Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers and Amy Ray will take the stage in Chicago at Morton Arboretum on July 24 in support of their new concert retrospective, *Staring Down the Brilliant Dream. Windy City Times caught up with Saliers to talk about the album, life as an independent artist and their notable opening act.
Windy City Times: So tell me about Staring Down the Brilliant Dream. What made you decide to put out a concert retrospective right now?
Emily Saliers: We put out 1,000 Curfews* and it seemed to be very popular with the fans, and it's sorta like a snapshot of a period of time in terms of capturing the live stage obviously. And over the course of the last three years our [ sound man ] recorded all the live shows. And the quality of the recording actually turned out to be really good. So we started thinking about it as an opportunity to put a collection of live tracks together and release it as a double live CD. We sifted through many many many many songs over those three years and came up with a mix of songs with the band and songs acoustic and songs with different guests and some more obscure stuff, and we put it together.
WCT: And I notice that like a lot of the songs on the album, like "Closer to Fine" you've probably played thousands of times at this point. Was it difficult to select recordings that felt fresh for the album at all?
ES: Well, "Closer to Fine," I was surprised that in the end we chose to have that track on [ because ] you're rightit's probably the most recorded song we've ever done and played live. But what was cool about that version was you had a young band, an up-and-coming band called Fragile Tomorrow and Jill Hennessey, who we just happened to meet a few days before that in Mountain Stage in West Virgina. So it just kind of captured this sort of an odd, hybrid experience with that song. I think the fans will enjoy this because it's different even though it's "Closer to Fine." So each track had something special that really spoke to us.
WCT: For sure. And I notice that the audience is heard singing along or even singing alone on the tracks.
ES: Right.
WCT: It feels like in some ways a celebration of your relationship with your fans. Did you intentionally choose songs with audience participation?
ES: Obviously you're going to be stirred if you're listening to a track and the fans are so loud, they're singing and you can just feel the joy emanating from the track, even in its primitive off-the-board recording form. So, we're always going to grab a tape with songs that capture that energy. And in the end, it is a big big big "thank you" to the fans because they're on there.
WCT: Do you have a favorite track on the album?
ES: You know, I'm really happy that, from my songs, I'm really happy that we got "I Believe in Love" because we haven't played that live very often. It's a song that I really like; it's off Despite our Differences. And we didn't get that many tracks with the band, and it is with the band. I couldn't believe that we got that captured. It's not an easy song to perform in terms of pitch, and I play on the ukulele...
WCT: I know that Staring Down the Brilliant Dream is a lyric taken from "Love of our Lives." Why did you choose that title for the album?
ES: Amy actually picked that. We were talking some ideas around and it is from the lyric "Love of Our Lives." I think "Staring Down the Brilliant Dream" just sort of captures sort of how it is as a young artist and you're out there playing and you're sort of just and you keep traveling, and it is a dream, you know?
WCT: For sure. This album is a retrospective, and at the same time, I don't get the sense that there's nostalgia, or wistfulness, or even bitterness. Is the freedom of going independent reflected in these tracks?
ES: There's absolutely no doubt about it. You know, if we had been signed to a major label, who knows if we would have even put this record out. There's nothing that we can get from being signed to a major label now. So it's quite liberating. We both feel energized by it.
WCT: And I see that you're touring with Coyote Grace.
ES: Yeah, I love them.
WCT: Yeah. And I'm interested in that because the Indigo Girls have sometimes been pigeonholed as a lesbian band, but you've always engaged with a larger community. It is significant that Coyote Grace, a group with a transgender artist, is opening for you?
ES: Even without that element to consider, I love their music. They sell more CDs I think than practically anyone who opens for us. It is important, I think, along with that comes the experience for people, either in the audience who are already familiar with trans issues and feel quite at home and comfortable with that or more importantly, in my mind, because Joe does talk about it in his songs, it's a chance for people who aren't as familiar with that whole side of the queer community to be exposed to it through incredible music and lovely people.
WCT: Coyote Grace recently released a version of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," which you also just released. Any chance we'll see a collaboration of that in Chicago?
ES: Mmmm, that's a good idea. We haven't done that one together. We've been doing that with Brandi Carlisle, but that would be fun. I think I'll bring that up.
WCT: Well, we look forward to seeing you in Chicago.
ES: We're excited to be back. Thanks so much.
Please visit www.mortonarb.org/calendar/article/21434/in-tune-with-trees-indigo-girls-with-special-guest-coyote-grace-.html .