The Indigo Girls graduated to the majors with the spiritual folk rock fire of this confrontational catharsis. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met in elementary school and began performing together in high school in the Decatur suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. After going to college in different states, they both returned to Atlanta and transferred to Emory University. It was there that they began performing as the Indigo Girls. They recorded their debut album 'Strange Fire' at John Keane Studio in Athens, Georgia and released it on independent Canadian label Indigo Records. With the attention they received, they were signed to Epic Records and set to work on recording their eponymous major label debut at Ocean Way in Los Angeles; John Keane Studios in Athens, GA.; and Can Am Studios in Tarzana, CA with producer Scott Litt, who had just produced R.E.M.'s 'Green' album. The sessions featured Amy Ray on lead vocals and guitars; and Emily Saliers on lead vocals, guitars, twelve string electric guitar on 2, lead electric guitar on 6; with Peter O'Toole on mandolin on 1 & 2, and backing vocals on 1; Fiachna Ó Braonáin on tin whistle on 1, backing vocals on 1, and Hammond organ on 2; Liam Ó Maonlaí on bodhrán on 1, and backing vocals on 1; Luka Bloom on backing vocals on 1; Paulinho Da Costa on percussion on 1, 2, 4, & 8; Dede Vogt on bass on 2, 3, 7, & 10; Jay Dee Daugherty on drums on 2, 4, & 8; John Keane on twelve string electric guitar on 3, bass on 4, shaker on 6, slide guitar on 8, 9, and bass drum on 9; Michael Stipe on backing vocals on 3; Bill Berry on drums on 6; Peter Buck on electric guitar on 6; Mike Mills on bass on 6; Jai Winding on piano on 7; Kasim Sulton on bass on 8; and John Van Tongeren on keyboards on 10.
Saliers reveals: "I knew it was fun from the very first time we played together...I'm a very fortunate person and I'm really happy to be in this world. Both Amy and I feel that way even though our music is perceived as heavy. We don't think of our songs as either somber or negative because we really do have a hopeful attitude about the world...I just never thought we'd make a career of it...We both grew up exposed to religious sources. You can use the Bible strictly as literature or you can use it as a sacred text. It all kind of works together ... Music is, um, it's physical, it's got, you know, your heartbeat, it's got rhythms, it's got space, it's a physiological reality along with a mystical reality. So it's metaphysical. There's not many things to in life you can point to and go that's metaphysical, but music is."
Ray reflects: "It's funny 'cause you can find God in music when you're gathered together singing a song, but also there are moments that I've had seeing people perform where it's just: that's God. It's like they're not God, but God's there...There's just these moments and it's not the personality of the musicians anymore. Something's disappeared and the music and the audience and everything is merged and there's no separation between performer and audience. That is what spirituality is supposed to be."
'Indigo Girls' went to number twenty two on the Billboard 200 album chart and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. The duo was also nominated for Best New Artist. The album has been certified double platinum.
http://www.indigogirls.com/
"Closer to Fine" (Emily Saliers) – 4:02
features backing from the band Hothouse Flowers. It became their breakthrough hit and remains their best known song. Saliers says: "All of my songs, they're a combination of real experiences and what I observe through other people's behavior and experience. I was with my family in Vermont, and we were sitting in this rustic cabin, and I was sitting on a front porch and looking out into the trees, which, you know, whenever you're in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical. So that's how I was feeling. And that song is about not beating yourself up too hard to get your answer from one place. There's no panacea, that in order to be balanced or feel closer to fine it's okay to draw from this or to draw from that, to draw from a bunch of different sources. So it's about being confused but looking for the answers, and in the end knowing that you're going to be fine. No seeking just one definitive answer."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgwM1Ky228
I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore.
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.
I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.
I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.
I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.
We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
"Secure Yourself" (Amy Ray) – 3:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1IWN3wjEEg
"Kid Fears" (Ray) – 4:34
features Michael Stipe on backing vocals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6zm704DLkE
"Prince of Darkness" (Saliers) – 5:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY9-98tkfvg
"Blood and Fire" (Ray) – 4:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMjXZ3N7b4k
"Tried to Be True" (Ray) – 2:59
features the rest of R.E.M.
"Love's Recovery" (Saliers) – 4:23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4iosxEmOHk
"Land of Canaan" (Ray) – 3:57
"Center Stage" (Ray) – 4:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2A11sVZ3kY
"History of Us" (Saliers) – 5:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Xw5DRR2-s
full album
"Closer to Fine" (Emily Saliers) – 4:02
"Secure Yourself" (Amy Ray) – 3:35
"Kid Fears" (Ray) – 4:34
"Prince of Darkness" (Saliers) – 5:21
"Blood and Fire" (Ray) – 4:38
"Tried to Be True" (Ray) – 2:59
"Love's Recovery" (Saliers) – 4:23
"Land of Canaan" (Ray) – 3:57
"Center Stage" (Ray) – 4:46
"History of Us" (Saliers) – 5:27
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