lifeblood: listlogs: 2000v03n066-news

ig-news-digest thursday, april 20 2000 volume 03 : number 066

today's subjects:
-----------------
  [ig-news] chastain - 6/2        [michael cunningham <mcunningham@pbp1.com>]
  [ig-news] wolf trap             [michael cunningham <mcunningham@pbp1.com>]
  [ig-news] ig at bedford sty high school tonight :)       [hunterj1@aol.com]
  [ig-news] the radio show...        [sheryl jones <sjones@library.wisc.edu>]
  [ig-news] princeton article        [sheryl jones <sjones@library.wisc.edu>]
  [ig-news] ig at wellesley college (long)  ["amy j. putnam" <pegasus@crl.co]
  [ig-news] princeton article               [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.net.au>]

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 08:43:42 -0400
from: michael cunningham <mcunningham@pbp1.com>
subject: [ig-news] chastain - 6/2

[sherlyn's note: this is an excerpt of a message which was
originally sent to the indigo girls mailing list at
netspace.org.]

hkf's,

06/02/00 atlanta, ga chastain park amphitheatre
on sale: 04/22/00 - 10:00am
(404)249-6400 (local tm)

got this info on tm this am. here's the normal chastain site, although it
doesn't list shows that aren't in the 'series' like this one:
http://www.consopro.com/chastain_frameset.cfm

[...]

a+e=ig

http://home.earthlink.net/~mcunningham5/indigotour.html
"...what a blessed sky"

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 11:16:20 -0400
from: michael cunningham <mcunningham@pbp1.com>
subject: [ig-news] wolf trap

[sherlyn's note: this is an excerpt of a message which was
originally sent to the indigo girls mailing list at
netspace.org.]

hkf's,

this is probably old news for some of you, but the two wolf trap shows (6/7
& 6/8) are already on sale. the information/links are on my site or just go
to this link: http://www.wolf-trap.org/

you can buy tix's over the phone or online (not tm!) for these shows. [...]

a+e=ig

http://home.earthlink.net/~mcunningham5/indigotour.html
"...what a blessed sky"

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 14:24:29 edt
from: hunterj1@aol.com
subject: [ig-news] ig at bedford sty high school tonight :)

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

change in the tour schedule: according to the wfuv interview this afternoon
(4-19) ig will be at the sty high school for a show tonight.

the interview was great!! they did a version (slower than usual) of gone
again on *guitars* and i loved it!! best i have ever heard.

jude :)

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 13:36:15 -0500
from: sheryl jones <sjones@library.wisc.edu>
subject: [ig-news] the radio show...

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

...was great!

things i learned:
*they are playing a high school today
*amy has a cold
*they are playing central park on june 13
*cold beer will be the next single
*russell didn't think broken blossoms (dusty s song) was right for them
at all. amy said everyone in the office made faces when they heard the
original.
*they'll be touring with the same band this summer
*honor the earth tour will be in october

fun moments:
*they screwed up cold beer and had to start it over again
*they only played two songs--gone again & cold beer. amy sounded really
good.
*the dj played either or with them...read a set of two things and they
had to say which they preferred.  one question was sabrina duncan or
jill munro.  emily didn't know who they were but eventually said
sabrina.  amy said she would have said sabrina previously but now she's
dating a farrah so she'll say farrah.

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sheryl jones
sjones@library.wisc.edu
my bootleg page: <http://www.geocities.com/felidae/boots.htm>
carla sloan page: <http://www.geocities.com/carlasloan>

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 16:52:56 -0500
from: sheryl jones <sjones@library.wisc.edu>
subject: [ig-news] princeton article

[sherlyn's note: this message was originally sent to the indigo
girls mailing list at netspace.org. i'll forward the article
along in a minute...]

check out this article in the daily princetonian - it's pretty
interesting.

http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000413/entertainment-music-61

