Ani DiFranco

Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. Her collaborators have included everyone from Utah Phillips to legendary R&B saxophonist Maceo Parker to Prince. She has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Greg Brown, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Chuck D., and many more. Her most recent album Binary was released in June 2017 on Righteous Babe Records and a memoir is forthcoming from Viking Books.

Rejecting the major label system has given her significant creative freedom. She has referenced her staunchly-held independence in song more than once, including in "The Million You Never Made" (Not a Pretty Girl), which discusses the act of turning down a lucrative contract, "The Next Big Thing" (Not So Soft), which describes an imagined meeting with a label head-hunter who evaluates the singer based on her looks, and "Napoleon" (Dilate), which sympathizes sarcastically with an unnamed friend who did sign with a label. After recording with Ani in 1999, Prince described the effects of her independence. "We jammed for four hours and she danced the whole time. We had to quit because she wore us out. After being with her, it dawned on me why she's like that – she's never had a ceiling over her."

Her lyrics are rhythmic and poetic, often autobiographical, and strongly political. “Trickle Down” discusses racism and gentrification, while “To The Teeth” speaks about the need for gun control, and “In or Out” questions society’s traditional sexuality labels. Most recently, the 2016 single "Play God" has become a battle cry for reproductive rights. Rolling Stone said of her in 2012, "The world needs more radicals like Ani DiFranco: wry, sexy, as committed to beauty and joy as revolution."

Over the years she's performed at countless benefit concerts, donated songs to many charity albums, and given time and energy to many progressive causes. She has learned from and demonstrated beside Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson and Dennis Kucinich. In 2004, she marched in the front row of the March for Women's Lives along with Margaret Cho, Janeane Garofalo, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others, later performing on the main stage. She has beaten the drum for voter registration and turnout with "Vote Dammit" tours in multiple presidential election years, including most recently in 2016. She's currently on the board of Roots of Music, an organization that provides at-risk youth with support and musical education in New Orleans, and the creative council of EMILY’s List, which helps elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

As an iconic songwriter and social activist, she has been the inspiration for woman artists and entrepreneurs for over two decades. She has been featured on the covers of SPIN, Ms., Relix, High Times, and many others for her music and activism. She is the idol of empowered women who came of age in the 90s and continues to bring younger fans into her fold. From Alice Walker to Amy Schumer, Ani is respected by wordsmiths across milieux and generations. She blazed the trail for self-directed artist careers and has been cited by musicians from Prince to Bon Iver as an inspiration to release their own art outside of the major label system.

Ani has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Grammy for best album package (Evolve), the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and the Woody Guthrie Award. At the 2013 Winnipeg Folk Festival she received their prestigious Artistic Achievement Award, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from A2IM (a nonprofit trade organization that represents independent record labels) and the Outstanding Achievement for Global Activism Award from A Global Friendship.

As a child, Hockett was heavily influenced by gospel music at church and the R&B music industry, which her father worked in. Mr. Hockett was a promoter for soulful artists like Prince and K-Ci & JoJo. Living in the vicinity of blues and country capitals of the world Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee Hockett was also exposed to folk and country music.

Valerie June was inspired to move to Memphis in 2000, where she performed as one half of the duo Bella Sun with her now ex-husband. Coming out of an unsuccessful marriage, Hockett decided to start her independent career in music making what she calls “organic moonshine roots music.” Her muses are artists from the 1920s and 1930s including Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, The Carter Family, and Alan Lomax. Valerie June ambitiously self-produced two EPs “The Way of the Weeping Willow” in 2006 and “Mountain of Rose Quartz” released in 2008. The former was recorded in an old 1800s farmhouse owned by a friend and the latter at Ardent Studios in Memphis .

After opening for the band Old Crow Medicine Show at Rhodes College, Valerie June did a collaborative EP with her fellow performers called “Valerie June and the Tennessee Express” in 2010. Hockett received quite a following after the album was put out as well as from her appearance on MTV’s online series “$5 Cover,” which gave exposure to underground musicians in the Memphis area.

As the next step to producing her debut album, Valerie June took matters into her own hands by creating a Kickstarter.com campaign with producer Craig Stuart which. Her efforts raised $15,000 in under two months. Hockett’s actions attracted the attention of producer Kevin Augunas, who helped her network with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The two gentlemen helped Valerie June accomplish her goal by co-writing and producing her first album “Pushin’ Against a Stone” in June 2011. Her music maneuvers smoothly through the blues and gospel genres, with a touch of nostalgia and a lot of soul. Valerie June’s debut single “Workin’ Woman Blues” was the first song she played for the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series. Her album was released in the UK and Europe on 6 June 2013. Her song “You Can’t Be Told” also received significant airplay.

In 2012 Valerie June collaborated with Fugees producer John Forte on hip-hop blues single “Give Me Water.” In 2013 she supported Jake Bugg on his UK tour.