Thank you Andrea and AE for bringing us the Indigo Girls! I am a huge fan. I am one of those annoying fans who know all the words to their songs and sing along at concerts at the top of my voice. There are so many of us at their concerts that Amy and Emily often don't have to sing the melody. They let us do that and both sing harmony. Amazing.

They made it cool to know who Galileo was and paid tribute to Virginia Woolf in song. I still remember where I was when I first heard "closer to fine".

Woohoo! I love them! Can't wait for their new album... 2009... that's a long time away... But anyway, I love the interview. Thanks Andrea!

http://www.youtube.com/BetweenThaLines

Wow, the Indigo Girls on our little website... 

- - - - - - - - - -

-Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

For the Roses

I really like their music and i'm looking forward to their new album.

Just hope i get to see them play someday.

Love their music, but they have meant so much more to me than that.

I was just coming out when they first hit it big with "Closer to Fine," and beyond the fact that they were out and proud, the fact that they were from the south like me had a huge impact on how I thought of myself and where my life was going.

I didn't come out until I moved to the big city after high school, and I tried so hard to fit in to the scene there and the music and all that, which was fine and good, but the Indigo Girls helped me keep the best parts of my southern roots by reminding me that I was a little homesick too.

And to this day, they own a prominent place on my iPod. 

So thanks Amy and Emily, and thanks Andrea for bringing us the interview. 

Ah, it was actually Emily who said she used the term "gay" because it has one syllable. But the question was about songwriting and why she's used the word "gay" in songs and not "lesbian". I think she was actually just guessing why she used "gay" because she probably doesn't think about which term to use when writing...she uses the word that fits lyrically and still gets the point across.

Oh, and I still don't have an Ipod. I have an MP3 player and a Napster subscription. I use Napster for taste testing, and if I find an album tastey then I buy the CD and rip the MP3s so I can play the music I buy on whatever device I want. I will never forgive the Digital Rights Magistrate for holding my music hostage on a computer which bit the dust.

And I just like CDs because when I was a kid a stumbled across so many awesome records and tapes that had belonged to my Mom, Aunts and Uncles. I imagine one day my nieces and nephews will find my CD collection, including every Indigo Girls CD.

I adore the Indigo Girls. I think I drove my family nuts playing their music over and over and over ... again whilst I was coming out 20 years ago.

Being Australian I despaired of ever attending a live show. imagine my excitement when after booking an Olivia Alaska Cruise last year, they were announced to perform. It was ace and one of the highlights to my trip! Two must do's in life ticked off my list in one go.

When I told my family about them being one of the onboard performances, they just rolled their eyes for some reason ... It might have been my excitement or the fact that besides ABBA, the Indigo Girls were about the only thing in the world to make me half way giddy, giggly and girly as i'm not an excitable person by nature.

As for identity ... I'm with Amy, queer suits me best. Closer than fine infact. :)

Thank you Trish for posting this wonderful Andrea Meyerson interview with the Indigo Girls... it was really very all encompassing and informative. I really enjoy the Indigo Girls music and have from the beginning been a big fan of their music and activism. 

It was nice to get a glimpse into what kind of music they enjoy and also to hear about their feelings regarding the direction the music industry is heading into. It was also very interesting to hear what they think of the past and current "queer" artists, music, entertainment, etc.

This really was one of the best interviews I have seen with Amy and Emily in a long time... thanks again!

(Self Appointed) "#1 Bridget McManus Fan"

Interesting that they think that for their audience, the queerness comes first.  I have always been a fan of their music, and inspired by their music, and aspire to play and sing as they do.  I've been a fan since my late teens, and I'm now a 41 yo mother of two, and perhaps I don't understand because I'm not gay, but to me they've always been musicians first.  I've attended a number of concerts (one was two nights ago!!) and am definitely struck by the fact that the audience seems skewed as far as the lesbian contingent goes, and for some reason it always surprises me.  It also seems as though there is an almost Grateful Dead-like fan base that follows them around the country - which I think has to speak to the music more than the queerness.  Just my opinion.

My three year old son LOVES the "ingigo gurwuls" and I'm sure it's because of the music!  He still has no concept of "differences".

"Every person in the world has a purpose for being here—a calling".