The Grammy-award winning trailblazer Ani DiFranco – often said to be the mother of the DIY movement – is playing The Glasshouse in Gateshead this June. Quick! Sound the ‘Gig Of The Month’ klaxon!

Trying to pin down Ani DiFranco’s sound is like trying to nail jelly to a jack russell. The American-Canadian singer-songwriter has been called folk rock or alternative rock, but she also draws deep from the wells of punk, funk, hip-hop, jazz, soul, and more. She’s also a feminist icon and became one of the first artists in the US to create her own record label, in 1990, and her collaborators have included everyone from Utah Phillips to legendary R&B saxophonist Maceo Parker to Prince. Her 23rd album ‘Unprecedented Sh!t’ came out last year and it’s a fine showcase of an artist at the very top of her game, and features wonky folk tunes that are given a real Fiona Apple like intensity. When you get the chance to see a woman who doesn’t so much push the envelope as rip it up, then you should grab it with both hands. Unmissable. DP

Ani DiFranco, Tuesday 24 June, The Glasshouse, Gateshead, 7.30pm, £50.60, theglasshouseicm.org