THE RIGHTEOUS READER
THE RIGHTEOUS READER
your jingle bell guide to the winter wonderland of ani difranco brought to you by the elves & reindeer at
righteous babe records the holly jolly december 1998 issue
HO HO HO HO HO HO:
As you're probably already aware, the NEW Ani album, UP UP UP UP UP UP, hits the streets of North
America on JANUARY 19 (and boy are we already tired of typin' those
6 UPs!). It's arriving a little late for Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanza, but well in advance of the traditional
Presidents Day gift exchange, so stock UP.
And here's the news everyone's been clamoring for: ADVANCE ORDERS for 6UP are now being taken
by phone and mail at RBR; orders placed by Friday, January 8 will ship on
Monday, January 11. There's NO GUARANTEE you'll actually get the thing any earlier this way, but, hey,
it's your call. (By the way, CDnow--that's www.cdnow.com --will be featuring the release at their site in
advance of its arrival.)
Additional release dates for you international types: 6UP arrives in Japan [via P-Vine] on January 6, in both
Europe [Cooking Vinyl] and Australia [Shock] on January 11. Meanwhile, the very first review is in, and
we're happy to say it's a rave. In the December 4 issue of ALBUM NETWORK, Carter Armstrong
declares Ani is "still funny, still acerbic, still intelligent, and still an iconoclast" while noting that "her musical
horizon has expanded" on the new release. You can say that again: 6UP was mostly recorded at Kingsway
Studio in New Orleans, a gorgeous little mansion in the French Quarter (frequented by REM, Squirrel Nut
Zippers, Luscious Jackson, and many more) where Ani and crew were free to roam from room to room
seeking out the best acoustic environment for each and every song. Kingsway is light years away from the
sterility of the average studio, and you'll hear the difference on the new disc: funny, warm, improvisational,
jam-crazy.
OH I WISH I HAD A RIVER THAT I COULD SKATE AWAY ON (obscure xmas-song reference
#5490):
Just a reminder: Ani narrates the Smithsonian Institution's much-anticipated look at THE MISSISSIPPI:
RIVER OF SONG, which airs as a 4-part series on PBS (Wednesday nights at 10 PM EST starting
January 6) and an expanded 7-part series on Public Radio International (airdates TBA, starting in January).
No Ani-music in the series or on the accompanying CD (which DOES include a huge range of performers:
Babes in Toyland, Ann Peebles, Jimmie Davis & Merle Haggard, D L Menard, Irma Thomas, Soul Asylum,
and many many more), but check out Ani's preface to the book version, out on St. Martins Press in January.
For all the facts, see www.pbs.org/riverofsong.
THE TWELVE INCHES OF CHRISTMAS:
There are 12, count 'em, 12 inches of grooved plastic in the brand-new, first- ever VINYL RECORD from
RBR, a 4-song EP we have dubbed LITTLE PLASTIC REMIXES, since that's pretty much what it
contains (OK, it's 3 tracks from the LITTLE PLASTIC CASTLE album plus a live version of "My IQ").
Shipped it first to college radio as a little thank-you gift, and now we're preparing for a retail version, to be
available only from us via phone (1-800-ON-HER-OWN) and at shows, starting (we hope) in late January
(please don't call YET; we're not ready to start taking orders on this one). Speaking of stuff people have
been asking for which doesn't quite exist yet but soon will, the new LPC songbook (at last, sheet music for
the masses!) ought to be available in music stores everywhere from the fine folks at Hal Leonard come
January or February. We'll be carrying it, too, most likely.
O LITTLE TOWN OF BUFFALO:
CNN shot the benefit for Leonard Peltier in Lawrence, KS on the last tour and then lugged their crews to
RBR headquarters in sunny Buffalo, NY for a segment of their new series "CNN Newsstand: Entertainment
Weekly," tentatively set to air on Thursday, February 4 at 10 PM EST.
HARK! THE HAIR-DYED ANGEL SINGS:
Ani's music continues to pop up just about everywhere you look, from a recent episode of L A DOCTORS
to the world's first all-women snowboard video, NO MAN'S LAND, to the new experimental video
documentary on rock & roll & feminism from acclaimed director Pratibha Parmar, conveniently entitled THE
RIGHTEOUS BABES (for more info on that last one, see the Women Make Movies website,
www.wmm.com). The Parmar tape will also air in the UK on December 21 at midnight on Channel 4.
JOY TO THE WIRED (and other upcoming press of note):
Mister DiFranco is one of the featured commentators (along with D J Spooky, Tom Brokaw, and some
dude named Frank Lloyd Wright) in the January 1999 WIRED cover story on technological tools. Look for
her on the cover of the next issues of CMJ MONTHLY and ROCKRGRL, too.
ON THE FIST DAY OF CHRISTMAS (WELL, IT'S sort of like A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE...):
The road crew informs us that the book on everyone's reading list during the last tour was Deborah
Addington's A HAND IN THE BUSH, the subject of which is pretty clear from the title if you think about it.
A particular favorite in the adults-only how-to guide was the poem on page 90, which begins "I know you
ain't no/ prettie grrrrl" and ends "cummawn, Ani/ I dare ya." Let your imagination fill in the rest.
Speaking of the road, the 1999 itinerary is still being put together, but Team DiFranco will be hitting New
Zealand and Australia from January 19-30, Honolulu on February 2, London (Shepards Bush Empire) on
February 20 & 21, Europe from there, and North America pretty much nonstop from April through July.
Load up that sleigh, and away they go!
Righteous Babe Records
PO Box 95
Ellicott Station
Buffalo, NY 14205
orders, snail mailing list, & tour info 1-800-ON-HER-OWN
international phone 716-852-7978
business phone 716/852-8020
fax 716/852-2741