lifeblood: listlogs: 1998v01n075-news

ig-news-digest wednesday, may 13 1998 volume 01 : number 075

                               today's subjects:
                               -----------------
  [ig-news] another sonicnet article        [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.net.au>]
  [ig-news] lilith 97 ig interviews (# 2)     [mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>]
  [ig-news] lilith 97 ig interviews (# 1)     [mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>]
  [ig-news] girls in alternative press magazine!!!  [adia difranco <saliers_]

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date: tue, 12 may 1998 20:05:51 +1000
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.net.au>
subject: [ig-news] another sonicnet article

hey folks,

yet another article from sonicnet (http://www.sonicnet.com)...

- -sherlyn

- ---
[ tue., may 12, 5:31 am pdt ]

aclu defends suspended pro-indigo girls high-schoolers

civil-rights organization joins seven other advocacy groups in
denouncing concert cancellations.

contributing editor randy reiss reports:

the columbia, s.c., chapter of the american civil liberties union has
stepped in to offer legal defense and advice to five irmo high school
students who protested the school's cancellation of an indigo girls
concert due to the folk-rock duo's homosexuality.

the students were given eight-day suspensions following a class walkout
last thursday.

meanwhile, seven other advocacy groups -- the national campaign for
freedom of expression; the massachusetts music industry coalition; the
national coalition against censorship; rock out censorship; artists for
a hate-free america; the new england free expression network; and the
boston coalition for freedom of expression -- released a statement on
friday that condemned the cancellations and praised the students who
protested the action.

"the students should be learning that the freedom of expression is the
cornerstone of our nation's democracy," said david greene, program
director of the national campaign for freedom of expression. "but
sadly, the school leaders are demonstrating instead that the students'
and the performers' fundamental liberties may be thoughtlessly
disregarded."

the aclu, a civil liberties organization, was approached by a parent
of one of the students on thursday, according to carl a. "andy" brumme
iii, aclu staff counsel in columbia, s.c. this happened after
protesting students were held in a school conference room for two
hours, pending administrators' investigation of the protest and
contact with parents and guardians.

when principal gerald witt distributed eight-day suspensions to the
students, as well as five others, the aclu took an even bigger interest
in the case, claiming that the school was going above and beyond its
standard policies on tardiness and skipping class, brumme said. "the
principal had spoken with [local newspaper] the state and told them
that students who participated in the walkout would serve a three-hour
detention on saturday," he explained. "after about a half-hour of their
protest, the students were asked by a teacher, 'don't you think it's
time to get back to class?', and they replied that they were not ready,
that they still had some things to discuss."

at this point, according to brumme, the students were allegedly led
into a conference room where they were held for two hours without being
able to contact their parents. "when the principal told them they were
being suspended for eight days for disobeying a teacher," brumme
continued, "they were shocked."

according to district 5 school board spokeswoman jane rish, the high
school marks students tardy if they miss the first 10 minutes of class.
after 20 minutes, they are marked absent and given a saturday detention.
"we are following our district guidelines with these students," rish
explained, "but the problem is they fall into four or five different
categories of discipline."

though all 10 students were officially suspended for disobeying a
teacher, district 5 school board spokesman buddy price said on friday
that some students may also have been suspended for disrupting the
educational process. five of the suspended students have yet to accept
the support of the aclu.

according to irmo high school policy, students who are suspended have a
chance to appeal the decision in a face-to-face meeting with their
parents and the principal. rish and brumme said that these meetings took
place monday and that principal witt seems to have held his ground. the
next step, should the students elect to appeal the decision, is a meeting
with a district hearing officer. should the suspensions remain in place,
brumme said, the aclu is prepared to file suit against the school.

"i've communicated numerous times with the school's attorney, and their
position is that it's a discipline issue and not a first amendment
issue," brumme explained. "at the moment, i'm trying to get a temporary
restraining order against these suspensions, to put them back in classes
while this process is going on."

if the suspensions hold, brumme added, the aclu will file suit on behalf
of the students to collect damages and attorneys' fees. "these students
thought they were going to get detentions, and they are willing to serve
them," brumme said. "these suspensions, however, are a violation of the
first, fourth and 14th amendments, mainly against freedom of speech and
assembly."

at farragut high school in knoxville, tenn., where three students were
given three-day suspensions following their involvement in similar indigo
girls-related protests, teacher and concert organizer jeff callahan
resigned as advisor for the school's student newspaper, the crow's nest.
the concert was called off at this school soon after administrators
learned of the irmo cancellation. however, in this case, the principal
cited the band's use of vulgarities in their lyrics -- rather than their
sexuality -- as the impetus for the cancellation.

