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street roots
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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
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