lifeblood: listlogs: 1998v01n068-news

ig-news-digest friday, may 8 1998 volume 01 : number 068

                               today's subjects:
                               -----------------
  [ig-news] 1998 newport folk fest lineup (fwd)  [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.ne]
  [ig-news] ig on letterman and nigc ?  [kevin mitchell <kjmitchell@smtpgate]
  [ig-news] amy ray statement                 [jackie <jackie@filipinos.com>]
  [ig-news] another wire about the cancellations  [jackie <jackie@filipinos.]
  [ig-news] from planet out news: more cancellation stuff...  [larissa <btoa]
  [ig-news] sovo ig - hs article              [mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

date: fri, 08 may 1998 07:37:20 +1000
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.net.au>
subject: [ig-news] 1998 newport folk fest lineup (fwd)

hey folks,

this comes from the folk_music mailing list...

- -sherlyn

- --- begin forwarded message
date: thu, 7 may 1998 05:12:05 -0400 (edt)
from: jackcisw <jackcisw@aol.com>
subject: 1998 newport folk fest lineup

i was able to go to the press release today to get information about the
summer bill.   i also have info on the newport jazz fest and the new gibson
guitar festival - newport if you are interested.  if anyone has any questions
about how to get tickets, artist(s), lodging, please drop me a line privately
and i�ll tell you what i know.   hope to see you all there.....

1998 newport festival lineup
the 1998 ben & jerry�s folk festival - newport lineup
friday august 7, 1998 at hotel viking one bellevue avenue, 8 pm
club 47: honoring the past, celebrating the future
tom rush
janis ian
susan werner
vance gilbert
brooks williams
tickets: $25 at all times

saturday, august 8, fort adams state park, 11:30 am - 6:30 pm
lyle lovett                             nanci griffith
alison krauss             marc cohn
eric taylor                  dee carstensen
donna the buffalo

tickets: $39 advance; $42 on festival weekend, $15 for children ,12.
limited number of special two day tickets available until july 1 for $65.
children under 12, $15 at all times, under 2, free. on sale as of may 7 and
through ticketmaster.
on site parking will be available for $6.

sunday, august 9, fort adams state park, 11:30 am - 6:30 pm
indigo girls                            ani difranco
dar williams                            louden wainwright iii
cheryl wheeler            raymond myles and the rams
trina hamlin

the festival hopes to add a second stage in �98. call info line at
401-847-3700 or visit the website at: www.newportfolk.com.

jack

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
this has been a message from the ig-news list.
please send feedback, questions etc to owner-ig-news@smoe.org.
submissions are welcome - please send these to ig-news@smoe.org.

------------------------------

date: thu, 7 may 1998 12:50:18 -0400
from: kevin mitchell <kjmitchell@smtpgate.read.tasc.com>
subject: [ig-news] ig on letterman and nigc ?

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org. the nigc content has been
snipped for brevity.]

on the indigo girls web site (press file) it said they will be
on letterman on 6/4/98. just thought i would pass that
along.

kevin mitchell
kjmitchell@tasc.com

------------------------------

date: thu, 7 may 1998 18:28:29 -0400
from: jackie <jackie@filipinos.com>
subject: [ig-news] amy ray statement

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

hey there...

a friend of mine works at cox broadcasting and she faxed over a 'wire'
she received about all these lame cancellations:
here is what amy said:

"the idea of a high school tour came about after emily and i were judges
in a student lyric writing contest sponsored by scholastic magazine.
the words we read begged for and exalted in the chance to be expressed.
the broad range of topics included: political activism, love, sonnets,
sexual abuse, and alienation.  we were struck by the students' energy
and willingness to engage in and question life.  the intent of the tour
was apolitical.  after carefully reading and approving our lyrical
contents high schools agreed to host a free show which included a
question and answer session.  the expenses were to be covered by the
indigo girls.  we have had 3 shows canceled citing reasons such as
profanity and most importantly sexual preference.  the profanity issue
is an obvious red herring - the irony being that we have more often been
accused of being too spiritual and 'clean.'  a minority composed of
homophobic narrow minded parents and weak kneed principals and school
boards have successfully enforced a policy of hate.  our public schools
should be a safe environment for an open exchange of ideas and a chance
to explore one's own individuality.

