lifeblood: listlogs: 2010v12n004-news

ig-news-digest       saturday, february 27 2010       volume 12 : number 004

today's subjects:
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  [ig-news] amy interview from 2thadvocate.com  [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelo]

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date: sat, 27 feb 2010 14:38:31 +1100
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: [ig-news] amy interview from 2thadvocate.com

hey folks,

here's an amy interview from 2thadvocate.com in louisiana (note: note the advocate magazine!)  you can read it online at:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/music/85408527.html

cheers,
sherlyn

- ---begin forwarded article---
indigo girls happy to be running show

    * by john wirt
    * music writer
    * published: feb 26, 2010

the indigo girls spent 13 years with epic records, releasing nine albums through the major-label imprint. the atlanta-based, folkie duo's 1989 self-titled epic debut sold a million copies, won a grammy award and yielded the hit single, "closer to fine."

more gold and platinum albums followed, including 1990's nomads indians saints and 1992's rites of passage. the indigo girls later moved to hollywood records but that deal produced only one album, 2006's despite our differences.

now music veterans amy ray and emily saliers, aka the indigo girls, are adjusting to the new music business paradigm.

"after our deal with epic, we tried one last time to go with a label but it just didn't work out," ray said last month. "we realized that we needed to put our own records out, do it ourselves, be in charge of our destiny. the record company machinery wasn't working for us anymore."

the indigo girls released their 2009, two-cd set, poseidon and the bitter bug, through their own ig recordings. being in the business for so many years, ray and saliers were confident that they had the knowledge needed to go independent.

"you absorb a lot of things over time," ray said. "and you can hire people to do press or radio or whatever your needs might be. and as our career moved along, the internet became more and more prevalent. we assimilated that into what we do. and it turns out that the more time goes by, the more the diy stuff is relevant."

ray and saliers are about to issue their second ig recordings release, a two-cd set featuring on-stage performances recorded over the past four years.

"we went through everything and picked out what we like the best," ray said. "it's painful sometimes, because you're listening to flawed performances that have bad notes. when you're singing it's going by so fast you don't really worry about it as much, but when it's on tape, it's like, oh, man!' you need a lot of humility to listen to yourself. but, once we narrowed it down, it got more enjoyable. we could deal with the mistakes better because there were less of them."

releasing a double-cd just one year after a previous double-cd is the sort of executive decision ray and saliers can make now that they're running their own show.

"you don't have to go through a lot of bureaucracy to do something," ray said. "you decide to do it, figure out how to pay for it and then do it. and we can be as creative as we want with our label. it gives us more freedom to come up with ideas and make them happen."

musical partners since they were 15-year-old high school students in decatur, ga., ray and saliers also grant themselves the freedom to pursue projects beyond the indigo girls. ray, for instance, released stag, her first solo album, in 2001. she also performs with her own band, which recently opened a series of shows for brandi carlile.

"when i did that first solo record it was about playing with different people and having different collaborations," ray said. "and i'd been writing in a direction that didn't totally fit the indigo girls. so i just started playing with some friends. it was so fun that i kept doing it and it's part of my life now."

doing projects outside of the indigo girls actually enhances the duo, ray said.

"we need to branch out and do other projects, in order to challenge ourselves, grow and evolve and all that. and emily plays with other people and writes songs with other people. all of it just makes us better together."



find this article at: http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/music/85408527.html?showall=y&c=y

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end of ig-news-digest v12 #4
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