INDIGO GIRLS Decades After Their ﬁ Rst Hit, They’Re Still Close—And Even Closer to ﬁ Ne

ISSUE #42 MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A Frank Ockenfels 3

Amy Ray, Emily Saliers INDIGO GIRLS Decades after their ﬁ rst hit, they’re still close—and even closer to ﬁ ne

ALTHOUGH IT’S BEEN 26 YEARS SINCE we just feel it. This time we really felt it, they’ve never heard you before, you play that the Indigo Girls scored with their 1989 folk- because it’s been four years since our last song and they’ll go, “Oh yeah, I know this.” rock hit “Closer to Fine,” the Georgia-based album. So when we both were ready, we It’s that kind of song. duo—Amy Ray and Emily Saliers—has never started sending MP3s back and forth. Then stopped making music. In fact, their longest when we get together, we write out the chord Ever feel pressured to create another hit? hiatus between studio albums—four years— chart and lyrics for each other. Sometimes Not pressure that anyone puts on us, but ended with the release of their latest, One we work on the harmony ﬁ rst, sometimes the we’re aware of the business and that it Lost Day. “At this point we know what will instruments. The melody and lyrics are done, would be good if we had a new hit. It would work for an Indigo Girls album,” says Ray. so there’s not a lot of ﬁ ddling around with give us momentum and further diversify our “At the same time, producer Jordan Brooke those. But we might move around a chorus audience. When a lot of different people hear Hamlin worked differently than any other or a bridge and tighten things up. your single, it rallies your core audience and producer we’ve used—probably because engages people who may not be familiar she’s from a generation that operates in the Do you play around with who sings what? with what you’ve done in the past, hopefully digital realm. No matter what though, we (Laughs) We should! I’ve always thought encouraging them to seek out your new always put the songs before anything else.” it would be cool to write for Emily’s voice. music. But it’s not the be-all and end-all for us. But we typically stick to our own songs Secret to the Indigo Girls’ longevity? because we write in our own vocal range. Thoughts on the state of women in music? Emily and I are opposites—it’s cliché, but I Emily’s voice is higher, so that’s one thing Women make strides and then there’s a live in the country and she lives in the city. that dictates who sings what. Another is backlash, which happens over and over. But we have a lot of respect for each other, that when you write lyrics, you want to sing Women always seem to be the exception and we’re fans of each other’s music. What them—for emotional or sentimental reasons. to the rule. And that’s possibly because we have is special, so we try to protect that the mainstream gatekeepers are still and not let egos get in the way. Plus we write How do you feel about “Closer to Fine”? predominantly old white men, and it’s going separately, which helps. It’s so old! But we still love it. Emily wrote it, to be a while before they die off. (laughs) but I never get tired of it. It’s fun to play live I’m sorry, because a lot of them are my At what point do you work together? because the audience always sings, and it’s generation. But I think the younger generation Just to arrange songs when we’re working on nice to have one song that anchors things. will move things in a different direction. an album. When it’s time to make a record, Even if you play a festival where people think –Katy Kroll

‘What we have is special, so we try to protect that and not let egos get in the way.’

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