Amy Ray | |
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![]() Ray performing in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 2012 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Amy Elizabeth Ray |
Born | Decatur, Georgia, U.S. | April 12, 1964
Origin | Georgia, U.S. |
Genres | Folk rock |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1985–present |
Labels | |
Member of | Indigo Girls |
Website | www |
Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. [1] She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent label Daemon Records in 1989. Ray is known for her alto and tenor range, and plays both electric and acoustic guitar, as well as mandolin and harmonica.
Born in Decatur, Georgia, Amy Ray met Emily Saliers when they both attended the same elementary school. [2] They began performing together and recorded a demo in 1981. After graduation, Ray and Saliers went to different colleges with Ray attending Vanderbilt University. [3] By 1985, they had both transferred to Emory University in Atlanta and formed the Indigo Girls. [3] In 1986, Ray graduated from Emory with majors in English and Religion.[ citation needed ]
In March 2001, Ray released her first solo album, Stag , a southern and punk rock album. The Butchies, a punk band whose members include Kaia Wilson, Melissa York, and Alison Martlew, provided support for five songs, and Joan Jett played on "Hey Castrator". In April 2005, Ray released the softer edged [4] Prom , and in December 2006, she released Live from Knoxville . Her fourth solo album, the melodic [4] Didn't It Feel Kinder, was released in August 2008. Lung of Love , which has more of an indie-rock sound, [4] was released in 2012. [4] [5]
Her backup band for her Stag tour was The Butchies. In 2004, when she embarked on her Prom tour, she brought Les Nuby (guitar), Will Lochamy (drums), and Jody Bleyle (bass). Tara Jane O'Neil replaced Bleyle when she began maternity leave in October. [ citation needed ] Ray's backup band for her 2012 Lung of Love tour was The Butchies. Jenn Stone, former keyboard player for Kesha, also performed on the tour. [5]
In addition to the Indigo Girls [6] [7] and her work as a solo artist, Ray also runs an independent record label, Daemon Records, which she founded in 1990 and which is based in Decatur, Georgia. [7] Some performers signed to Daemon include Girlyman, Magnapop, Nineteen Forty-Five, Michelle Malone, Three Finger Cowboy, Danielle Howle and the Tantrums, Gerard McHugh, New Mongrels, Grady Cousins, The Oblivious, Snow Machine, Utah Phillips and Rose Polenzani.
She often collaborates with The Butchies, a punk band featuring drummer Melissa York and vocalist/guitarist Kaia Wilson. She has contributed the live track "Lucy Stoners" on Calling All Kings & Queens (2001) and the Mr. Lady Records sampler album as well as a live recording of "On Your Honor" on a compilation for Home Alive.
Ray is also an activist involved in multiple political and social causes, including gay rights, low-power broadcasting, women's rights, indigenous struggles, gun control, environmental protection and the anti-death penalty movement among others. She has made several trips to Chiapas, Mexico to support the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
In 1993, she and Emily Saliers co-founded Honor the Earth with Winona LaDuke. Honor the Earth's mission is "to create awareness and support for Native [American] environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native [American] communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard." [8]
Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) appears on her 2014 album Goodnight Tender , and she and Vernon continue to maintain a friendship. [9]
Ray was also a judge for the 3rd [10] and 11th Annual [11] Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
Ray uses she/her pronouns and is a lesbian. [12] Ray lives in the foothills of North Georgia with her partner, Carrie Schrader, and their daughter, Ozilline Graydon. [13] [14] In March 2021, Ray spoke on the LGBTQ&A podcast about having gender dysphoria and being genderqueer. [15]
Ray identifies herself as "religious" and a "Pagan Christian". [16]
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. They started performing with the name Indigo Girls as students at Emory University, performing weekly at The Dugout, a bar in Emory Village.
Swamp Ophelia is the fifth studio album by the Indigo Girls, released in 1994.
Emily Ann Saliers is an American singer-songwriter and member of the musical duo Indigo Girls. Saliers sings soprano and plays lead guitar as well as banjo, piano, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki and many other instruments.
James Vincent Hall is an American rock singer and guitarist, best known for his gothic-style lyrics, distinctive voice, avant-garde performances and eclectic compositions.
The Butchies were an all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their lyrical content concerned lesbian and queer themes.
Melissa York is a rock drummer noted for her work with iconic lesbian bands such as Team Dresch, The Butchies, and Amy Ray. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Sara Lee is an English-American bassist and singer-songwriter, who came to prominence when replacing Dave Allen on bass guitar in the post-punk band Gang of Four, of which she was a member from 1982 to 1984. She was also a member of Robert Fripp's short-lived band The League of Gentlemen and is also notable for work with the B-52s, Ani DiFranco, and Indigo Girls. As of October 2021, Lee rejoined Gang of Four with founding members Hugo Burnham and Jon King as well as David Pajo, to tour in 2022.
Kaia Lynn Wilson is an American musician from Portland, Oregon, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s queercore punk band, and The Butchies, a pop-rock spin-off from her solo work. In addition to singing, songwriting and guitar, Wilson co-established and operated Mr. Lady Records from 1996 to 2004.
Ring Them Bells is a live album taken from Joan Baez' April 1995 shows at New York's The Bottom Line. In addition to her own solo set, the album featured collaborations with other female artists including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Fariña, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls and Mary Black. Though Baez and many of the collaborating artists were admirers of one another, this album marked the first time many of them had worked together. Baez' manager, Mark Spector, served as producer.
Mr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr. Lady was "queercore's strongest label."
Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch.
Nomads Indians Saints is the third studio album by Indigo Girls, released in 1990. It was reissued and remastered in 2000 with three bonus tracks.
Prom is the second solo album by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, released in 2005 on her Daemon Records label.
Stag is the debut solo album by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, released in 2001 on her Daemon Records label. Ray is accompanied by the Butchies, the Rockateens, Joan Jett, Josephine Wiggs and Kate Schellenbach on the album. She attributes the Butchies with contributing a punk rock influence to some of the songs.
1200 Curfews is a live album by the Indigo Girls, released in 1995.
Didn't It Feel Kinder is Amy Ray's third solo album. It was released on August 5, 2008.
A Fragile Tomorrow is an American alternative/powerpop band from Charleston, South Carolina, United States, formerly from Montgomery, New York. The group formed in 2003 and included brothers Sean Kelly, Dom Kelly, and Brendan Kelly. In 2006, bassist Shaun Rhoades joined the group. The band has put out six studio albums, most recently the critically acclaimed Make Me Over in 2015 and Generation Loss in 2019. As of 2020, they were working on their seventh record and third MPress Records release. The band has shared the stage with/opened for Indigo Girls, The Bangles, Matthew Sweet, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Garrison Starr, Antigone Rising, K's Choice, Drivin N Cryin, Continental Drifters, Blues Traveler, The Cowsills, Danielle Howle, Susan Cowsill, Amy Ray, and more.
Holly Happy Days is the 12th studio album and first holiday album by Indigo Girls, released on October 12, 2010 by Vanguard Records. It is their third album on the IGR/Vanguard imprint.
Look Long is the fifteenth studio album by American folk rock duo Indigo Girls. The album was originally due to be released on April 24, 2020, but was delayed until May 22, 2020. The album has had a positive reception from critics.
Murmuration Nation is the first solo album by American folk musician and Indigo Girls member Emily Saliers.