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

date: wed, 19 apr 2000 07:14:48 -0700
from: "amy j. putnam" <pegasus@crl.com>
subject: [ig-news] ig at wellesley college (long)

[sherlyn's note: this is an excerpt of a message which was
originally sent to the indigo girls mailing list at
netspace.org.]

there are definite advantages to being an alum :-)

i'm going to preface this review by saying on april 28, 1990 i saw my
first indigo girls show, and there have been countless more over the
past decade. but last night's show was one of the best ig concert
experiences i have had. this was, in emily's words, "truly memorable".

mrs fun was the opening band.  two women, one on drums and one on
keyboards and vocals.  they are excellent musicians, but their music
runs towards jazz, and that's just not my taste.  ig came out to play and
sing on one song which can best be described as a jazz rap.  it was
actually pretty cool, but like the 1300+ other women in the room, it
was time for ig.

and i knew it was going to be good when they opened with "strange fire".
the set list:

strange fire
it's alright
ozilline
prince of darkness
jonas & ezekial
peace tonight
faye tucker
closer to fine
rome and juliet
philsophy of loss
go
power of two
gone again
love's recovery
least complicated
shame on you
get out the map
(encore)
(new quiet song by amy, with emily on guitar and a little vocal)
cold beer and remote control
galileo

[...]

for least complicated, ig did something that they have never
done before (their admission).  amy was practically jumping up and down
with glee half way through the show.  she said that when the audiences
sing along, they almost always sing emily's part.  at wellesley, she
was hearing her part too..."there's harmony which is beautiful".  so
they pulled two students from the audience to lead the crowd with the
proper parts...except for literally two or three lines of guidance,
the crowd sang the whole song unassisted by ig vocals.  it was quite
an experience.

they were chattier at this show than i've seen them lately.  emily
joked at one one "so do ya'll have a football team? kidding!" but of
course the ruggers were loud and clear that they played football.
[...]  they noticed the very small handful of men in the room (maybe
a dozen at best, including some faculty).  amy's quip: "now you guys
know how it feels to be a woman" (more deafening cheers).

ig clearly felt comfortable at this show, and they gave us a real treat.

[...]

thanks for reading, if you got this far :)

                          _________
amy p.                    \       /     who holds your hand
pegasus@crl.com            \     /      when you're alone
monk@world.std.com          \   /
the original photo monk      \ /                --patty larkin
                http://www.crl.com/~pegasus

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

date: thu, 20 apr 2000 10:37:24 +1000 (est)
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@fl.net.au>
subject: [ig-news] princeton article

hey folks,

here's the article sheryl mentioned...

- -sherlyn

- ---begin article---

before k.d. lang, before jewel, there were two girls with guitars

updated 12:00 pm et april 13, 2000

by emily bliss
the daily princetonian
princeton u.

(u-wire) princeton, n.j. -- it was 1986. the bangles belted "manic
monday" from radios nationwide as yuppies cruised around cities in
their bmws, and phyllis schlafly told women to leave corporate
america to raise their children. meanwhile, the indigo girls, two
activist singer-songwriters in the tradition of bob dylan and joan
baez, cut their first single.

it might seem like indigo girls emily saliers and amy ray were
born at the wrong time: dylan and baez were lucky enough to emerge
as vibrant, liberal artists during an era ripe with political and
social unrest. the maturation of saliers and ray as musicians and
activists, however, coincided with the 1980s -- a time when the
chief concern of many young people was finding high-paying jobs
and social prestige.

but when saliers was asked in a recent interview if she ever
wished she were dylan's contemporary, she did not pause before
giving an emphatic no. "there is plenty to do here and now," she
said, referring to a wealth of current political and social causes
she and ray actively champion.

it is not difficult to figure out what issues the indigo girls
care about. in their past two albums' liner notes, they provide
the names and addresses of some of their favorite nonprofits. the
list includes progressive magazines, gay rights groups,
environmental campaigns and feminist organizations.

