Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco [ tickets ]--who announced last July that she would take a year-long hiatus from performing to recover from tendinitis--will be making an exception this April to appear at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.

DiFranco will warm up for the April 28 Jazz Fest gig with additional shows in Columbia, MO, and Atlanta, and then she'll rest up before returning to the road this summer.

The alt-folk artist has already scheduled four summer shows, beginning with a July 28 appearance in Edmonton, Alberta.

DiFranco, who typically performs more than 100 gigs per year, announced last year that she is suffering from inflamed nerves and tendons in her wrists and hands. Following her tendinitis diagnosis, she took a three-month break from the road in an unsuccessful effort to treat the condition. She then canceled all of her planned dates for late August and beyond.

A statement issued when DiFranco announced her hiatus said that, during her downtime from the road, she planned to work on various recording projects with "longtime friends," and to work on a new album that should be in stores sometime this year.