lifeblood: listlogs: 2009v11n002-news

ig-news-digest sunday, january 18 2009 volume 11 : number 002

today's subjects:
-----------------
[ig-news] amy interview from the arizona republic [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@p]
[ig-news] amy interview from northeast mississippi daily journal [sherlyn]

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

date: sun, 18 jan 2009 16:06:51 +1100
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: [ig-news] amy interview from the arizona republic

hey folks,

here's an amy interview from the arizona republic. you can read it online at http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/2009/01/16/20090116amyray.html.

cheers,
sherlyn

- ---begin forwarded article---
1/25: amy ray, the butchies

by michael senft - jan. 16, 2009 11:50 am
special for the republic

amy ray may be one half of the superstar acoustic duo indigo girls, but don't expect honeyed harmonies or sweet folk music when she visits martini ranch on jan. 25.

instead, ray will be turning up the amps with members of lesbian punk band the butchies.

"it's been awhile since i've worked with the butchies so it's exciting to see them again," she says. "they backed me up on my first solo tour in 2001."

ray insists her solo career isn't as far a departure as it may seem.

"i've been listening to punk and hard rock since high school. emily (saliers, ray's partner in indigo girls) and i started listening to folk music when we were very young, but by our senior year in high school i had discovered the clash and the replacements," she says. "and when indigo girls started, we were lumped in with college rock bands like r.e.m. and 10,000 maniacs. we weren't associated with pop folk; alternative rock was more relevant to what we were doing."

since 2000, ray has explored her hard-rocking roots on a series of solo albums. her third, didn't feel kinder, hit stores in august.

"its another outlet - one that i've needed for a long time," she says of her solo career. "there are some times i just need to rock out. the indigo girls song touch me fall (from 1994's swamp ophelia album) was an early example of that side of my songwriting trying to break loose."

but while her previous solo albums have been straight-ahead punk, didn't it feel kinder finds ray delving into the history of rock and roll, from the soulful she's got to be to the laid-back out on the farm.

"it really runs the gamut," she says. "rather than working on it as an album, we worked on each song individually - finding the best style and sound for each song."

she also credits the diversity to her backup band, which in addition to the butchies, features the indie-rock band arizona.

"i heard them through an intern at my record label, daemon records," she says of arizona. "i was fascinated by their sound and asked them to work on the album. they'll be joining me on tour, but ironically they aren't going to be at the shows in arizona."

the solo career is also a chance for ray to scale down her shows, playing intimate clubs as opposed to theatres.

"the smaller the better," she says. "i love playing clubs. the intimacy is something you lose as you get bigger. but i also have no illusions: my solo work does not have the audience that indigo girls has, and it has been hard work building a following for my solo work. i'm humbled by the response it's received so far though."

don't expect to hear any of your indigo girls favorites at the show, however.

"there is a song which i perform solo on the upcoming indigo girls album (poseidon and the bitter bug, due in march) that we are talking about working up a band arrangement for. but we aren't doing anything i did with emily," she says.

"it wouldn't feel right without her harmonies."

- -----------------------------------------------------------------
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.
to unsubscribe send the appropriate command to majordomo@smoe.org:
bounce subscribers: unsubscribe ig-news
digest subscribers: unsubscribe ig-news-digest

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

date: sun, 18 jan 2009 16:11:54 +1100
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: [ig-news] amy interview from northeast mississippi daily journal

hey folks,

here's another interview, from the northeast mississippi daily journal. online at http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?id=284621&pub=1&div=lifestyles.

cheers,
sherlyn

- ---begin forwarded article---
grabbing the solo spotlight

1/15/2009 11:27:21 am
by sheena barnett
daily journal

amy ray's list of resolutions for 2009 is pretty long. first off, the singer-songwriter, one-half of the indigo girls, is kicking off her tour in support of her third solo record, "didn't it feel kinder."

then the indigo girls will release a new cd, and the pair will tour for that.

ray is also wrapping up a live dvd that will chronicle her solo efforts.

"i'm planning on taking a break in 2010," ray said in a phone interview. "i don't like to leave things hanging."

diverse sounds
"didn't it feel kinder" follows ray's previous solo cds, "prom" and "stag," but this was the first time she worked with a producer on her music.

"i had a producer on this, greg griffith, who's awesome," ray said. "he totally changed me and totally helped me move through a different level."

he helped ray craft each song as individual songs rather than together as a complete album. that led to each song having a different sound but with a cohesive feel.

ray said the music on "didn't it feel kinder" reflects her eclectic musical tastes.

"i didn't try to have one sound for the whole record. we said, what is the emotional heart of the song, and how do we reflect that musically?" ray said. "i listen to a lot of punk and alternative, and i really love folk music, and i love old classic rock and i love hip-hop, so it's all in there."

on-going projects
ray is working with a pal on creating a live dvd, which she hopes to release later this year.

"we're about 75 percent of the way through, but we wanted to include stuff from the new record ... it'll cover all three records and road footage and the band and me," she said.

when ray isn't making music, she said she loves being a southerner.

"i live in a small north georgia rural town, and i spend a lot of time hiking and being outside. i have apple and pear trees, so i do a lot of pruning," she said.

she said she loves the south and playing for southern audiences.

"they're different (from other audiences) in the best way possible," ray said. "they really force you to be yourself. you can't get away with being pretentious, and they give you an honest feedback."

ray promises a good time at her solo shows.

"my band is amazing - they're better than me," she said. "it's just a good time and i think the whole point of the show is to feel better when you leave."

appeared originally in the northeast mississippi daily journal, 1/15/2009, section b , page 12

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

end of ig-news-digest v11 #2
****************************