working on these causes means making benefit concerts a part of
their tour schedules and participating in diversity awareness
programs. for example, a few months ago the group played at the
university of connecticut as part of a gay-awareness program.
they also participated in a question-and-answer session at which
students could ask questions about homosexuality.

but at other appearances that are not part of diversity
programming, saliers and ray generally do not mention
homosexuality or feminism. "we don't use our show as a political
platform unless it's been specifically stated that it's a
benefit," ray said. "there's a different nature to it if there's
a political purpose."

both saliers and ray said, however, that being feminist lesbians
is so central to their identities that their lyrics inevitably
reflect that. "being a female and being gay inform everything i
do. it's part of me. it affects what i write," ray said.

since then, many have assumed wrongly that saliers and ray are a
butch-femme couple -- blond, artfully poetic saliers being the
femme, and raw, intense ray being the butch. but from the time
they met in junior high when saliers moved from connecticut to
ray's native georgia, they have been nothing but best friends.

since their first album, they have expanded their exclusively
folk-rock repertoire to include songs with a more electric,
rock-n-roll sound. but none of their albums -- not even any of
the earliest ones -- is a mere collection of songs that all
sound the same, because saliers and ray, who do not collaborate
on song lyrics, have such different artistic styles.

roughly half the songs on every album are saliers' poetic,
lyrical creations -- her hit, "closer to fine," is a
particularly fast-paced example of her work. the other half of
the songs are by ray, who wrote "shaming of the sun." her songs,
often laced with raw emotion, have a rock-n-roll energy.

their different styles also come through in performances. on
stage, ray jumps and dances as she executes chord progressions
while saliers' lively but controlled demeanor balances ray's
intensity.

the indigo girls have earned a reputation as an unusually
engaging live band because of their high energy level, and
because they bring their audiences -- no matter how far away
from georgia -- into a realm of southern hospitality. after
every song, one of them delivers their trademark, "thanks
y'all," with a hint of a southern accent. they tell quick,
funny stories in between songs. and pretty soon there is an
intimacy reminiscent of drinking sweet tea out on the porch.

their performance at princeton tomorrow is part of a college
tour to promote their newest album, "come on now, social."

"it's a really well-balanced record in terms of the styles of
the songs. you know, you have almost appalachian and then a
couple really rock-n-roll songs. and a couple ballads and some
celtic influence in there," said saliers, an articulate woman
who criticized herself the one time during the interview she
did not speak in free-flowing complete sentences.

ray, who seems more off-the-cuff and casual than saliers, said
their newest album is her favorite in seven years. the
acoustic parts are especially raw, she said, and the electric
parts are "a lot more rocking."

since their first full album in 1987, the music scene has
grown more open to women who are not like mariah carey, paula
abdul or britney spears. there has been, recently, a relative
explosion of girls with guitars: k.d. lang, melissa etheridge,
sarah mclachlan. while the indigo girls have been part of this
trend toward increased fame and success for female artists,
there is, according to saliers and ray, a limit to how far
they will go.

"there's just a lot of sexism in radio and in the mainstream
rock press and in the kind of press and the kind of radio that
you need to rise above a certain point that we're at. i think
it's really hard," ray said.
saliers said the discrimination stems from people seeing her
first as a gay artist and then as a female artist -- a double
disadvantage when those labels are employed in a derogatory
manner.

while ray said she does not mind being considered a gay,
female artist, problems arise when that label "becomes a
ghetto." sometimes, though, identifying herself as a gay,
female artist seems the right thing to do for the social good,
she said.

"i think to make the gay movement or the women's movement
strong, it's important to identify yourself and strengthen the
subculture," ray said. "but you don't call a writer a male
writer. i go back and forth on the question. i try to do the
thing that is going to help the most, but, ultimately, i get
tired of everything being derogatory."

she said she understands why gay performers do not come out,
though.

"they're afraid of being pigeonholed into certain roles," she
said. "they feel like they'll lose a lot."

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

end of ig-news-digest v3 #66
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