lifeblood: listlogs: 2000v03n224-news

ig-news-digest       thursday, december 28 2000       volume 03 : number 224

today's subjects:
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  [ig-news] emily chat transcript 12/19/00  [claudine lapsky <claudine@ukonl]

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date: wed, 27 dec 2000 23:24:43 -0000
from: claudine lapsky <claudine@ukonline.co.uk>
subject: [ig-news] emily chat transcript 12/19/00

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

hey everybody!

hope y'all having a great holiday season.  haven't seen this posted to the
list yet and it's a really fascinating read.  i can't help but say how
excited i am to hear that plans are being made for a european tour in the
fall of 2001!!!  :-)  we've had a 5 year indigo drought, so we're still
living in hope.

enjoy,

claudine

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

emily saliers chat transcript-12/19/2000

after taking time off from everything indigo... when you get back into the
swing of playing and touring, do you have to go through a re-adjustment
period when you feel like your fingertips are going to fall off if you have
to play another note? or, by this point, have you developed fingers of
steel?
lisa

well, if i haven't played for a while and we get back into rehearsals, my
fingers are very sore. no matter how much we've rehearsed when we start
playing shows again, my fingers always get sore. it takes about three days
to turn them back into fingertips of steel.

i just have to say that your music has touched me very deeply and i have
loved every concert that i've ever been to. my question is this: what
is(are) your favorite song(s) to sing on stage and why?
sarah

well at different times i have different favorite songs. one of my favorite
songs this year of amy's that we played with the band was "ozilline,"
because it paid tribute to the land and to people we love and it always felt
good. a song of mine that always means something to me when we play it is
"love's recovery," because no matter how much time has passed since i wrote
that song, it always seems to speak about something that's happening in the
present.

after selling your piano last year does that mean we are not going to hear
any new music by you via that medium?
annette

no, it doesn't mean that! that was just a good way to earn some money for
honor the earth. i have since bought an electric keyboard and have started
playing again. i really need lessons though. i'm going to try and get some
piano pointers during my time off.

what are your favorite dishes at the biscuit and watershed?
abby

at the flying biscuit, my favorite dish is probably the spicy eggs wrapped
in the tortilla. i forget what it is called. at watershed, i truly have five
or six favorites, but i'd have to lean towards the spicy shrimp spaghetti.

emily, do you ever get embarrassed by women's obvious attraction to
you...say, women screaming and calling your name while you are on stage?
shelly

no. i think we have the greatest fans in the world. and if people want to
yell things out, they should feel free.

what gives you inspiration for your amazing songs and lyrics?
staci

just about everything in life. i think the most important thing is to be as
observant as possible in your daily life.so things like change of the
weather, or good art, a good book or a good film, or personal relationships
and probably, most pointedly, world events.

i am reading a biography on virginia woolf and i am completely captivated. i
know you have read some of her stuff - what can you recommend? what an
amazing life...
kelly

i have to say, as soon as you said you were captivated, it brought that
feeling back to me of the first time i read about her and read her work. i
would recommend reading the letters. there is a collection of several
volumes of her letters. it's called "the letters of virginia woolf," edited
by nigel nicolson and joanne trautmann. there are several volumes. that's
what really got me started on her.

when you play live shows night after night, how are you able to keep the
fire and energy in your singing and get totally worn out? you seem to leave
so much of yourself on the stage, and we, the fans, appreciate it.
fred

well, we make a fresh set list every night, so we only pick songs we want to
sing. that being said, we also leave room for some requests. and,
personally, being able to play music is such a great gift. it continuously
regenerates you. i can't imagine ever not feeling thankful for being able to
play a show. and our fans kick ass.that makes it easy.

back in the summer of 1995, or maybe it was the summer of 1996, i saw you
two perform at newport. it was during this show that you pulled the piano
out on stage and introduced a new song called "winthrop." i was completely
moved by the beauty of that song and have always been wondering if you ever
released it. what ever came of "winthrop?"
cindy

we never released it. we chose the song "leeds" to go on the record.
"winthrop" is just kind of floating in song limbo-land. it is possible that
i will play it live again, but i'm not sure whether we will ever release it

i last saw you in columbus, ohio in oct. at newport music hall and i gave
sully a vhs of the joni mitchell tribute and misc. to give to you...did you
get it? and if so, how much did you enjoy seeing and hearing james taylor
sing "river" by joni????
gloria

i watched the show but i have to say, honestly, i can't remember if it is
the tape you gave me. my favorite part of the whole night was diana krall
singing "case of you." thanks for thinking of me.