"i think the decision speaks for itself," callahan said. "but i do want
to add that this fiasco with the indigo girls was not the reason why [i
resigned]. my decision involved other things." callahan did concede,
though, that farragut principal edwin hedgepeth's last-minute
cancellation of the concert was "the straw which broke the camel's
back."

leslie aldridge of the shagg network, the organization that booked the
indigo girls' controversial swing through high schools and universities
in the south, agreed with the assessment of the situation by green, of
the national campaign for freedom of expression. stating that she hadn't
really anticipated such a controversy to erupt, aldridge said she felt
that the educators in this case are doing their students a disservice.

"the fact that an amazing talent like the indigo girls was willing to do
this on their own dime was an incredible gesture of goodwill and an
opportunity for kids to be in touch with artists," aldridge said. "i
understand the conservative political climate, but i think we missed out
on an incredible educational opportunity."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= sherlyn koo - sherlyn@fl.net.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"it's never too late to live right now,
so you can be who you want to be..." - carrie newcomer

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
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: tue, 12 may 1998 13:00:42 -0400
from: mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>
subject: [ig-news] lilith 97 ig interviews (# 2)

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

lilith fair 97 -- indigo girl interview transcripts (# 2)
parts six - ten

transcribed from quicktime movie interview clips with ig
made during lilith fair 1997 from the lilith 97 web site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from: + <http://lilithfair.excite.com/lilith97/index2.html>
      + 'dates'
      + '[date-cityname]'
      + '[cityname] recap'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the scene: all clips from the same shoot. outside, bright
sunny day, sitting on a grassy hillside under
some shady trees. (date/city ?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 20 - shakopee')

ig part six: amy on ambition

amy: "we've always been sort of a self-contained kind of unit...
and... we've always been... you know, half... half of our
personality, i think, as a whole... umm... you know, half of
us together, whatever that is [laughs] ... is ambitious...
you know... and... and... and looks at things, and tries to
achieve, and takes one day at a time... and... but the other
half of us is... i think, is very pure... and the rea... and
our ambition is for a good reason. and, we've always counted
on our instincts and talked to each other about what we think
we should do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 22 - calgary')

ig part seven: amy on improvisation

amy: "i love music so much, and i think that i had sort of a
renaissance of my love of music, and it made me wanna...
umm... just branch out and get better. and i realized i wasn't
gonna get any better unless i made myself a fool sometimes.
[emily laughs off camera] so that's what i do now... on this
tour, we tend to improvise less, cause we have less time...
and, umm... when you have less time... if half of your set is
improvising... then you look really... well... half the time
you look bad, and half the time you look good [a&e both laugh.
amy continues talking while laughing] so we're just trying
to be a little more solid. [frame ends on big amy smile]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 22 - calgary')

ig part eight: emily on working with women

emily: "we like working with women... and we like working
with men. we like a balance. but we want to give women
opportunities, because... you know... for a long time there
weren't women engineers and women techs, and even women
musicians, you know. it's like women in music were still in
part of the evolution, and so... umm... to allow people the
opportunity... i think is part of an evolution... for other
women to see, 'oh, this woman's doing this job. that
looks... really interesting... or that's exciting... or...
you have a woman house sound... umm... engineer.' so, we're
of that spirit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from: + <http://lilithfair.excite.com/lilith97/index2.html>
+ 2nd paragraph - 'vancouver link'

ig part nine: amy on her current religious beliefs

amy: "my spirituality really does exist in nature. and i
don't... i'm not a christian. so... umm... for me that's the
extent of how i can explain it. and, for both emily and i,
it's a big part of our lives, and we feel a stronger pull...
you know, on us from unknown powers and we try to follow it.
and... umm... you know, what drives us probably more than
anything is our spiritual attachment to that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('vancouver link')

ig part ten: emily on her current religious beliefs

emily: "i grew up christian as well. i don't believe that you
have to believe in christ to be saved and all that stuff, and
that christianity is the true faith. so, in that sense,
technically, i'm not a true christian. but, i believe that the
teachings of jesus... i mean, what he did was -- he hung out
with diverse folks, you know... with whores and sinners and
people of the cloth or whatever and people of different race
- -- and that's... that epitomizes, like... perfect human
relationship, you know... umm... the blessings of diversity."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

date: tue, 12 may 1998 13:00:11 -0400
from: mel <melsouth@mindspring.com>
subject: [ig-news] lilith 97 ig interviews (# 1)

