When Indigo Girls Emily Saliers and Amy Ray (with Lucy Wainwright Roche) take Bristol Township’s outdoor amphitheater stage on Aug. 25 for the Bristol Riverside Theatre’s summer concert series, the past and present of folk’s personal brand of storytelling will meet for the first time since before the pandemic. With some differences, however, as the most recent Indigo Girls album, Look Long (2020), is more limber in its rhythms and rougher around its edges while continuing to tell the tales of young scribes (‘When We Were Writers’), wild times (‘Howl at the Moon’) and the music they love (‘Country Radio’).
Saliers spoke to Metro before the Bristol gig.
Five years after ‘Murmuration Nation’, two years after ‘Long Look’, where are you, now, as a songwriter? Especially considering the wealth of socially-alive subject matter since 2020?
At this point, I try not to repeat myself because the social issues I reflect on, and write about, come up again and again. The pandemic has and will give me lots to write about, but I’m still in the middle of trying to make sense of it all, or filter through how it has affected me and everyone else I know. I know I’ve got to balance some joy in with the depressing subject matter. If I can assimilate what Trump’s lies about the election being stolen and his lackeys’ hell-bent intent on dismantling our democracy as we know it — then I’ll really have a song. Mostly, as a writer, I’m the same as I’ve always been — observing life and trying to find my authentic voice to write the things about life I am processing.
By this point, do you feel as if you are a singer-songwriter first, an activist first or is it all intertwined?
It’s all intertwined. In order to be an activist — which is to say I care about issues and want to take an active part in making change for good and justice — I have to be a participant in things going on around me, and in order to be a writer, I have to do the same. The issues that stir me most deeply also inspire songs. There are also songs that simply try to reflect daily life joy, and I’ve come to believe that joy is also an act of resistance.
Looking at the stories that you and Amy tell now, what can you say about the differences in your style and the tales that fascinate each of you?
I think you will always see our basic shared values coming through the songs — the issues we think about — racism, systemic oppression, search for justice, LGBTQ lives and support, politics, Indigenous wisdom, protecting Mother Earth and on and on. ‘Look Long’ was also a very personal album to me. I wrote about things I never could before, the death of my little sister, my regrets. Amy looks back on her adventures as a kid in ‘Sh*t Kickin’ and wades through the complexities of privilege and identity. Her songs always have that visceral character which lends itself to the badass rhythmic production on that song and Carol Isaac’s funky keyboard signature part.
My songs are always a little more reflective in style and music, like the song ‘Look Long’. Even when I think I’m writing a rock song, it ends up being more Beatles-esque-pop, like ‘Change My Heart’. But ballads are the easiest songs to write for me and Amy’s songs are straight to the gut, which is one thing I love and need about her writing. I can safely say that we are both fascinated by life and are filled with the wonder of the beauty of the Earth and cosmos. We are consumed with history, the lessons we must and haven’t learned, how we find our place in life, how we learn to love and reflect on the mistakes we’ve made
Is there a long relationship between Indigo Girls and Lucy Wainwright Roche?
The Roches were an inspiration to me and Amy. We loved their music and it was a dream come true to get to open for them in Atlanta. We asked them if they would sing on our album, ‘Swamp Ophelia’, and they said yes — it was thrilling. So we got to know Lucy after that, met her when she was like 9 or 10. Then we became big fans of her songwriting and voice and started to do shows and record together. Now we are very good friends and can hardly imagine making an album without Lucy being on it. We love singing with her and being around her. She’s magical.
Over the years, fans of Indigo Girls are happy to hear two women singing and writing frankly about women’s issues.
There is an all-out assault against women happening in the U.S. right. now. Its impact cannot be exaggerated. We have to continue to be vigilant and active, to vote and march, and galvanize, and write about the oppression and suppression women face. Not to mention our puritanical views on gender, sexuality and identity in this nation.
And finally, how are you?
How am I? I’m happy to be married to an absolutely incredible woman, I’m overjoyed that we have a daughter I love like I’ve never loved before. I have a wonderful family and good friends. I have a wonderful career with the truest bluest person you could ever work with. My task is to listen to people and learn how to be an ally, to recognize my privilege as a liability most of the time, to be a friend among friends, and a family member to other communities different from mine.
