lifeblood: listlogs: 2005v08n123-news

ig-news-digest tuesday, october 18 2005 volume 08 : number 123

today's subjects:
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[ig-news] amy ray - lawrence, ks 10/16/2005 setlist ["lawyerman" <eml@law]
[ig-news] lawrence ks amy article [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>]

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date: mon, 17 oct 2005 00:39:14 -0500
from: "lawyerman" <eml@lawyerman.net>
subject: [ig-news] amy ray - lawrence, ks 10/16/2005 setlist

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

i snagged the setlist for this show. here it is.

1. put it out for good
2. sober girl
3. late bloom
4. black heart today
5. pennies on the track
6. give in
7. driver education
8. rural faggot
9. covered for you
10. johnny rottentail
11. laramie
12. blender
13. mtns of glory
14. let it ring
15. refugee

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date: tue, 18 oct 2005 08:04:19 +1000
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: [ig-news] lawrence ks amy article

hey folks,

here's a slightly old amy interview from lawrence.com (lawrence ks). you can
read it online at (long url, should be all on one line):
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2005/oct/16/artist_indigo_girls_fame_danc
es_solo_prom/

on the web site they also have three short mp3s of conversation that wasn't
used in the article, so if you want a little extra go there and check it
out...

cheers,
sherlyn

- ---begin forwarded article---
artist of indigo girls fame dances solo on 'prom'
sunday, october 16, 2005

amy ray loves to break loose and speak her mind.

she's performing solo this fall, free from the big-tour restraints and perks
of the indigo girls, the duo that made her famous.

she's getting back to basics.

"i work a lot faster when i do things alone," she says. "i just don't have
the same kind of money or time. i usually work in really small studios, in
people's houses, in basements, garages, things like that.

"i like to do things for myself, and when something breaks, having to  fix it
myself, because i think it gives you a sense of confidence when  you go back
to the other things you're doing, that you could -- if you  had to do it alone
- -- you could do it alone. and that's usually a  pretty good feeling."

ray will play her style of indie punk rock with her band, the
volunteers, at 8 tonight at the bottleneck, 737 n.h. she's promoting her
second solo album, "prom," which was released in the spring.

she's taking a hiatus from the indigo girls, the folksy band she's  played in
with emily sailers since 1985. the duo, which has sold 7  million albums and
won a grammy award, isn't breaking up. it's set to  resume touring in january.

ray, 41, says she likes the variety of performing contrasting styles of music.

"it's definitely cathartic," she says during a phone interview from  her home
in georgia. "i mean, they're both sort of cathartic, whenever  i switch. it
always feels a little bit liberating, just to break it up  a little bit."

no compromise

the music and the lyrics on "prom" are certainly edgier than those  you'd find
on an indigo girls album. there aren't any acoustic guitars  here -- it's all
electric. and ray says she feels uninhibited to write  about growing up a
lesbian in georgia and about gender issues.

"when i'm doing solo stuff, i feel free to just say (what i want)  because i'm
not going to worry about whether emily agrees with me or  not -- that whole
thing with a partnership where you have to
compromise some," ray says. "i just can speak from a real personal  place, and
it's going to come out -- a lot of that graphic queer and  anti-right-wing and
anti-authority stuff is going to come out more."

not that ray and sailers haven't done advocacy in the past. in fact, they're
known for their work on a variety of issues, including
gay/lesbian rights, hunger, the environment and the zapatistas, who are
fighting for increased political representation in mexico.

that activism, ray says, is one reason why the indigo girls web site  bio
describes the duo as working "within the music industry, without  ever being a
product of that industry." (ray herself admits, however,  that she doesn't
entirely agree with that statement -- "i think that  would be hypocritical,"
she says. "i should've edited that bio.")

she says she's proud the indigo girls managed to support local record  stores
and avoid most commercial-radio posturing during their 17 years  with the epic
label. ray and sailers recently parted ways with epic,  though, and ray says
they haven't decided what they'll do next.

"we got a lot of stuff done, and leveraged a lot of support that way,"  ray
says. "but in the end, i think there's a point where you are in  danger of
becoming too much a part of the industry and you need to get  out and switch
to a different company at least, and switch hopefully  down to a smaller
company."

'oasis'

ray says she likes lawrence for its vintage clothing stores. the last  time
she was here, she, sailers and environmental advocate winona  laduke attempted
to visit convicted murderer and american indian
advocate leonard peltier at the federal penitentiary in leavenworth.  they
were denied access but talked to peltier on the phone instead.

coming to kansas, ray is well-aware of the approved constitutional  amendment
banning gay marriage that divided the state in the spring.  she also knows
that douglas county was the only place in the state to  vote against the
amendment.

"keep it up, is what i'd say because i love lawrence for that reason," she
says. "it's like this oasis, i mean politically speaking. i think it's a
great place."

despite the gay marriage amendments that have passed across the
country, ray says she's not discouraged.

"i think people can change," she says. "i think that you have to talk  to
people from where they're coming from, and you have to understand  where
they're coming from. so i think if you live in a place, sort of  an oasis in
this more conservative area, it's good to have dialogue  with people that
don't agree with you and figure out why."

'prom' date

with "prom," ray is both breaking new ground musically and returning to her
roots. she says she chose the title and concept after writing the songs for
the album, realizing the youth theme.

even the photos for the album -- featuring ray wearing a variety of high
school-related outfits, from a geeky sweater to a football
uniform -- are a throwback to her younger days. she borrowed them from former
high school classmates.

and yes, ray did go to her senior prom.

"i went with a girl, and i was totally in love with her, but we
weren't like ... we didn't really know what that meant," she says. "we just
kind of went as best friends. we kind of went together, but we were with a
group of people. we all just had friends and whatever.

"i don't really remember much about it. i always went to the dances and had
fun and was pretty participatory, just kind of had a good time in the face of
the normal kind of high school suffering that went on."

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end of ig-news-digest v8 #123
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