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org. mel was kind enough to
transcribe all the video clips from the lilith site that she
posted about yesterday.]

lilith fair 97 -- indigo girl interview transcripts (#1)
parts one - five

transcribed from quicktime movie interview clips with ig
made during lilith fair 1997 from the lilith 97 web site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from: + <http://lilithfair.excite.com/lilith97/index2.html>
      + 'dates'
      + '[date-cityname]'
      + '[cityname] recap'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the scene: all clips from the same shoot. outside, bright
sunny day, sitting on a grassy hillside under
some shady trees. (date/city ?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 13 - scranton')

ig part one: emily on the making of sots

emily: "amy and i sort of took the reigns and produced it with
david [leonard]. so that was different. also... experimenting
with a lot of different instruments that we hadn't played
before -- bass, banjo and mandolin... bouzouki, different
electric guitars, different amps, piano -- umm... so... it...
was much nore experimental in that way. but also, much more
free... like... we didn't feel that... anything was holding us
back from just running around the studio... and trying
different things... and... one thing is that that's a luxury,
you know... we had a big enough budget to allow us to do that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 15 - toronto i')

ig part two: amy on signing with epic

amy: "for me... i felt like... we would do an independent
record, if we couldn't get a deal, but we would only take a
deal if it didn't compromise anything about what we were doing.
and, i just... i felt tired... honestly... from the amount of
work... that we were doing... and... and... [film cut] epic
came along, and... offered us... you know... a very good
situation. they support our... umm... politics... umm...
they've never asked us to compromise on anything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 16 - toronto ii')

ig part three: amy on her relationship with emily

amy: "i mean we've known each other since we were about nine.
we're good communicators, and we respect each other and we're
different, and we have different ways... umm... of handling
our value systems, but similar value systems. so... you know,
that... that's something that we recognize in each other, and
we just try to... usually the communication breakdowns end up
being me and emily against... you know... the world type of
feelings. [emily laughs off camera, amy smiles] and so, it
makes us communicate better. we have to... like... [emily off
camera: we count on each other.] ... fend off some situation.
[laughter]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 17 - montreal')

ig part four: emily on her relationship with amy

emily: "the bond of our relationship has been a mystery... you
know... you could explain it in terms of, like, yin and yang,
cause we're so different -- musically, and in terms of
personality. and also, we've played together for many, many
years... you know... 16 years professionally now... umm...
it's unusual to have a relationship like... i mean... a
marriage to last that long... you know. and this kind of
relationship has just been amazing. and i think you have to
say that a lot of it is sort of mysterious... or whatever...
the other senses... whatever other realm it is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
('august 19 - milwaukee')

ig part five: emily on amy's improvisation

emily: "amy's been in a period of more... umm... like...
improvisation musically... and so she's leading the band in
that way... which is a *great* thing. but, at first, i had to
really... had to stop, and like listen to what she's doing,
and it wasn't like i could just... like... jump into her realm
of expression at that moment and go comfortably with it. now,
it's like second nature. so, that was something that took,
like, a little bit of... actually paying attention to what was
going on... and actually, then letting go and having it happen.
it was neat. that just happened, you know, fairly recently."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

date: tue, 12 may 1998 17:08:03 pdt
from: adia difranco <saliers_ray@hotmail.com>
subject: [ig-news] girls in alternative press magazine!!!

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

hey ya'll i don't think anyone has said this yet:
the girls are in alternative press magazine, june '98 issue. w/sarah
mclachlan on the cover.
in the ap guide to summer tours there's a pic, from the curve photo
shoot, and the article says:

"a summer camp" says the indigo girls' amy ray. "you live with
everybody, you eat with everybody, you feel like you're in the circus."
the indigo girls played 3 weeks opening last year's tour, and they'll
play 4 weeks from mid-june to mid-july this year. ray has fond memories
of the first lilith fair. at first she felt that the event was too big
for her band, but almost immediately they found a say to feel at home.
"it's a lot more diverse than it seems at face value," she notes. "and
it was amazing, totally amazing. we walked around to people's dressing
rooms and enlisted them to perform with one another. that's what makes
an event like that special-if people share."

*g*

lamia

"i'm tired of you trying to teach when you should be learning.
i'm sorry to see we're surrounded by hate, hate, hate.
when i go to sleep at night, i can still pray,
does it make you hate me?
because when you hate me, i can still love you."
- -amy ray

http://members.tripod.com/~deleria_haze/enter.html
______________________________________________________
get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com

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end of ig-news-digest v1 #75
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