With music tastes that run from Patty Griffin to Rage Against the Machine, Amy Ray is an artist that's hard to categorize.
In the now 40+ years since Amy Ray met and began making music with Emily Saliers, Indigo Girls have released roughly 20 albums and won a Grammy. Amy Ray herself is 10 albums deep into a solo career.
In 2023, Indigo Girls' best known song Closer to Fine, performed by Brandi Carlile and her wife Catherine, was used in the blockbuster film, Barbie introducing a whole new audience to the soul-searching anthem. Ray and Saliers were also the subject of a documentary, It's Only Life After All, (a line from Closer to Fine) directed by the award-winning cinematographer Alexandria Bombach. After making the film festival circuit in 2023, its being released in theaters this month.
In addition to their music, Ray and Saliers are activists for LGBTQ+ rights, voter registration, and the environment, even teaming up with Winona LaDuke to form the native environmental justice organization Honor the Earth.
Growing up LGBTQ+ in the American South and in the Methodist Church can create a lot of personal conflict. Through her music and activism, and with a healthy dose of self-awareness, Amy Ray has found a way to embrace the good in all of the diverse aspects of her life and turn them into positive lessons we can all use.
Amy Ray and Dar Williams are performing at The Rogue Theater in Grants Pass on January 20th. Click here for tickets.
On January 26th listen as we broadcast a JPR Live Session with the legendary singer/songwriter/activist/Grammy winner and band leader Amy Ray.
JPR Live Sessions is a series of live in-studio music performances and conversations with artists from many different genres. The series is hosted by JPR Open Air hosts Dave Jackson and Danielle Kelly. Recorded in JPR's Steve Nelson Performance Studio, roughly 600 guests have appeared on the series, ranging from Brandi Carlile, Colin Hay and Rosanne Cash to OK Go, Bela Fleck and Jeff Bridges.
