Correspondence: 2011-10-26: Note From Amy and Emily

IGs played the Keefe Auditorium in Nashua, NH as part of an effort to raise funds for the auditorium’s sound and light systems. We were welcomed by a supercool array of thank you notes and pictures plastering the school music room. What an awesome group of students!

The show was a blast, the dinner was A-M-A-Z--I-N-G, and we thank the town for having us.

Click here to see the photos!

Correspondence: 2010-12-15: Note From Amy

Hey Ho,

I know I been talking about this one for a while and it’s finally here. Amy Ray MVP Live represents the last couple years of touring I have done with my all-star band of “most valuable players.” I am lucky to have this band – they play at a level that always challenges me musically, but most importantly they elevate the heart and soul of my songs.

I met Kaia Wilson (guitar, vocals) and Melissa York (drums) way back in 1999 when they were playing with their punk trio-The Butchies. I had been a fan of Team Dresch and always hoped to make music of this vein. When they stepped into my life, these dreams came true. Julie Wolf (keys, vocals) is an amazing player that I’ve known over the years in many different musical circles. She has played extensively with the IG’s in the last 5 years and is now the glue that holds this band together in so many ways. I met Greg Griffith (bass, producer, vocals) through Melissa York. He has been her rhythmic counterpart in many projects, since they were young punks running around NYC. I started with Greg as a producer on my last studio record, Didn’t It Feel Kinder. He is now a permanent fixture in my musical life.

Sound engineer, Brian Speiser went on a couple of tours to run sound and record our shows on good days and bad. I combed through the recordings and found what I thought were our most representative moments. Speiser mixed the sounds together in a masterful way, always keeping in mind the point of view of the audience, and the feel of the show and club. This is a swath of what he captured.

Live music is a visceral experience that can’t be totally captured with digital bits or tape, but I am hoping MVP Live will at the very least reflect the moments that we shared with the “small but mighty” audiences in the rock clubs where we play. My strongest hope is that this live record will take you to the show and then transport you to a place of energy, strength, and emotion.

Sincerely,

A Ray
12.2010

Atlanta artist, Erin Dangar created a primo package that includes trading cards of the band and tour photos. The CD will be available through digital sites as well, but this special edition signed package is only available at our shows and through the Daemon Records website. I might add that me, Brian, and a few other folks stayed up through a power outage putting these CD packages together…..

Correspondence: 2010-11-06: Videos From Amy

Click here to see two videos from The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Virginia on November 6, 2010.

Correspondence: 2010-10-31: Video From Amy

Click here to see a video with Amy Ray and Mount Moriah at Toad's Place, New Haven, CT on October 28, 2010.

Correspondence: 2010-09-14: Note From Amy

9.14.10
With the IG’s off the road for a short break, I’ve been catching up and working on new Fall projects. I combed through a bunch of live recordings from the 2008/09 Amy Ray tour season and came up with a little plate of offerings. Brian Speiser, right off the heels of finishing a live record for the Indigos, is mixing this one too. There will be a fun package and songs representing each of my 3 studio records. My band has really cemented its sound and I want to document our most recent tour season before we move on to our next project.

The next studio record for me is in the works. I’m in the midst of writing and figuring out what direction the songs are taking me. I’ve been traveling to NC a bit and working with Greg Griffith (bass and production) and Melissa York (drums) to get some arrangements going. So far, we have the basics for 5 songs. We’ve actually progressed to listing our songs on a whiteboard, which is kind of like the first step of the recording process for us. Kaia Wilson (guitar) and Julie Wolf (keys) will be jumping on board soon.

Mel studying our progress and a couple of song arrangements

The band and I are going to play a short run of shows on the east coast in November following an IG tour. I hope we can work in a new song or two. I’m especially excited about the support act for this tour. Mount Moriah, from Durham, NC will be playing some of the IG tour and then we’ll be hitting the road together. This band, fronted by Heather McEntire is a new favorite of mine. I liken her voice to a cross between Bjork, Dolly Parton, and punker Thalia Zedek, with totally engaging songs. I hope you will come and check them out.

The IG's have a couple of festival shows coming up on the first weekend of October-FolkFest in St. Petersburg, FL and Hardly Strictly Festival in SF, CA. Our tour in the Fall will be an East Coast run and will give us a chance to try a few new songs and play some interesting venues and smaller spaces. Emily and I are totally excited about the holiday cd we made this past Spring, called Holly Happydays. We are putting together some ideas for a show to celebrate its release. We're not sure where we're gonna take the show, but we know we're gonna try and do something very special, so be on the lookout for that!

Here are a few new photos from the studio in Nashville. More photos and videos to come.....

