a heavy and passion-filled social message. Ani's earlier tracks dealt a lot with individuality and seeking respect as a female musician and in general. As such, her original fan base was primarily female, but that has grown as Ani's opinions on drugs, crime, poverty, government, love, life, racism, and America have grown with the passage of time. Racism is a particularly poignant topic on Render as Ani and Scott Fisher tell the story of their hometown of Buffalo, NY, which is in a state of economic depression.

Ani explains the brief boom of Buffalo and its role along the Underground Railroad. She explains how, when the Erie Canal became less productive and Buffalo drew less money, the more well-to-do moved away from the city even as African Americans moved in. Ani carries on to remark how powerfully racism is ingrained in Americans, since so many of us hardly notice the little things we do, or our patterns of movement. Subdivision, which comes from Ani's last double record, Reveling & Reckoning, is the performance featured after the Buffalo history lesson. The rapt attention her powerful lyrics command is visible in her audience.

More than any other current artist of Generation X, Ani DiFranco's thought-provoking lyrics and musical growth consistently engage her fans and keep her album sales strong. Dollar for dollar, Ani makes more per record that many of her big label contemporaries since she produces, writes, and performs her own music. Render gives an excellent view of Ani's band mates, her fellow artists, and her family. More importantly, Render is a DVD that is littered with the little folk singer's music and vision (since she worked on the editing herself). For fans of Ani, this DVD has been a long time coming; and for people who've only heard of her, this DVD offers an amazing opportunity to see more of the artist and her music than just picking up an album.

For further information and merchandise, Ani and her fellow artists can be found here.

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Brad DeMaagd was born in Sacramento, California in 1976. Mr. DeMaagd currently lives in Michigan, but is planning a move to Oregon in the late spring. Mr. DeMaagd attended Michigan State University where he majored in English, with minor studies in Economics and History. Mr. DeMaagd continues to pursue his goal of becoming an Acquisitions Editor at a publishing house. His past times include watching David Lynch films, NFL football, working on his stories, and reading an ever growing stack of books.