The iconic lesbian musical duo Indigo Girls are bringing their solo act to Calgary on September 30th at Knox United Church. The duo is made up of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, and we had the opportunity to talk to Emily on the phone in advance of their visit. These girls know how to sing but their powerful message is just as important as their songs. This is what Emily has to say on a variety of topics including how excited they are to hit up Canada.

GC: It must be really exciting to come to Calgary for the first time with your own show. Are you excited? Have any expectations? I mean, it’s the first time for everyone to get you guys solo.

ES: We have total excitement for it. We’ve been wanting to tour Canada... for a long time. We want to continue to tour in the United States because it’s such a big country. There’s always something to do and so we just finally said that we really want to tour in Canada. We’ve never done a comprehensive tour there; we’ve just hit the major cities and done all of the festivals. This tour we’re going to try to go back to small venues and travel in a van and do a lot of the stuff ourselves. It’s exciting that we still are that do-it-yourself kind of band. It’s really going to be like that, it’s really going to be stripped down, and we are going to take all of our instruments that we can fit in the van. It’s exciting to us. We appreciate Canadian music and Canadian radio. We just played in Vancouver Island for a festival there. We’re psyched.

GC: That’s awesome. I guess it’s quite intimate, but what are the other benefits of playing those smaller venues?

ES: That is the main one, that it is intimate.  Recently we did a tour with another band in the US.  We would get requests to do certain songs. You get requests to do songs and we weren’t able to do them. Otherwise, when people requests songs and we know them, we can just play them. It’s just nice to be there. It’s a different kind of energy when it’s that intimate and we’re going to be playing a lot of towns in Canada that we haven’t played before. That’s exciting to us. We like that.

GC: I guess the fan experience in the smaller venues is amazing. They probably feel like they’re right up front and center – does it feel that way for you?

ES: Yeah. It’s very stripped down, very much an on the road experience. In the States we travel on a tour bus and stuff traveling during the day, traveling in the van. Hopefully it will be enjoyable, but I think it’s going to be.

GC: Your latest album was in 2011, do you have any plans for a new album coming up?

ES: Yeah, we do, and Amy just finished a solo album that hasn’t come out yet. Then we are going to do an Indigo album in 2014. We are already starting the writing process for that. I would like to hunker down and get into doing some writing for that right away. We’re talking about maybe starting that in late May or late spring.

GC: Can fans expect a little bit more of your older stuff,  a little bit more of your recent stuff – and if they’re lucky, maybe a sneak-a-peek?

ES: We’ll see what happens. Amy just wrote a new song that she put on her website. It’s a really powerful song and people should check that out.

GC: I was just looking at that, it seems like there is a lot of present social issues that might be grounded in that song. I know you guys have been following the whole ‘Stand Your Ground’ concept, and the war on drugs ... is that the kind of message you’re hoping to get out to people?

ES: Absolutely - we are trying to relay a message, and it’s helping us and we hope that it’s something that can be talked about.  It’s so important recognizing the issues. And then to have those changes come about. Actual changes. So both Amy and I as songwriters, we keep it in our mind and in our spirit.

GC: It must be really frustrating to have all of these situations that you need to talk about and get a message out about.

ES: It’s something to think about and something to write about, you know. There are problems all over the world and the US; it’s a complicated history from state to state. The history of a country that is so immersed in slavery that has shaped the country, that there are deep seeded issues with classes and slaver.  Fortunately, it can come to light when people write about them, or people talk about them. It is frustrating. We just got the right to get my partner a green card, because she’s my spouse, and so weeks ago that wouldn’t have even been the case. It’s like come on, you know? Being an American is a constant state of vigilance of what is going on, being part of the solution for problems. Everyone is complacent in some way. It’s like, there’s a lot to deal with. Everybody’s involved.

GC: Have you noticed that people are becoming more aware of these issues and talking about them more and speaking out more?

ES: I have noticed that with the increase in accessibility to technology and social media that it’s much easier to disseminate information. The good with the bad. The thing with social media, and Twitter, and Networking, it’s been a great tool because people can really be informed. And then at the same time you have to really be vigilant where you get your source from, is it true, and all of those kinds of things. But, it’s a great tool for starting to find information, and making people aware of what is going on.

GC: While we are on the topic, maybe you could talk a little bit about the Abolish the Death Penalty T-shirts. Are you going to be bringing those with you to your Canada day tour dates?

ES: I’m not sure if we are or aren’t. You don’t have a death penalty in Canada. It’s more difficult to bring merch into Canada. I think we will end up having our merch printed in Canada, just because it’s easier that way. The first t-shirt we did dealt with immigration issues in the US. The death penalty one has a lot of important quotes and striking artwork, and we are giving them to different groups. One of them is in Texas, because Texas is the worst. And Georgia as well, because Georgia executes people too. We try to be part of the solution to that problem

GC: What are you most excited about in hitting the road?

ES: I’m excited about this Canadian tour, because it’s just so fascinating and interesting to get to know a country from the inside.