who would you say has influenced your style of solo's and diddley-do's?
lisa

i still have such a long way to go as a guitar player.i can't say that i can
name an influence. it's just me trying to find my way.

do you find that the songs that begin only with lyrics turn out to be your
better songs? or is it the other way around, with your melody first songs
being stronger? i'm dying to know more about the genesis of "closer to fine"
did it begin with words or was it that opening riff...
rebecca

usually, i'll find a chord progression that feels good, but the lyrics and
the chords almost happen simultaneously. i never write just a bunch of music
or a full lyric. i always work on them and change them at the same time.

how do you choose your opening acts?
kyre

a lot of our opening acts are bands or artists on amy's label, daemon
records. obviously, we believe in them. typically, they have a cd out that
we are trying to help them promote. or we pick friends from home, or
sometimes just a band we've heard about that we like a lot.

haven't seen you since swamp ophelia tour in uk. any chance of british
dates?
ichampney@aol.com

yup. we are in the process of planning a return trip to europe. it might
happen in fall of 2001. just keep checking the website.

who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
deb

i don't know yet.things just seem to unfold naturally and we run across
other musicians in our travels and make plans fairly spontaneously. but i've
certainly always wanted to work with stevie wonder, the producer dallas
austin, and queen latifah.

you've traveled all over the world, what is the one place that you love
playing more than anywhere else??
jen

that is such a hard question to answer. it's a big world. we actually
haven't traveled all over the world, so i may discover a favorite place
yet.red rocks in colorado is pretty awesome, the tabernacle here in atlanta,
and we had a very special night in belfast, northern ireland that i will
never forget. i can't really think of a place i don't love playing.

i love you and amy. i know amy is coming out with her solo soon! when are
you coming out with a solo album?
renee

i haven't made plans specifically.but i will come out with a solo album at
some point. and i may do it when our contract with sony is up, two records
from now.

i am a bit confused.please tell me you guys have not broken up with the
band.
paula

we have definitely not broken up the band. amy and i love playing together
even after 20 years. this was just and opportunity for amy to express
herself personally, in a way that's different from what we've done together.
we look at it like any good partnership.whatever helps the individual grow
helps the partnership grow.

is it petrifying or intense to be so vulnerable on stage? do you ever feel
weird knowing that the whole world has access to your deepest feelings?
alha@att.net

i really don't think about that. the songs are extremely personal, but
there's never been a filter between the creative process and the
performance. being vulnerable is part of being a performer, unless you are
limp bizkit, and we just aren't that kind of band! i do think that our
vulnerability and honesty are what turns some people off to our music, but
it's really the only way we know how to be. and there's a place in the world
for limp bizkit, too.

what is the craziest dream you've had lately? do you ever dream with music?
have you ever had a riff or a melody come to you via r.e.m.?
chee

i have dreamt songs before, but by the time i get up, i've forgotten them. i
had a dream recently that i was in a prison with a bunch of my friends and
love ones, but we were surrounded by tremendous love and natural beauty,
which is probably close to reality, but it was very vivid contradiction
between the surrounding natural beauty and the prison of people within it.
and i dream a lot about potato chips for some reason.i don't know what that
means!

i believe i read sometime ago you stated you were working on a book with
your dad regarding faith and music/art. how's that project going and when do
you think it will be published? i'd really be interested in what you both
have to say.
janine

we're coming to the final stages. there are many collaborators. start
looking for it late 2001. it's supposed to be written for teenagers, and
there were teenagers who helped us write our chapters.

hello to all, my question is who is the elderly man you hear on the song
"hey kind friend"? also, is the song written with anyone in mind? thanks for
the great music. keep on truckin!
song4u219@aol.com

actually it wasn't an elderly man, it was a friend of ours, benjamin. he was
fixture in the atlanta music seen for many years, most recently with a band
called smoke. ben passed away last year. amy wrote than song about some
travels she had with some friends when she was in the northwest.

your spiritual path has changed since your religious upbringing. it is
evident in your recent songwriting - how have you remained a non-cynical
human being in today's society? you are a role model for myself and many
others. thank you. i love you.
rardmc@aol.com

well, i think just because you can see destruction and evil in the world,
you can also wee beauty and hope. i feel blessed to have witnessed hope time
and time again in different context. and i believe all things in life are
interconnected and that we are on a path of learning, and because i believe
it so deeply, it makes me hopeful.

okay this may seem like a trivial question, but it has perplexed me for a
very long time. i have listened and watched diligently and cannot figure out
what you are singing in the background of shed your skin. y'know, the part
where amy is singing, "i've been looking to find you, but it's a little too
late....". every time i go in search for lyrics i come up empty handed
(either that or folks try to tell me what amy is singing). i could never
sing it of course! your part is way out of my range, but i would still like
to know what you are singing in the background there. thanks and happy
holidays.
shedyourskin23

i assume you mean the really high vocal part. it is the beginning line of a
song called "gracias a la vida," and it's one of the most beautiful songs
ever written.

