lifeblood: listlogs: 2007-089

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date: mon, 25 jun 2007 15:27:32 +1000
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: toronto globe & mail amy inteview

hi folks,

you can read this online at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/rtgam.20070623.wxindigo23/bnsto=
ry/e
ntertainment/?page=3drss&id=3drtgam.20070623.wxindigo23

cheers,
sherlyn

ps - there are a couple of ig pix from toronto pride at the bottom of this=
page:
http://blogto.com/city/2007/06/pride_saturday_dyke_day_wrapup/

--begin forwarded article--
a fine balance
the two musicians have always struggled with how to make sure their activism=

doesn't hurt their music, and vice-versa

guy dixon

globe and mail update

june 23, 2007 at 5:01 pm edt

musicians are our conscience, but those who are both activists and musicians=

have a hard job not letting the message of one undercut the other. folk-rock=

icons the indigo girls, activists to the core, know this all too well.=
there's
simply a point where activism has to be set aside to concentrate on the=
music so
that both voices can live.

"it's good between us, in that way, because we completely agree with each=
other
on that," said amy ray, the dark-haired, slightly edgier half of the atlanta=

duo. "We spend a significant amount of time on our songwriting and away from=

activism. and we play a lot of shows that have nothing to do with activism.=
most
of our touring is just touring. [but] we can't help being activists along=
the
way because we see everything through that lens.

"so the way we run our business, the way we tour, choosing not to have a big=

corporate sponsor for the tour, things like that, these just go along with=
what
we do." they may be self-aware, but there has been a stigma that has=
followed
the indigo girls throughout their career, from their emergence as down-home=

rockers (associated by approximation to rem and the 1980s athens music=
scene) to
their continuing influence on younger socially conscious songwriters. the=
two
gay women (ray uses only the terms gay and queer throughout the interview)=
have
never been a couple, but have been friends since they were young girls, and=
are
playing the massive gay festival pride toronto today. it's a natural for the=

band, which plays two or three pride festivals a year.

but can it also be a barrier at times, putting more emphasis on labels=
placed on
the band rather than letting the music be heard on its own terms?

"yeah, we're seen in a certain way. i mean, look, we're 40-year-old queers
playing folk music. and in our whole career, we've been seen as the folky=
indigo
girls that are gay. it has really run the gamut from people being really
insulting about it to praising it. but it identifies us in a lot of ways.

"it's not really up to us what our identity is," ray added. "We'd love to=
just
sometimes transcend anything and be considered good songwriters, or just=
have
our music talked about. but in our lives, we spend a lot of time doing=
activism.
We're very out. We sing about it.

"We expect our audience to be active and engaged in the community, and=
there's
still a civil-rights movement happening around queer issues."

every city and region is different, and ray feels there is a high level of
tolerance in a city like toronto. but "where i come from in georgia, in a=
rural
area outside of atlanta, there's a very different learning curve about what=
it
means to be gay and what gay rights is."

however, ray said there is often a misconception about the south: it is the=

birthplace of the original civil rights movement after all, and there is a
strong progressive undercurrent, which is one of the reasons she has never=
left.
also, she's a fourth-generation southerner, third-generation georgian. so it=

runs deep.

but ray and emily saliers have to make their living on the road. despite two=

decades recording music, record sales don't support them. their record label=

will give them an advance to produce an album, but touring is essentially=
their
job.

"We wouldn't be able to take six months off and be okay. that's kind of the=
way
it's always been for us though, except in the very first days of our sony=
deal
[under their previous label epic records, a sony subsidiary] when we were
selling a lot and a lot of records. but now we have a great audience, a good=

size. We can play in theatres and some bigger venues, a great solid core fan=

base and we love it. it's how we make a living."

time spent doing activist work - for hurricane katrina relief, native=
american
issues, the environment and gay rights (see indigogirls.com for a much=
better
sense of the wide variety of their activist work) - isn't necessarily time=
away
from earning a living.

as ray said, the band continually makes connections with younger,=
underground
bands also involved in activism, which feeds back into the indigo girls' own=

music. it's what keeps ray stimulated and in a creative mode.

inevitably, she said she can't help being a little retrospective at this=
point
in her career. for instance, when the band first began getting noticed at=
their
gigs in atlanta's little five points neighbourhood, there was a question=
about
how openly gay their public image should be.

"in early days, when we were first starting out and that question of whether=
to
come out, and whether to talk about that in the press, emily was more=
reticent
than i was. but i also came out sooner than she did in my life. i had a
girlfriend before she did."

ray came out in high school, while saliers came out in college. ray was=
always
seen as being a little more outspoken, but over time, the issues changed.

