Photo via Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls
What better way is there to cap off Pride Month than listening to music from the Indigo Girls at Milwaukee Summerfest? The duo, Emily Sailers and Amy Ray, are
touring in support of their 16th studio effort, Look Long. The collection’s song-cycle carries a reflective undercurrent that fits well alongside an arsenal of songs gathered in a career that spans over four decades. It is also a watershed moment and nod to the long musical journey that began when they first met in elementary school.
Music was the bonding force in singing together, performing through high school and college, all the while forging a unique template for harmony and interlocking acoustic guitar work. There is magic in songs like “Closer to Fine,” “Ghost,” and “Kid Fears,” that have become touchstones evolving with new interpretations for a fan base that likewise has matured.
The pair has also long been active with musical side projects and raising awareness for numerous causes. Always moving forward, their achievements and accomplishments are all the more impressive when coupled with staying true to themselves and core values. They play music with a statement, and rock out too … not an easy feat these days.
Amy Ray recently spoke with the Shepherd Express on a wide range of topics including her favorite color and “If you could be a tree …”
What keeps the both of you together performing music and writing for all this time?
A lot of luck. We love playing, we miss home, we love collaborating with other musicians, and there are social justice issues that keep us going, just doing things that are fresh and not make it stale … it’s bigger than just us.
What is your favorite color? And, if you could be a tree, what would you be and why?
Oh, great. I don’t really have a favorite color. I like brown for clothes, green for grass but they tell me I like purple. Let’s see, I would be an American Beech tree because people could carve things in my bark and it would stay there forever. I would have all these art things on me.
What do you think is the appeal of songs like “Closer to Fine” and “Ghost?” They go back to early in your career, and yet, they keep coming back around with the words taking on a different meaning over time?
Well, “Ghost” is a great song, written by Emily (Sailers), with an incredible melody, it’s got a message that everyone can relate to … unrequited love and sort of coming to peace with that. I think “Closer to Fine” is pretty timeless and relates to a lot of different stages in your life because you’re always re-discovering the idea that you can’t get your answer from one place.
Accept where you are, and don’t become jaded. You can relate to those messages at any age. I think people in our base like songs for sentimental reasons, where they were when they first heard that song…a lot of them are our age now. They have kids, and the kids listen to them. It’s one of those hand-me-downs. How beautiful is that?
When you say “Our age,” we just turned 21, right?
Well, I was going to say 35 (laughs).
The band has played Milwaukee numerous times, what memories stand out for you?
So many, so many. We’re friends with the jazz duo, Mrs. Fun, and have known them since 1987, playing writer’s nights in Nashville, and they’re Milwaukee jazz greats to me. Whenever we’ve been there, we always go exploring—like Beans & Barley (vegetarian restaurant), and different clubs that they love.
I like to go riding my bike along the lakefront. Plus, it’s an intimate scene … we were playing at Shank Hall, some years ago, with my country band, and in walks Kevn Kinney (Drivin and Cryin), and it was like, “What are you doing here?” It’s seeing old friends, and Milwaukee is nice, just to kind of touch base. It’s a good city like that.
Your music lets you travel all over. It’s a wonderful passport to meet and talk with people, get a perspective for different parts of the country. What is your take on things these days?
We definitely travel and see things, hear different perspectives…I always try to get out wherever I am. Like today, I went and did my laundry. I’ll go walking, or biking, or just go sit in a park and listen to people, hear what they have to say.
I live in a rural Georgia area, and I get a lot of information that’s not from the bubble of left-wing liberalism. I love media, especially independent newspapers, which I support. I’m a CNN junkie, NPR radio, independent sources. I like to hear different things.
As far as the country right now, it’s like everybody says, we’re really polarized and we need to stop being afraid of each other … just talk. I think a lot of people say that but no one knows how to do it. So, we have to figure that out. There’s a lot of things we all need and probably aren’t getting them right now. I hope that can happen, a whole revolution of new faces, people to make decisions and work together. That would be nice.
What about on a local level?
I always feel hopeful…I know a lot of great activists, great people working in their local communities doing the hard work, just worried about basic issues, people experiencing homelessness, racism, poverty, drug addiction, and all the things that make us human that we can work on together. I feel hopeful because I see people doing that work.
It has to be said…have you two considered that you’ve been doing this for over 45 years?
Yes (laughs). We have considered it. But we try to be in the moment. If we look back at how long we’ve been doing this—it’s mind-boggling. I’m glad to be alive, to be honest. We’re still playing together, and we still have an audience. It’s great!
