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Fans help Indigo Girls forge their own way
Singer/guitarist Emily Saliers is pleased with the fans who have stuck around for the 22 years since she and fellow Indigo Girl Amy Ray offered up their first album, 1987's "Strange Fire."
"We have just very, very loyal fans," Saliers said during a recent phone interview with LiveDaily. "They're great. They like to sing and they show up at the shows. We've been doing it for so, so long. I look at a lot of bands. They're around for a little bit. They get some attention and it just kind of goes away after that. So I don't take it for granted, the fact we've been able to stay around as long as we have."
Those loyal fans have something more to be thrilled about: Indigo Girls recently released the two-disc set "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug," issued on their own label IG Recordings and distributed through Vanguard Records. One CD is acoustic, while the other features the Girls plugged in.
The title of the record came from veteran producer, arranger and keyboardist Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Los Lobos), who worked on the Indigo Girls' 2006 release, "Despite Our Differences."
"It was a joke," Saliers said. "He was just joking around and said, 'You should call it "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug."' We all broke into laughter. For whatever reason, the name stuck with us. That's the hardest part about the record--naming it. I like it because it's whimsical. It's got 'Poseidon,' which is in one of my songs, and 'Bitter Bug' from one of Amy's. So that's pretty cool."
Besides producing the album, Froom played on the set, along with longtime Indigo Girls bassist Clare Kenny, drummer Matt Chamberlin and engineer David Boucher.
"We just have a really good relationship with him," Saliers said about Froom. "We trust him. He's such a talented musician. He was like one of the band members on this particular record. He probably played on all the songs, pretty much. That was really cool.
"He also said he would tour with us some time. I don't know whether to believe him or not. But we just like working with him. We just like his sensibilities. I think he brings the best out of the songs. There's nothing superfluous in his production style. He likes both Amy's and my music, which is great. We're so different. We bring different things to the table. We need to feel like we're working with someone who appreciates us equally."
According to Saliers, Ray is the "rocker" of the band with a post-punk influence.
"She's got an edge to her," Saliers said. "I'm more pop oriented or groove oriented. Just stylistically, we're different. The way we sing is different. Our songs are very different from each other. You know, Amy sings hers and I sing mine. If someone else sang them, you could probably tell which person had written the songs. That's what kept it interesting for us all of those years."
With a Grammy, six Grammy nominations and a legacy of releases behind them, Indigo Girls are touring in support of the new album. Saliers said fans can expect to hear both the new album as well as catalog material.
"The emphasis will be on the new record," Saliers said. "When we have a new record out, that's what we do. We play all the songs, for the most part, but gradually pick and choose which new ones we want to play. We always include songs from the catalog. We try to make it diverse and cover all the records and have a balance between Amy's songs and my songs, and ballads and fast songs. There's a lot of thinking that goes behind making up the set list. We make up a new one every night.
"Fans can expect an acoustic show. We won't be with a band. We have Julie Wolf with us, who is a great keyboard player and vocalist. She's been a nice textural personality addition to the show. Basically, we're a couple of old ladies still doing it and still liking it."
April 2009
10 - Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre (with Lucy Roche)
11 - Lebanon, NH - The Lebanon Opera House (with Lucy Roche)
14 - Albany, NY - The Egg (with Shawn Mullins)
15 - New York City, NY - Highline Ballroom (with Lucy Roche)
16 - Boston, MA - The Orpheum (with Lucy Roche)
18 - West Hartford, CT - Lincoln Theater (with Shawn Mullins)
19 - Portland, ME - Merrill Auditorium
20 - Buffalo, NY - University at Buffalo Center for the Arts
22 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theatre (with Jennifer O'Connor)
23 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater (with Jennifer O'Connor)
24 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room at Murat (with Jennifer O'Connor)
25 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall (with Jennifer O'Connor)
30 - Madison, WI - Orpheum Theatre
May 2009
8, 9 - Edmonds, WA - Edmonds Center for the Arts
10 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theatre
12 - Sacramento, CA - Crest Theater
14 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater
17 - Mesa, AZ - Ikeda Theater
18 - Santa Fe, NM - Lensic Performing Arts Center
20 - Dallas, TX - Lakewood Theatre
21 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater
22 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
23 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
June 2009
10 - Vienna, VA - Wolftrap Foundation for the Performing Arts (with Matt Nathanson)
11 - Richmond, VA - Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (with Matt Nathanson)
13 - Hyannis, MA - Cape Cod Melody Tent (with Matt Nathanson)
14 - Cohasset, MA - South Shore Music Circus (with Matt Nathanson)
16 - New York City, NY - Central Park Summerstage (with Matt Nathanson)
17 - Northampton, MA - The Pines (with Matt Nathanson)
20 - Louisville, KY - Kentuckiana Pride Festival
23 - Interlochen, MI - Interlochen Arts Festival/Kresge Auditorium
26 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival
28 - Bayfield, WI - Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua
July 2009
17 - Grass Valley, CA - California World Fest