the impossibility and hypocrisy of a situation where kids are expected
to be honest but are judged and alienated from their community because
of it should not escape us.  in response to these circumstances we are
playing alternate shows - alcohol free, all ages, after school.  thanks
to the kids who are standing by us."
                                                        -- amy ray -
indigo girls

------------------------------

date: thu, 7 may 1998 18:35:06 -0400
from: jackie <jackie@filipinos.com>
subject: [ig-news] another wire about the cancellations

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

hey....

here is another wire my friend got from the associated press. this is a
bit more general than the statement given by amy ray in the earlier
e-mail i sent....

"*indigo girls to play for high school students*
(columbia, south carolina) -- students at suburban columbia, south
carolina high school will get a chance to hear the indigo girls tonight,
but not at school.
    the folk-rock duo has scheduled a concert in downtown columbia, some
ten miles from where they had first planed a free concert for students
at irmo high school.
    the school principal canceled the concert, after parents complained
because the two women in the group are lesbians.
    about a dozen students walked out of school this morning in protest
of the cancellation.
    band member emily saliers (say' lurz) calls the walkout a positive
response to an injustice."

------------------------------

date: thu, 7 may 1998 17:54:45 -0700
from: larissa <btoak@yahoo.com>
subject: [ig-news] from planet out news: more cancellation stuff...

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

3rd school nixes indigo girls

newsplanet staff
thursday, may 7, 1998 / 04:00 pm

summary: dyed-in-the-wool opposition to the lesbian musical duo's
series of free high school concerts spreads, as the indigos arrange
alternatives at their own expense.

farragut high school in knoxville tennessee on may 6 became the third
high school to cancel a scheduled appearance by the grammy-winning
indigo girls, both of whom are open lesbians. principal ed hedgepeth
followed principal ernest chism of the memphis-area germantown high
school in declaring that the duo's sexual orientation was not a
factor, but that the cancellation of two scheduled free lunchtime
concerts stemmed from their having used a word considered offensive in
the course of performing at a high school in atlanta, georgia -- but a
co-editor of farragut's student newspaper believes the opposite.
student newspapers were the vehicle for arranging the indigo girls'
performances, through a network that more typically assists them in
arranging interviews with musicians and reviews of new albums.

co-editor kanishka biddanda told the associated press, "it's
understood by everyone that the show was canceled because the indigo
girls are gay." about 50 farragut students staged a demonstration at
the flagpole as school closed may 6, protesting hedgepeth's decision.
some of their signs read, "homophobia is a social disease" and "free
speech is dead at fhs."

indigo girl amy ray agreed that sexual orientation was the real
issue, telling the knoxville "news sentinel" that, "i think the citing
of it as a profanity issue is a red herring. it's ironic because in
eight records we've put out we have one...profane word, and [we]
probably get accused more of being too spiritual and clean-cut by our
comrades in the music business, so i think this is definite
homophobia." the indigo girls moved their appearance to an early
evening slot at another venue, the b&h club, taking on all of the
$6,000 cost themselves. because the sexual orientation issue has been
raised, ray and co-indigo emily saliers are prepared to discuss it at
that non-school site. the band had a trouble-free appearance at a
nashville high school on may 4.

meanwhile, a dozen students walked out of their classes may 7 at
south carolina's irmo high school at the hour when the indigo girls
would have been performing, had not principal gerald witt canceled the
appearance in response to parent calls regarding their sexual
orientation. witt has made himself available for students who wish to
speak with him, and has encouraged teachers to allow students to
discuss the situation, but has also made clear that any "walk out" by
students will be punished with detention according to the usual
guidelines for tardiness and absence. the indigo girls arranged a
concert at another venue early this evening in columbia which the
students at irmo and other local schools can attend without charge,
although most of the free tickets had yet to be claimed by the end of
may 5.