obviously, most of your songs derive from your personal experiences. what
kind of reactions do they have on the people in your life, to whom you
allude to in your songwriting?
cindy

well, i try not to be too obvious if i'm going to say something mean! if i
say something loving and the person recognizes himself/herself in it, they
definitely get a kick out of it. i think it would be fun to have a song
written about you. but i don't write about things that would cause personal
pain to someone, as far as exposing their personal lives.

what is the most challenging piece for you to sing or play, and why? do you
find it more challenging to play amy's songs or your own?
kara

it really depends on the song. some of amy's are challenging, some of mine
are. one of amy's that was challenging for a while was "shed your skin" in a
verse where i had to play a guitar line and sing a different vocal part at
the same time. whenever that happens in a song, it takes me a while to get
that. and then, songs where i'm playing the piano are personally
challenging, just because i'm not that familiar with the instrument.

emily- on recent albums, the indigo girls have taken on a decidedly more
"rock" sound. are you planning on sticking with this new sound for good or
are you going to return to the folk sound heard on the older albums?
- -nikki

the next record we are planning on making this coming summer is going to be
a return to more of our folk roots. i'm actually still in the mood to rock
out, but amy has wanted to make a folk record for a while, so we both agree
that it is time to do that.

how do you plan to spend your time off?
tixbysteve

well, i'm going to be song writing, i'm going to be doing some co-song
writing with different writers, i'd like to learn to speak spanish, i'll be
reading, helping out with my restaurant, watershed, traveling some.and that
should about take me up to june.

hey. the indigo girls are known for your harmonies. it seems like as your
music evolves, you put fewer and fewer harmonies in your songs. i was
wondering whether that was because you and amy are writing less for each
other.
~megan

well, we never wrote for each other. some of the songs still have a lot of
harmony and i think some times the harmony, or the impact of the harmony
gets partially hidden by the production on the records. when we play the
songs acoustic, just the two of us, it feels to us as if there is as much
harmony as ever. you can look for plenty of harmony on the next record
because it is going to be an acoustic record.

ghost is by far my favorite song, i wanted to know if you had some story to
go along with it?
emily

ghost was actually written sort of cumulatively. i was recollecting several
relationships or people i had known who had haunted me in one way or
another, and i sort of gathered all of their memories into one song to
create the great big "ghost"!

thank you for sharing your time and music with us. is there any chance of
you and amy putting out a cd of songs that never made it on an official
release? songs such as play it again sam, the untitled song, don't give up
on me baby, carry me away... i could go on but you know what i'm getting at.
any chance?
world falls

probably not. anything can happen, but amy and i sometimes listen to those
old songs and can't stand them! i think they mark a period of time very
early on in our songwriting development, and while some of our fans may be
attached maybe for sentimental reasons, it's probably not a good idea to put
out a collection. we'll just keep them were they are.

you and amy had a lot of great guest artists on "come on now social". i was
extremely pleased that sheryl crow made an appearance on two songs. you've
even had legends like david crosby, graham nash, and jackson browne joining
you in the past. what draws you to invite certain artists to contribute to
an album or song?
megan

we just pick some of our favorite artists. i'm sure if neil young would come
play on our album, we'd love to have him! sheryl is one of my favorite
contemporary artists and i love the work she did on the album. when david
and jackson were on the record almost 10 years ago, i had grown up with
their music, so it was like a dream come true. we pick artists who we think
can bring something special. sometimes they're famous, and sometimes they
are not.

>from cathy:
i know this is long, but i would love to know how you would answer the
questionaire that is always at the end of inside the actor's studio (popular
tv on the bravo channel). it's a questionaire actually taken from bernard
pivot, a french talk show host. it goes like this:
what is your favorite word?

i love words, how can i pick one? my favorite word is love.
least favorite word?
cunt
what sound do you love?
i love the sound of a dog's toenails on a hardwood floor.
what sound do you hate?
the sound of siren.
what turns you on? (excites, motivates, inspires you?)
possibility.
what turns you off?
greed
what is your favorite curse word?
fuck
what profession other than your own would like to attempt?
teaching
what profession would you not like to attempt?
oil drilling
and, finally, if there is a heaven, what would you like to hear god say
to you when you arrive?
all the people you lost are here and eventually everybody ends up here with
their souls in perfectly good shape. there is no suffering here and no
military. i could use a couple of hours to ponder those questions! these
answers are just kind of off the top of my head.

