''Not a Pretty Girl'' is the sixth studio album released by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco on her own record label,

Righteous Babe Records Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label that was created by folk singer Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company. History Righteous Babe Records was originally ...

. It was released July 18, 1995. The album extended the

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

's early formula of acoustic guitar and drums. On subsequent records, DiFranco would add electric guitar,

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, band members and guest musicians, but on ''Not a Pretty Girl'' she was accompanied by

Andy Stochansky Andy Stochansky is a musician and songwriter from Toronto, living in Los Angeles. Early years Born and raised in Toronto, Stochansky began tinkering with the family piano at the age of five. To stop him from making music with anything he could ...

's percussion alone. According to

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, "Light of Some Kind" is a "deeply felt portrait...in which the singer seems to be confessing to a man that she has been unfaithful to him with a woman" Released on ''Living in Clip'', the track "Shy" earned DiFranco a 1997

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.CNN – List of Grammy award nominations – January 6, 1998
/ref> "Shy" off the album is notable for being quoted by Matt Skiba of

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...

during live performances of the song "Ninety-Seven"

Artwork

The CD case of ''Not a Pretty Girl'' is designed to be looked at "the wrong way 'round", with the spine on the right hand side rather than the left.

Track listing

Personnel

* Ani DiFranco – guitar, bass, vocals *

– drums, percussion instrument/percussion Production * Ani DiFranco – record producer * Ed Stone –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Not A Pretty Girl Ani DiFranco albums 1995 albums Righteous Babe Records albums