[ed. note: see the following newsplanet story for a statement by
indigo girl amy ray.]

_________________________________________________________
do you yahoo!?
get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

------------------------------

date: fri, 8 may 1998 03:53:13 -0400
from: mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>
subject: [ig-news] sovo ig - hs article

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org.]

the following is the most well-written and comprehensive (to date)
article about the southern high school - ig concert cancellations.
it's also very long -- but definitely worth keeping and printing,
imho.

>from atlanta's gay/lesbian weekly paper, southern voice (copied
without permission):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'shame on you':
'blatant homophobia' cancels indigo girls concerts

southern voice - may 7, 1998
by laura brown

indigo girls were to have performed a free show at irmo high
school in columbia s.c. today, but according to the duo's emily
saliers, "a blatant case of homophobia" cancelled the show.

the school initially agreed to the performance, which was to be
one of a series of five high school shows the grammy-winning act
had scheduled for their southeastern tour. but irmo high school
principal gerald witt said he cancelled the appearance after
parents complained that saliers and singing partner amy ray are
lesbians.

local school board chairman david eckstrom told the associated
press that indigo girls were "promoting an agenda." eckstrom
is a republican running for state education superintendent.

"the show was canceled because we are gay," an angry saliers said
in a statement. "in the wake of recent violence in schools and
the often bleak environment for kids which includes the cutting
of school arts programs and lack of creative outlets, we believe
that playing free high school shows will provide a positive
musical and emotional experience for high school students.

"despite this particular cancellation, we will play in columbia,
s.c. and we'd like to thank the people there and everywhere who
support our collective message of respect and justice for all
human beings."

indigo girls will play today at columbia's township auditorium,
confirmed their publicist, lisa markowitz. of the 3,000 available
tickets, 2,000 were given free to high school students, she said.
students at irmo threatened to walk out of classes today to
protest the cancellation, and markowitz said she had heard some
teachers would accompany them.

an indigo girls concert at franklin high school in franklin,
tenn., on monday "went well," but two other high school shows
scheduled for this week have also been cancelled by school
officials, russell carter, indigo girl's manager, told southern
voice.

at press time, carter said he was "still trying to find out" why
farragut high school in knoxville, tenn., backed out of their
show scheduled for may 6.

meanwhile, the principal of germantown high school in a suburb
of memphis, tenn. told the (memphis) commercial appeal that he
initially agreed to a show there on may 5, but cancelled it when
he heard that the duo used profanity at a performance last month
at a high school in loganville, ga., a small town between atlanta
and athens.

"it was a very unusual opportunity. i looked at it as a reward
for the end of the year," said germantown principal ernest chism.
"i heard they had appeared on college campuses and i was assured
that they had toned it (show) down for high school audiences."

chism insisted the performers' sexual orientation had nothing
to do with his decision. "the [loganville] principal told me
they sung the song that had the f-word in it and emphasized it.
the concert went downhill from there." but chism refused to
renew the invitation even if the duo dropped the word from the
show, the memphis newspaper reported.

in the song "shame on you," the lead single from indigo girl's
most recent release, "shaming of the sun," contains the line:
"you know, me and jesus, we're of the same heart / the only
thing that keeps us distant / is that i keep fucking up."

but markowitz, indigo girls' publicist, was vehement that
profanity was not the real reason behind the germantown
cancellation, and used the same controversial phrase in
condemning it.

