Music: Amy Ray

Being interviewed on her cell phone while on the road is a natural experience for Amy Ray. She has spent numerous hours driving between her farm in rural northern Georgia to a recording studio in Ashville, North Carolina. The process seems to get her creative wheels churning.

"I definitely think of lyrics in my head and work out harmony vocals while I’m driving," said Ray as she was motoring en route to Boston. "I’ll pull over and stop to
jot down words."

Amy Ray is best known for her musical partnership with Emily Saliers in the Indigo Girls. The folksy-pop duo made its debut in 1987 with Strange Fire. After a longstanding relationship with Epic Records, Indigo Girls recorded their eleventh album, Despite Our Differences (2006), for Hollywood Records.

As a solo artist, Amy Ray has explored her more edgy musical side. In 2001, she unveiled Stag on Daemon Records, a not-for-profit label she founded in 1990 to help and promote indie bands from the Atlanta area, such as Three Finger Cowboy and Rose Polenzani.

While both Stag and Prom (2005) received positive reviews from music critics, her latest album, Didn’t It Feel Kinder, has garnered rave reviews, and she appears to finally be carving a niche separate from Indigo Girls. From a recent issue in Paste magazine: "This is Ray’s first solo record guided by an outside producer, Greg Griffith, and you can see his influence: Ray’s voice pushes into new territory, and there’s some extra sparkle and sheen in the production. Don’t let Kinder’s name fool you—the grit of her previous albums, with their fuzzed guitars and angry lyrics,
is still present."

Amy Ray said she needed someone who had a real sense of musicality, a sense of arrangement and knowledge in how songs are built.

"I needed someone who could challenge me. It really helped. The record could not have turned out the way it did without that."

Various topics ranging from relationships to politics are covered on Didn’t It Feel Kinder. "Who Sold the Gun" was written about the Virginia Tech massacre while reflecting on America’s wartime effort.

"I saw it on the news when it was happening. I just started writing stuff down in my lyric journal because it was so shocking. I started thinking of violence in general and the wars we are involved in, and it was sort of ironic that during the memorial service they were also reporting on the things going on in Iraq."

On "SLC Radio," Ray gives attention to a community radio station in Salt Lake City. She and fellow Indigo Girl Saliers have been actively supporting a movement for low-power FM, and having more licenses available for small stations. With the new administration, there are new possibilities.

"It’s sort of ground zero for dialog between the progressive and the fundamentalist movements. It’s a place where voices can be heard on each side. Community radio is disappearing. It’s a song that says, ‘Hey, we need to
hang on to this.’"

With the election of Barack Obama, Ray, who has openly shared her views on gay and lesbian issues, is hopeful of a more
inclusive society.

"The level of tolerance, I think, will go up and move towards acceptance when we have a leader that is so obviously into bridging the divisions between people and trying to help people understand more."

Looking ahead to 2009, Amy Ray sees a busy year and road ahead. She and Saliers have finished their twelfth studio album which they’re titling Poseidon and the Bitter Bug.

"Right after I made my solo record we went into the studio and made our record. We had gotten dropped right before that from Hollywood (Records), so we funded it ourselves and got a distribution deal through Vanguard. We’re going to put it out on our own little label. It’s coming out in March. It’s a double-CD; one CD is the full band and the other CD is the same songs done as an acoustic duo."

Amy Ray said she expects a heavy touring schedule for Indigo Girls, but now that she has found a strong voice as a solo artist she’ll keep a regular schedule on her own.

"Now that I have a larger catalog of solo stuff, I’m going to tour more in little spurts needled in between the Indigo Girls, rather than waiting every two years. It’s hard to build an audience that way, and it’s such a separate thing from Indigo Girls."