i was just wondering if you ever actually read the letters that fans like me
have written. i hope you do!
amy

sometimes we do. we can't really read nearly as many as we used to.

hi emily. i am interested in becoming more active in the gay/civil rights
movement. what profession do you see as having the greatest impact on this
movement? how would you suggest getting involved?
stacey

i would call the national gay and lesbian task force (ngltf). they have an
office in washington and they are just a really well run group with outreach
to communities all over america. they can certainly best describe where the
need is. i always look to them when i have question about what is going on
in the gay community. thank god you want to be involved!

rumor has it that the indigo girls' deal with epic will soon be fulfilled.
will you guys stick with epic or go indie?
jeremyandfil@aol.com

we have two more records left, so it could actually be a few years until the
deal is up. and we will most likely go indie, but a lot can change in a few
years and i don't really want to cross that bridge until we get to it.

i read in a magazine that you are an owner of a restaurant called
"watershed." could you send more information about this endeavor, especially
the location?
beckwolf@aol.com

it is located at 406 west ponce de leon ave. decatur, ga 30030. the phone
number is 404-378-4900. the food focuses on freshly prepared rustic
fare...something your mamma may make, only better! and we have an incredible
wine list, with over 50 wines served by the glass. it is a very laid back
atmosphere. i have three other partners who own it with me.

my question is this: have you ever written a song about amy? or vise-versa?
i've always wondered.
carolyn

no, we never have. wait! actually, we did a long, long time ago. amy wrote a
song. it was called "tuesday's children" and it was about our experiences
playing in a bar. she wrote that over 20 years ago!

so what are your thoughts on the new president?
lupe24a@aol.com

ugh. you know, if there's two things i am cynical about it is politics and
the media. until he actually takes office and makes good on themes of
reconciliation, i'll remain cynical and continue to work as hard as i can as
a citizen to protect the rights that i cherish, and promote equality for
oppressed people.

kia ora and hi emily - do you have any plans to come to new zealand in the
future?
sue

well, we are making plans to go back to australia and hopefully we can
include new zealand. it is one of the most beautiful places i've ever been.
it depends on tour routing and economics, probably.

you mentioned a while back that you were interested in learning some more
about music theory. being a classical cellist who studies music theory, i
was curious to know if you have pursued this any further. if so, what
sparked your interest and.... do you need any tutoring?
sharlene

i haven't pursued it any further.we just got off the road. and i'm not
actually sure how i will pursue it, unless i can do it via computer because
it is so hard to fit a class into such a short period of time off. but i
think that theory will be a helpful tool for me to express myself in more of
a fleshed out way, musically.

in your song, "cold beer and remote control," what are you singing about? is
it society's apathy towards important issues and people not wanting to get
involved or is it your need to kick back and relax and take a break from
your busy lifestyle? both? or neither?
lisa g.

it's definitely not about needing to kick back and relax! it's a song about
a person who feels despondent, and wants to be removed from what he sees as
the futility of reality.

what goes into the making of an ig show, and what's a typical day in the
studio like?
barb

well, at show usually we get to sound check in the afternoon, and we check
our guitars and our voices over the sound system and make sure everything's
okay, and then we eat dinner together along with the crew, and we make a set
list, and then we play the show and then we get on the bus and drive to the
next town. a day in the studio can vary from one day to the next. we might
work on instrumental parts, getting a good drum track, getting a good vocal
performance, putting pieces together, bringing in other musicians to play or
sing. it takes a lot of concentration working in the studio. it makes me
sleep very well!

you seem to have a strong belief in god, have you ever had "religious" and
or "spiritual" difficulties around being gay? if so, how did you come to
terms with it? i won't even try to express how much your music means to
me... please accept my heartfelt thanks and my prayers for you to have a
life full of love, peace and contentment.
suzanne

thank you. i have never had spiritual struggle with being gay. i think those
that do suffer from years and years of spiritual misinterpretation, and that
god created us to love each other. when two people love each other
consensually and with respect, it doesn't matter if they are of the same
sex. in time, the evolution of gay rights, for lack of a better term, will
make us look back and wonder why there was such hatred and homophobia. but i
sincerely doubt we will get to that point of understanding during my
lifetime.

i know what a strong influence joni mitchell has been to you over the years.
with that in mind, i was wondering if you have met her yet and if you have
what was your reaction was. it would be great to hear you do a duet.
mkultrajen@aol.com

i would love to work with joni! for sure! i've never met her. i've seen her
in concert. and i don't think i want to meet her unless it happens
naturally.

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