"what's fucked up about it is that the loganville concert took
place april 13, and this decision only came about during the
whole hoopla surrounding the irmo high school show," she said.
"i think it's a lot more gay-oriented than cursing-oriented."

loganville high school principal ken prichard confirmed to
southern voice that he talked with principal chism about the
concert the duo performed in his high school, and that he has
gotten complaints from parents since the show.

chism "had heard that there had been some fallout, and he
wanted to know what it was about," prichard said. "like me, he
didn't know much about the group except that they're extremely
well known and they're grammy winners, so he was calling to
find out."

prichard said he knew ray and saliers were lesbians before
their performance in loganville, but "i just didn't feel like
it was a problem. they weren't here to promote that, they were
here to perform."

still, after the performance, prichard said some parents called
to "applaud our efforts to bring something special to the kids,"
but "some parents were very, very upset about the use of
profanity in the lyrics, and once they started talking about
offensive lyrics, they brought in a sexual reference as far as
preference and said they thought it was totally inappropriate."

"shame on you" also contains the line, sung by ray, "when the
beautiful ladies walk right by / you know i never know what
to say."

prichard said he was surprised by the lyrics in the song,
because "i had listened to their cds and enjoyed them a lot,
and i hadn't noticed references to homosexuality or profanity."
because his "trust was broken," prichard said he would not
allow indigo girls to perform again at loganville high school,
and he probably won't allow any other bands, either.

while high school principals attacked the group's lyrics, fans
and gay rights organizations were quick to defend both saliers
and ray personally and the message of indigo girls' music.

the cancellations "make me very sad, because both amy and emily
have done such an incredible job of being strong role models
of what it means to be responsible citizens," said linda ellis,
executive director of youthpride, an atlanta organization
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered young people.

"i don't know two people who are more responsible in terms of
how they live their lives and the causes they support, and i
like the fact that the kids that listen to them in youthpride
see that side of them."

indigo girls have supported youthpride by contributing a song
to the organization's benefit cd, "thrive," and including
youthpride as a group they support in the liner notes for
"shaming of the sun," ellis said. saliers also discussed her
own coming out experiences with youth at the "out & proud"
conference in atlanta two years ago, she said.

joan garry, executive director of the national gay and lesbian
alliance against defamation, also condemned irmo principal witt
for banning indigo girls from high schools because they are gay.

"it is a travesty that a performance by the indigo girls - who
have long exemplified service and commitment to a diverse
number of important social issues would be considered anything
other than enlightening and celebratory," garry said. "instead
of mr. witt using this opportunity to teach his students how to
dismantle homophobia, he has demonstrated precisely how to
promote fear and intolerance."

leaders of south carolina's parents friends and families of
lesbians and gays agreed, calling on "all fair-minded people
to speak out for the indigo girls as well as all lesbian and
gay loved ones."

"as a mother and grandmother, i encourage all parents and
family members to make their voices heard on this issue. this
is about civil rights for everyone," said pflag-columbia's
harriet hancock. "many young people already know this - pure
and simple, it's not okay to discriminate."

two members of the rock group hootie and the blowfish, based
out of columbia, south carolina, also spoke out against the
irmo high school ban on the indigo girls performance.

hootie drummer jim sonefeld and fellow band member mark bryan
wrote letters that appeared in the (columbia) state on sunday
denouncing the school's decision.

"as a resident of south carolina," sonefeld wrote, "i always
find it frustrating to come home and read headlines filled with
racial injustice and prejudices of all forms.

"it is even more disturbing, however, to be in another state
when these headlines repeatedly arise and see outsiders'
perceptions of our state. (the headlines) showed the rest of
america one of the many reasons south carolina is viewed as
socially medieval."

sonefeld and bryan spoke highly of the indigo girls' music.

"they don't parade around singing the virtues of homosexuality
or try to coax the youth of america into a gay lifestyle,"
bryan wrote. "this (school's) decision was naive and wrong."

fans on the indigo girls' official web-site were more blunt in
their condemnation, particularly of the germantown high school
cancellation.

"there is only one thing worse than blatant homophobia and that
is trying to [cover your ass] when you cancel a show by one of
the best musical duos of our generation by disguising it as
trying to protect our high school kids from hearing profanity,"
one woman wrote. "it is absolutely ridiculous and should not
be tolerated."

------------------------------

end of ig-news-digest v1 #68
****************************