Ani DiFranco didn’t even realize how happy she is these days until the reviews for her latest record, “Red Letter Year,” started rolling in.

“I noticed recently that in the press release for the record it talked about how happy I am,” she recently told the blog Head Count. “I was like … there it is. Right in front of the horse's mouth.

“It's a little weird to me, because it's not exactly a Jackson Five record or something. There are worse things that could be repeated.”

But she's got her thriving Righteous Babe record label, on which she’s able to release her own projects as well as those of artists she admires; a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter; and a happy household in her adopted hometown, New Orleans.

And after taking the summer off, DiFranco - who has built her Ann Arbor audience steadily since early-career gigs at The Ark - is hitting the road for a tour that arrives at the Michigan Theater on Sept. 25.

While her time off has been anything but relaxing, it hasn’t led to much in the way of new music, which is why, she said, the looming tour comes at the right time.

Indeed, after nearly 20 years on the national scene, DiFranco is known as much for her prodigious work ethic as she is for her politics-charged songwriting.

“There’s very little time in my life for anything extracurricular — even songwriting,” she said. “I feel as though I have just enough energy and leeway to play shows; to stay on the hamster wheel of my work, which is performing and interviewing and these album projects I’m involved with.

“But to write a song? That is so far down the list — past laundry and sleep — that I hardly ever get there. It’s a little excruciating, but I’m also very grateful for this journey and mothering job. It’s also a ton of fun, and I know I’ll get back to having more time for my work and other interests soon enough.”

Smiling Underneath - Ani DiFranco

DiFranco’s current tour pairs her with longtime bassist Todd Sickafoose — but she and drummer Andy Borger never met until the tour.

“It’s a little like an arranged marriage,” she joked.

Todd Wayland, a longtime DiFranco fan who lives in Brighton, isn’t worried about a lack of material or a new drummer. DiFranco always brings the goods, he said.

“I’ve seen her alone and with bands and she just never misses,” he said. “She’s just so full of energy and enthusiasm for what she does that it rubs off on her audience.

“She’s just one of those performers, who infuses everything she does with a passion that’s hard to resist.”

Ani DiFranco performs new song "Present Infant" live last year:

Ani DiFranco Who: Independent singer-songwriter. Nervous But Excited opens. What: Vibrant folk music with punk undertones. When: 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25. Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St. How much: $32.50, $37.50. Available from Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at 734-763-TKTS. Note: Unofficial after party: $1 off admission to the Ragbirds show at the Blind Pig with an Ani ticket stub.

Will Stewart is a free-lance writer for AnnArbor.com.