"sometimes we'll feel differently about corporate sponsorship or being=
involved
with corporations. We have different comfort levels around that. she's a=
little
more flexible. and if i had my choice, we would be completely independent,=
not
on any record label, putting our own stuff out, lower the ticket prices [for=

shows]. everything would be more punkier, for lack of a better word.

"but she feels differently than i do, and i respect that. i benefit from it,=

honestly," ray added.

"she sometimes keeps me from shooting myself in the foot. and we've found=
ways
to compromise that i'm comfortable with. i mean, we're on hollywood records,=

which is owned by disney. that was hard for me. but the upside of that is we=
had
a lot of resources to make the record, and we have a resources for our=
activism.
We just try to find a balance."

--
all listserv commands should be sent to listserv@lists.netspace.org.
to unsubscribe issue the command: signoff indigo-girls
for help write to indigo-girls-request@lists.netspace.org.
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http://www.pixelopolis.com/ig

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

date: mon, 25 jun 2007 01:39:11 -0700
from: barb bordner <ritesofpassage04@netscape.com>
subject: st. paul show or more specifically apple valley mn show

i've been online for about three hours, it's very late (3a.m.) so i'll be brief. i'll just give my classic "it was a wonderful show," speech and let everyone know about up and coming artist brandi carlile....something i don't usually
do! as i listened to brandi, i thought "Wow! does she ever have the voice! this woman can sing!" i think i may buy an album of hers. i would have then and there had i had the money.danielle howle, michelle malone, three5human,and the countless other daemon artists that have opened for ig are really really good don't get me wrong, but i think brandi is going to go far.

that said....i had terrible seats....they were right behind the stage equipment, way over to amy side, and the far far end,
my friend and i had to look through all this stuff to see them...still i was able to get some really good shots which are up on www2.snapfish.com...i don't know how to find the link to the exact page (if someone can tell me how i can find it with my Windows xp i will be very greatful to you.) the security was good to us....i never say that....they didn't seem at all too concerned about the numerous flashes going off.

they let me and val move to some better seats to sit there until the end of the show or until the people who bought them showed up....we were there for quite awhile, but the couple showed up and val and i went back. i got pictures from there,
and then the croud came down to dance in front and i got to go back down...i was in row c seat 19 so it was easy to go dance in front, and get close-ups. so it worked out. the setlist is posted on the vortex.check it out!

barb

_____________________________________________________________
netscape. just the net you need.

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

date: mon, 25 jun 2007 09:33:12 -0400
from: lee <grrlee@rogers.com>
subject: toronto show (long-ish post)

here's a few comments about the toronto show after a long and fun pride
weekend!   let me start by saying if you haven't heard the openers, the
cliks, they are reallllly great.  before them was rae spoon (i hope i
spelled that right) who was also super great and fun to hear.  originally
from calgary, i think, has some very funny and entertaining songs in a
pretty country style and he was all around damn cute too.  both opening acts
set the mood for sure.  by the time the girls came on stage everyone was
thoroughly in a fantastic musical mood.  the cheering was nearly deafening
from our vantage point which was a few rows back pretty much centre stage.
the girls seemed super moved by the whole day's events.  one very cool
thing, for me, was that we happened upon the girls sound checking as we
arrived earlier in the day before the march.  We were walking down Wellesley
and suddenly a familiar, beautiful voice with just a guitar came drifting to
us and it was as if my partner and i had suddenly been hypnotized because we
both turned back towards the fence to the centre stage and there was emily
playing.  we stood there for a while and then when amy came out too, we
moved around to the side where we stood about 50 feet from them and listened
as they played and worked out their sound.  it was great.  they gave the few
of us who had gathered a little wave at one point, but people were pretty
repectful of the fact that they were working.  i fantasized about getting
the opportunity to invite them to come march with us but, alas, they were
too far away....

the set they played was great, but please don't expect me to give you a set
list as i'm lucky if i can remember my name today!  it seemed to me that the
set was a really good mix of activist songs (go, let it rain, pendulum
swingers, little perennials, hammar and a nail, etc.) and love songs/break
up songs and then, of course, the standards. (bitch and melissa ferrick came
up for closer to fine and bitch sort of blanked on her verse but they all
had a good laugh and then looped back around and the crowd helped...it was
cool)  i think the highlight for me was let it rain which amy played alone
for the first song of the encore.  i would say that my highlight was the
Wood song which they played earlier, but if anyone else here was at the
show, they'll remember that toronto's own menace, 'zanta man', attempted to
disrupt the show.  luckily that didn't last too much longer!  but back to
let it rain:  breathtaking!!  let me tell you, i'm quite sure by the crowd's
response, that i was not the only one in that crowd sincerely burned by the
evangelical right wing )@#$)@#$* out there.  amy seemed very touched by the
amount of attention everyone gave to the song.

