Your Country's Right Here: Indigo Girls Introduce 'Beauty Queen Sister'
posted in: Country • Music News
The Indigo Girls just released their fourteenth album, which truly makes them something of an anomaly in the music business.
As other artists come in with great splashes and seemingly fade away, the folk-rock duo just keeps moving along, releasing their own brand of music and playing before thousands of devoted fans. No drama. No tabloids. Just great music. Now the Indigo Girls, known individually as Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, released Beauty Queen Sister that came out last week (Tuesday, Oct. 4).
“We spend a period of time arranging and practicing and trying out ideas,” said Saliers in response to questions about how they create their own brand of folk music that spans formats from bluegrass to rock. “That’s one thing that has kept us together for so long.”
Although Ray favors more punk sounds as evidenced in her solo work, and Saliers leans toward pop, the two have a chemistry that allows them to mix and match their influencesinto the distinctive Indigo Girls’ folk sound. Perhaps that’s because the two have a decades-long history that began in elementary school over their love for music.
Many of our players are top-notch Nashville talent”you just don’t get any better than that, Saliers said noting the well-known country folk players who joined them on the album.
And the duo grabbed some of the best of the best for this album”including drummer Brady Blade and bassists Frank Swart and Viktor Krauss (brother of Alison)”which Saliers said helped carry out the “organic approach we wanted on this album.”
There are also a host of other guests on the album. War Rugs, a song about the 2011 Egyptian revolution, features guest vocals from singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche (daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche). The Shadowboxers, an Atlanta-based band, contributed back-up vocals to We Get To Feel It All. On the subdued yet sultry Share The Moon, Jim Brock provides rumbling percussion. Listeners will also hear Carol Issacs’ delicate piano sounds on Birthday Song.
Arguably some of the most exciting tracks, though, might be the Celtic-influenced songs. Consider Damo that features Eamonn de Barra’s whistles and flute and to the full-throated backing vocals of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey.
We really work hard to not lean on any tried-and-true path in making our albums, said Ray. So when it comes to writing new songs and working with different musicians, every record feels like a completely different adventure for us.
Clearly, the Indigo Girls’ are ready to make great music for years to come.
Find out more about the Indigo Girls, the new album, and the tour on the duo’s Web site.
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