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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2013)
8 street roots « i n i M July 5, 2013 Emily Saliers: Keeping faith and the good fight Talking activism, faith and the face o f southern poverty with Em ily Saliers o f the folk duo Indigo Girls BY SUE ZALOKAR S T A F F W R IT E R mily Saliers has been one half of the iconic folk duo, Indigo Girls for more than 30 years. In that time, her lyrics and musicianship have touched the hearts of innumerable fans as she sings about life as she experiences it. In tandem with her musical partner, Amy Ray, Saliers has pioneered and paved a path for gay musicians, in many ways. They “came out” publicly in 1994, about six years after they gained mainstream musical acclaim. The pair had been out in their private lives for quite a while and, being the genuine ladies that they are, they decided happened, it was absolutely mind blowing. It coming out publicly only made sense. was so thrilling. In terms of the The Indigo Girls are playing the Oregon performance, for me and Amy, it was very Zoo again this year, on July 28, bringing challenging. We put a lot of time into their raw, yet tender and socially charged practicing, preparing and rehearsing. There musical styling back to Portland. Last year, is the technical experience of it and then they made an appearance with the Oregon there is the experience of just hearing your Symphony. I was in the audience that night songs orchestrated. It brings the songs to with many other life-long Indigo Girls fans. life and adds drama to them. It’s thrilling. I One thing that struck me was the sound of still look forward to the symphony shows. these songs being played from the many They are unique experiences for us. voices of a symphony instead of two voices and two guitars. I asked Emily Saliers what S u e Zalokar: The Indigo Girls are about that felt like to her as one of the composers 2 7 years old? of the songs. E E m ily Saliers: The first time it E.S.: It’s more than that, really. Our first professional gig was in high school in 1980. P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F E M IL Y SALIERS Just in terms of professional time together, it’s been that long. We put out our first single independently in 1985 and then a full length single in 1987 and we were signed to Epic 1988. It’s been a long damn time. It’s quite remarkable. It’s clear to both of us that our differences and our creative distance from each other is what really keeps it together. The fact that we are so different in the way that we write and our vocal range is different, we play guitars differently and our sensibilities are different. That keeps it interesting for both of us. I get to experience music through Amy’s style and sensibility and she through mine. At the same time we have a similar set of values. We’re both interested in using our music as tools of change. We grew up together. Our families have experienced each others milestones. It is quite a deep journey that we’ve been on. S.Z.: You and Am y are equally well-known fo r your activism. What are you working on right now? E.S.: For me, personally, immigration equality is a huge issue. But the Indigo Girls next campaign is anti-death penalty. We’re running a T-shirt campaign. The shirts will be available at the Portland show and we See SALIERS, page 9 the magic is in the holei 2 2 SW 3 R D & B U R N SID E SUPPORTING STREET ROOTS SINCE 2 0 0 3
