Going solo with Amy Ray
You may have been fortunate enough to see her perform as one of the Indigo Girls during that band’s February 2008 stop at the Alys Stephens Center. But if you weren’t, this week you’ll get a second chance to see Amy Ray, half of that famed Athens, Ga., duo.
Ray is best known as an Indigo Girl, but she’s also a solo artist and founder of the label Daemon Records. She took a different direction on her third solo album, 2008’s Didn’t It Feel Kinder (Daemon Records), using a producer for the first time in her solo work. Ray will turn up the volume at WorkPlay on Jan. 16. Ray offers Birmingham Box Set a sneak peek at what you’ll hear.
Birmingham Box Set: How does the experience of touring differ when you’re going solo?
Amy Ray: When I play solo, it’s with a full band from on the record, so there’s five of us. We drive in a van as opposed to a tour bus, and we usually take care of ourselves. …
[With Indigo Girls] we’re on a tour bus. We have four people in our crew. When we’re with a full band, we have two buses and six people on our crew and a truck. We sleep on the tour bus and drive overnight after shows.
It’s just a lot different, there’s a lot more work on a solo tour. And we play for probably 1,000 to 12,000 people, and when I’m solo I play for 100 to 800 people.
BBS: How does the show itself differ?
AR: It’s just really intimate and raw and very sweaty and just kind of—it’s rock, so it’s electric and loud. But we try to be musical and in tune.
BBS: How do you distinguish between songs for solo work and the band?
AR: It’s usually pretty obvious when I start writing whether or not—I can just tell. I guess it’s like, I can sort of hear Emily’s voice in it if it’s a duo song and it feels like two people should be singing and it should be equally weighted. …
When I write a solo song, it feels like a solo voice and electric. Most of my solo stuff tends to be more rock, although I write some slower stuff too. It tends to be stuff that’s more singular.
BBS: What was the inspiration for the evolution of your sound on this album?
AR: I don’t know how it’s evolved over time because I have pretty long gaps between them. But I know on this record there is much more attention paid to melody and arrangement. I spent a lot of time in the arrangement phase with a producer; this is the first time I’ve used a producer on a solo project. I think my writing has evolved [and is more pointed].
And definitely the recording process. I’ve gotten more of a grip on what I’m doing as a solo artist and how to do it. And that’s all down to doing three records.
BBS: Why did you use a producer this time?
AR: I just felt like I needed one. I’ve been working with friends and we would just sort of pile in a basement. … I felt like for these songs I needed somebody to help focus me and help take it to a different level. I just felt creatively that I had spent so much energy on the songwriting part of it that I just needed somebody to step in and help me with the rest of it.
BBS: How do you balance your solo work and the Indigo Girls, plus running your own record label?
AR: It’s hard. I just try to manage my time. When I’m on the road, I try to do extra work. If I’m writing in the van, and there’s emails I can catch up on—things like that. I just try to find time to work.
I also try to find time that’s just downtime because if I don’t I get totally burnt out and I can’t do anything.
But I have priorities. At certain times I’m like, I just have to prioritize the Indigo Girls right now and I leave my solo stuff behind. It switches around depending on what’s going on.
BBS: What’s next for you, solo and with the Indigo Girls?
AR: Indigo Girls have a record coming out March 26 called Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. It’s independent; we’re putting it out ourselves. It’s a double record. One record is a band record, and the other record is the same songs recorded live with an acoustic duo.
BBS: Why did y’all decide to release it that way?
AR: [It was the] producer’s idea, actually. He just thought it would be fun to have something extra to give people, how the songs are represented as an acoustic song, with the duo. … This takes it back to the roots.
Amy Ray’s WorkPlay show is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 16. Jennifer O’Connor will open. Tickets are $15 and available by calling 380-4082 or visiting workplay.com.