another really nice moment, i don't know what song they were playing, but
amy had her eyes closed for an extended amount of time, concentrating, and
when she opened her eyes they had put the "house" lights on the crowd, so
she opened her eyes to find she could see everyone in the crowd and the look
of surprise and pleasure on her face was priceless. there were so many
moments in the evening when both amy and emily seemed to really connect with
the crowd, it was surely one of the best shows of theirs, for me, in a long
time. it felt almost as intimate as lee's palace 4 or 5 years ago, but
maybe even better, in my opinion, because of all the space to dance mixed
with the pride factor!

oh and by the way, a very telling moment: deb pierce (i think that's it)
from our new radio station, proud fm, interviewed amy earlier in the day and
asked why the girls had never played to pride before and, do you know what
she said??? "because they've never asked us before" (!!!) Woe as me, that's
all it took......

i'm sure i'll think of other things i should have said, but i felt compelled
to post because it was truly an amazing show. my someone else here can post
more about the actual setlist and stuff, but hope this gave you all a sense
of what was happening at toronto's pride this year.

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

date: mon, 25 jun 2007 08:04:24 -0700
from: spike <indigokare@gmail.com>
subject: brandi carlile

i am glad to see that everyone is enjoying brandi.

i just wanted to point out  one thing:  brandi is already a star!  she's
selling out venues all over the country.  and before she went on tour to
open for ig, she had her own headlining tour.  some of the venues were the
same places that ig played on this tour.  in reality, she is probably "too
big" to be opening for ig, but this has always been her dream.

if y'all want more information on the fabulous brandi carlile, check out
http://www.againtoday.com , a fan created site, kind of like indigo vortex.

on 6/25/07, barb bordner <ritesofpassage04@netscape.com> wrote:
>
> i've been online for about three hours, it's very late (3a.m.) so i'll be
> brief. i'll just give my classic "it was a wonderful show," speech and let
> everyone know about up and coming artist brandi carlile....something i don't
> usually
> do! as i listened to brandi, i thought "Wow! does she ever have the voice!
> this woman can sing!" i think i may buy an album of hers. i would have then
> and there had i had the money.danielle howle, michelle malone,
> three5human,and the countless other daemon artists that have opened for ig
> are really really good don't get me wrong, but i think brandi is going to go
> far.
>
> that said....i had terrible seats....they were right behind the stage
> equipment, way over to amy side, and the far far end,
> my friend and i had to look through all this stuff to see them...still i
> was able to get some really good shots which are up on
> www2.snapfish.com...i don't know how to find the link to the exact page
> (if someone can tell me how i can find it with my Windows xp i will be very
> greatful to you.) the security was good to us....i never say that....they
> didn't seem at all too concerned about the numerous flashes going off.
>
> they let me and val move to some better seats to sit there until the end
> of the show or until the people who bought them showed up....we were there
> for quite awhile, but the couple showed up and val and i went back. i got
> pictures from there,
> and then the croud came down to dance in front and i got to go back
> down...i was in row c seat 19 so it was easy to go dance in front, and get
> close-ups. so it worked out. the setlist is posted on the vortex.check it
> out!
>
>
> barb
>
>
>
> _____________________________________________________________
> netscape. just the net you need.
>
> --
> all listserv commands should be sent to listserv@lists.netspace.org.
> to unsubscribe issue the command: signoff indigo-girls
> for help write to indigo-girls-request@lists.netspace.org.
> indigo girls faq and indigo girls mailing list faq:
> http://www.pixelopolis.com/ig
>

--
***
"i'm running to the end of the earth, and i'm swimming to the edge of the
sea,
and i'm laughing, i'm under a starry sky
this world was meant for me, don't bury me carry me..."
~~ amy ray (indigo girls)

http://www.indigokare.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigospike/sets/72157600350389076/ <---
photos!
http://www.daemonrecords.com
http://indigovortex.com
***

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

date: mon, 25 jun 2007 15:28:41 +0000
from: sandy ng <starbuck@sympatico.ca>
subject: re: toronto show (long-ish post)

i posted the setlist and mini review on vortex.
i have yet to upload my photos but when i do i'll post a link.

http://indigovortex.com/forum/showpost.php?p=111839&postcount=6

i'm sad that pride weekend is over. i had the time of my life! :)

>from: lee <grrlee@rogers.com>
>reply-to: lee <grrlee@rogers.com>
>to: indigo-girls@lists.netspace.org
>subject: toronto show (long-ish post)

>here's a few comments about the toronto show after a long and fun pride
>weekend!

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