One of the women who makes up the musical duo the Indigo Girls is on a solo tour that brings her to Iowa for one night later this week.
The reviews of Amy Ray’s new effort "Didn’t It Feel Kinder" range from using words like "whisper sweet" to "angry" and "punk rock black." Ray admits it is all over the board. "It goes from being incredibly soft and soulful to being really punk and sort of rude. I just take some shots at things, in a good way I mean, at myself and at society," Ray said during an interview with Radio Iowa.
Ray stressed the Indigo girls are not over. They’ll have a new album out early next year. She said her solo albums let her indulge in a wider range of new ideas and musical experiments. "I’ll probably make another solo record but I may do something drastically different like make a country album," Ray told Radio Iowa. "It’s just my way of having fun and doing things on my own and challenging myself. That adds to the Indigo equation as well so hopefully, I’ll keep doing both."
Her music has taken on a host of wide-ranging social issues – from immigration to religion to sexuality. While she’s supporting Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential race, Ray said there are non-partisan voter registration drives set up at all of her shows — solo and with the Indigos. "Emily and I are mostly interested in just people being engaged in the process and knowing what the issues are and voting their conscience," Ray said. "Our audience is definitely people from all political persuasions. It’s not that we’re not afraid of alienating people, we just really want to include everyone in the dialogue because there’s really no way to solve issues unless you do."
Ray’s a 44-year-old Georgia native and still lives in rural north Georgia when she’s not on tour. That tour takes her to Ames on Saturday, October 25.