Street roots
9
Oct. 26, 2012
A M Y RAY, fro m page 8
worked. Greg
produced my
4
, T t -
•
last album,
Didn t It Feel Kinder and it went really well. We fought a
lot — like a brother and sister — but in a creative way and I
really respect him. He really pushed me - hard - that’s
probably why we fought.
With this record, I decided to be open. We would sit
together and throw back and forth chord progressions. He
didn t collaborate on the lyrics with me, we worked on
melody and chords. It was exactly what I needed, someone
to teach me. He s a very good teacher. That partnership
brought me so many ideas about songwriting that I use now,
even when he’s not around.
of the church still and try to change it from the inside out.
Cynically, I feel like there are things that affect
institutions that have nothing to do with religion —
economics, church attendance, social evolution and so on.
I was just raised a certain way. Those symbols and
metaphors and the spirituality of them is very important to
me and so, I hang onto it.
I definately go to a Methodist church sometimes in
Atlanta that is VERY openly gay. I’m surprised they can be
what they are and still be in the Methodist conference
because they are sort of defying their own conference.
S.Z.: You have a band that backs you when you tour that
features Portland-based musician, Kaia Wilson who was a
founding member of the queercore punk band, Team Dresch
and of The Butchies. How does this departure from the folk-style
of the Indigo Girls round out your musical experience?
A.R.: St Marks
Methodist in Atlanta.
There are a lot of reasons
why any of the world
religions are hard for us
as women, as gay women.
I just don’t want to give it
away. I want to have a
piece of it still for myself.
A.R.: I’m a big fan of punk — a big fan. I always have
been. At some point, I had written a bunch of songs that
just didn’t fit in with Indigo Girls, so in order to feel great
about life and music, I wanted to explore that. I was a
HUGE Team Dresch fan. Kaia and I just started jamming
and we have played together ever since. She brings a lot into
the room — Kaia does. She’s got a lot of history and
experience. Musically, she’s a punk rocker, but she’s also
kind of a pop writer. I always like the way it feels to have a
punk song with a pop melody going on. It’s infectious.
S.Z.: Having said that, “Lung of Love” has a whisper of a
country (bluegrass) music influence. On the new album the
lyrics of “The Rock is my Foundation,”you sing “The rock is
my foundation/with Jesus is at the base. /God is on the kidron
/ and the Holy Spirit sings. / All my life, I ’ve been a sinner /
all my life, I ’ve gone astray / now sinner hang on, my sinner
hang on / you gonna have your judgement day” Do you
identify as a Christian?
A.R.: (Laughs) I’m sort of a pagan with Christian roots. I
was raised Methodist. It stuck with me. I was a Religion
major in college. Spirituality is very interesting to me.
Religion is specifically interesting to me. The ‘industry’ of
religion — what we have done to our spiritual beliefs through
religion — is fascinating. When you’re raised Christian,
especially in the South, I’m not sure you can ever get away
from it, unless you’re fighting against it - which is a hard
road. So, instead I’ve incorporated it into my cultural
references. It’s part of my metaphor in life.
S.Z.: Have you any thoughts about groups who believe that
being gay and being Christian cannot intertwine?
A.R.: Sure. From which perspective — the gay perspective
or the Christian one?
S.Z.: Either, or both.
A.R.: You can get specific with specific churches and say,
“Well this church has a very specific set of rules and one of
them is anti-gay and I just can’t be part of that.” Or you can
recognize all of these things that the experience taught you
and decide, I’m gonna take a high road. I’m gonna be a part
S.Z.: What’s the name of
the church?
S.Z.: What is the
importance of passing gay
marriage legislation?
There are a lot of people who are disenfranchised and
they shouldn’t be. As a community, it enriches us to
re-enfranchise people. And to have them in our communities
in a functional way so that their voices count because it
creates a richness.
Our goal, me and Emily, is about that. Bringing more
voices into the community, building the community, having
this diverse space where there are so many different
opinions and voices and perspectives. In that way we can
achieve more and create more and build a better society.
All of the social activism that Indigo Girls do is to that
end. So it can be
working in feminist
realms or Native realms
S p iritu a lity Is w r y Interesting to me,
or housing or queer
BeKIglexi Is specifically Interestlag to
issues or really specific
me. The Industry^ of re lig io n — what we
projects like hunger.
b a w done to our s p iritu a l beliefs
throng 1 re lig io n ™ Is fascinating® When
y e i/re raised Christian^ especially In the
Souths F itt not sure yon can ever get
away from It? unless yon^re fig h tin g
against It — which Is a hard road® So?
Instead F w Incorporated It Into my
cu ltu ra l references® It's part of my
metaphor m life®
A.R.: Well, I don’t care
that much about marriage
because that institution is one that I don’t relate to that
much. Even as a straight person, I probably wouldn’t.
S.Z.: Amen sister. I always want to know why my gay friends
want a piece of something that is so patriarchal. I support it,
because from a civil rights stance, you have to.
A.R.: It’s a civil rights battle — a very important one.
There are a lot of legal issues that are solved by being able
to marry and have at least civil unions. We should call it
something different. We should own it and have it be ours.
Even if I don’t want it for myself, I’m gonna fight for it. It
has definitely been denied to people for the wrong reason.
It’s very important to me but at the same time, this is an
institution steeped in patriarchy and a paradigm that has to
do with ownership. We need to reinvent it somehow and
own it for ourselves in a way that’s really beautiful. I ju s t
don’t know how to do that yet.
I do know that we should fight for access to it.
S.Z.: Social awareness and activism have always been a part
of your songwriting, your individual persona and the Indigo
Girls public persona. You have said, “Musicians can become
the amplifiers of the people that are working in the trenches”.
What have been your most successful or fulfilling moments as a
social activist or amplifier?
A.R.: Oh God, there’s a zillion of them. A lot of the work
we do is environmental work. There are specific projects:
We worked with a group in New Orleans, Sweet Home New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that helped put musicians
back in houses who had left the city and had nowhere to live
and were homeless. That was pretty fulfilling to see that
happen.
S.Z.: In 1993 you,
Emily and Winona
LaDuke began the
organization Honor the
Earth. Can you talk abit
about the organization
and your connection to
Indigenous People of the
Americas and the work
that Honor the Earth
does?
A.R.: This project
probably has the most continuity in our career and the most
longevity as far as one project that we have worked on for so
long. This is some of the most rewarding social activism
work we have done. We have been able to see the
connection between all of the different battles and all of the
activists we have known over the years. We have seen the
way it helps for them to get press when they wouldn’t
normally get it.
Music brings people together, so the Honor the Earth
project has been incredibly fulfilling. And it keeps going.
S.Z.: I f you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
A.R.: I would probably be a teacher, a high school
teacher, (laughs) It might be what I’m doing later. I’d have
to get my teaching certificate. I had one at one time, but
then I got a bunch of gigs and didn’t end up teaching.
When I was in high school, the people that really made a
difference where my high school teachers. I lived in a very
rural community and I just feel like there is a need. There is
always a need in rural communities and even urban
communities that don’t have as many resources.
There is always a need for good teachers and people that
really care and will really connect in the classroom and it’s
hard to do that in places where it’s hard to draw those kinds
of people or it’s hard to get enough teacher to work. It’s
something I could do later in life and be really happy with.
The Indigo Girls will be performing Nov. 9, with the Oregon
Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall.
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