Ravinia 2021 - Issue 4

DA<M2N GARDNER (DI)RANC2) PAVILION 7:00 PM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 ANI DIFRANCO † –Intermission– INDIGO GIRLS † Ravinia debut A MESSAGE FROM UNITED AIRLINES At United, our shared mission is connecting people and uniting the world—something we do every day as we connect people to the moments that matter most. We have the privilege of connecting our assets—people, planes, profit—to drive meaningful change in the communities we serve. “We are pleased to support the 2021 Ravinia season and contribute our resources to support programming that makes our hometown so vibrant,” says Suzi Cabo, United’s Managing Director of Global Community Engagement. As the festival’s official airline, we are pleased to use our unique resources to transport artists, musicians, and staff from around the globe to Ravinia each summer. United celebrates the energy that performers and the nearly 600,000 guests bring to our hometown and the global stage each summer. We value this great partnership and are pleased to join Ravinia in welcoming you to the 2021 season. INDIGO GIRLS Having performed together since high school, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers adopted the name Indigo Girls in 1985 while attending Emory University in their native Georgia. Their first full-length album, Strange Fire , was released in a limited run two years later; among its listeners was Epic Records, which signed the singer-songwriters the following year. The In- digo Girls’ first major release came in 1989, with fellow Georgian Michael Stipe of R.E.M. providing additional vocals on “Kid Fears” for their eponymous album. While the guest appearance helped garner some early spins on college radio, the folk-rock duo’s own “Closer to Fine” became a major hit, earning them two Grammy nominations (winning Best Contemporary Folk Recording honors with the album) that year and pushing the disc to multiplatinum sales. “Hammer and a Nail” received a Grammy nod while 1990’s Nomads Indians Saints climbed to gold sales status, and then their next three studio al- bums, beginning with Rites of Passage (1992), captured increasingly higher peak chart po- sitions and Grammy nominations: Rites hit number 21 and Swamp Ophelia (1994) hit number 9 while each went platinum, and the gold record Shaming of the Sun (1997) soared to number 7 with “Shame on You” becoming a major Top 40 radio hit. After another three studio albums and a rarities compilation to mark their 20th anniversary, the Indigo Girls parted with Epic and collaborated with Hollywood Records and producer Mitchel Froom on Despite Our Differences (2006). Major label independence followed in 2009 with Poseidon and the Bitter Bug , and in 2011 they reunited with the producer from Rites and Swamp for Beauty Queen Sister , which featured a host of guest musicians and further encapsulated the “heart-over-head” organic approach the duo sought in independent re- cording. Across One Lost Day (2015) and the duo’s most recent record, Look Long (2020), both Ray and Saliers went through a number of changes in their personal lives—including becoming parents—which carried over into expanded sonic and songwriting palettes. Tonight marks the Indigo Girls’ seventh ap- pearance at Ravinia, where they first played in 2000. ANI DIFRANCO An icon of independence and empowerment, Ani DiFranco has been creating music since her teens growing up in Buffalo, NY. At age 19 she recorded her first cassette and very quick- ly sold them out at her shows. The following year, in 1990, DiFranco became one of the first artists to establish her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, to manage wider distribution and maintain creative autonomy separate from the corporate label system. This independent aim has even been referenced in her songwriting: “The Next Big Thing” on 1991’s Not So Soft describes an imag- ined meeting with a label headhunter based on looks alone. DiFranco’s following grew across Imperfectly (1992), Puddle Dive (1993), and Out of Range (1994), garnering interest from major labels that was soundly rejected. This experience was chronicled in “The Mil- lion You Never Made” on 1995’s Not a Pretty Girl —ironically, she had just scored a major distribution deal with Righteous Babe, and the disc earned her more national attention than ever. The track “Shy” earned DiFranco her first Grammy nomination. Her subse- quent album, Dilate (1996), made its debut inside the top 100 of Billboard ’s albums chart, then a rare achievement for an independent release. She again addressed major record label culture on the track “Napoleon,” offer- ing sarcastic sympathy to an unnamed friend who had signed into the system. Little Plas- tic Castle (1998) sent DiFranco up the charts to number 22 while its track “Glass House” earned her another Grammy nom; 1999’s Up Up Up Up Up Up delivered similar results at number 29 and with “Jukebox.” Regularly contributing to her albums’ visual artwork, DiFranco won her first Grammy in 2004 for Best Recording Package with her number-30 hit Evolve and earned nominations with her next three discs— Educated Guess (2004), Knuckle Down (2005), and Reprieve (2006). Equally renowned as a social activist, Di- Franco has been honored with the Woman of Courage Award from the National Orga- nization for Women (2006) and the Woody Guthrie Award (2009), and she also received a lifetime achievement award from the indie label trade organization A2IM (2017). Her 22nd studio album, Revolutionary Love , was released in January. Ani DiFranco is making her Ravinia debut. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 51