I’m playing acoustic solo at a super cool benefit on Sunday, Sept. 26th in Gainesville, GA. They’re having their Lake Lanier Pet Fest. The event will take place on Saturday and Sunday, there be will have music, the Dixie Dock Dog competition, food, and family oriented activities at Laurel Park on the shores of Lake Lanier. The proceeds of the fair go to the Hall County Animal Shelter. The shelter started a very innovative program to deal with overcrowding in their shelter and the euthanization of so many animals. They have been successfully transporting animals up to areas in the Northeast where there is a demand for adoptable animals. I thought it was a great idea in the face of such hard economic times and a lack of room and funds to care for so many strays, a problem that is particularly bad in the South. I support No-Kill shelters and I think this is a step in the right direction for shelters that don’t have that policy. I am hoping this program can be a model for other counties dealing with the same problems.

Here is some more information about the transport program:

What does the transport program DO?
Our purpose is to transport highly adoptable, amazing dogs that were scheduled to be euthanized here at the shelter to adoption events and shelters in the northeast. We spay/neuter, vaccinate, de-worm, microchip and ensure the good health of all the dogs that are transported. Most of the dogs are placed into foster homes prior to the event to socialize them and to help make room here at the shelter for more animals.

Why transport to the Northeast?
There is a HUGE need for adoptable shelter animals in the northeast. Thankfully, their shelters don’t face the pet overpopulation issues we deal with here in the South. Why? In my opinion, the reason is multifaceted. I’m sure their strict spay/neuter and licensing laws play a huge role, as does the harsh winter weather, the large metropolitan areas and the difference in views on animals and animal welfare. Whatever the reasons may be, their shelters usually have a waiting list of people interested in adopting animals. It just makes sense for us to take dogs from here to an area where there is such a great need!

Previous Trips:
In May we ventured to Hartford, Connecticut for the Pet Expo hosted by the Connecticut SPCA. We adopted 56 dogs to awesome homes through the event and gained some incredibly valuable volunteer and foster support throughout the community. In June we attended the Pet Super Adoption Event in Livingston, New Jersey hosted by the Best Friends Animal Society and sponsored by the PetSmart Charities. There, we adopted out 36 dogs to some AMAZING families!

Correspondence: 2010-06-16: Note From Emily

Dear Friends,

As oil spews into the Gulf of Mexico, in the worst fossil fueled environmental disaster of our nation’s history, we are experiencing a stain on our collective souls. Our fossil fuel-run energy paradigm is not sustainable, and we are literally killing ourselves over it.

There are people, however, who are working tirelessly to shift our energy policy away from fossil fuels toward a green economy that includes renewables, reusables, and conservation. And we shouldn’t turn our focus way from these efforts, even though the term ‘green’ has been co-opted by corporations or made us desensitized to its fundamental reality by overuse of the term.

Amy and I have found mentors, activists, and leaders who can guide us practically toward a safer and sustainable energy policy. Many years ago, we realized that we could only view environmentalism through the lens of Indigenous peoples’ perspective. That is how Honor the Earth came to be. Many of you are aware of the work that Honor the Earth does, and for those of you who aren’t, we invite you to learn about it, and for those of you who are, we want to continue to keep you updated on that work as it progresses.

In light of that, we recently took a trip to Montana to learn about pressing energy issues in Indian Country, and to join up with the Women Donors Network, on a field trip to learn about these issues and how each of us can be actively involved in bringing a new energy paradigm to fruition.

Amy wrote a thorough and awesome blog, including comprehensive video footage, about our trip to Montana. It can be read and viewed at HonorEarth.org. We encourage you all to read the blog and absorb the issues. In conjunction with that blog, we offer a synopsis of the trip, the activists involved, and a comprehensive list of websites that you may explore to familiarize yourself with the issues at hand and the work that is being done to address them.

Thank you all so much!!!!!

1. The Purpose of the trip: To visit Indian Country in Montana with a group of women from the Women Donors Network to learn more about Native environmentalism and to build a Native/non-Native constituency that can leverage change.

The Women Donors Network is a group of philanthropic women from all over America who work together for social and environmental change. Please visit their website at womendonors.org.

DAY ONE
Winona LaDuke spoke to the group about environmental issues in Montana and in general. Her briefing is essentially Environmental Justice 101. There followed a day of learning, inspired by local activists from groups such as Clark Fork Coalition, homeWORD, and Garden City Harvest.

DAY TWO
Amy and I, the WDN members, Winona LaDuke, and Jodi Rave got on a bus and headed to the Blackfeet Reservation. Jodi Rave is an acclaimed journalist and Native activist who was with us for the trip. You can check out her blog on Native community, culture and communication at BuffalosFire.com.
- Our first stop was the Cuts Wood School which works to revitalize the traditional Blackfeet culture and teach kids their native Blackfeet language, much of which was lost to the people when they were forced into mission schools and only allowed to speak English.
- We stopped at the Lodge Pole Gallery for a traditional lunch and a chance to look at Native art.
- From there we continued on to the Blackfoot Nature Conservancy where we listened to a panel of speakers talk about issues facing the Blackfeet people. This was an especially important part of our journey, as we heard from Eloise Cobell. Eloise fought a 14 year battle with the U.S. government to reclaim profits for Indian peoples after the U.S. government mishandled and swindled away billions of dollars that were owed to indigenous peoples. You can find out more about the history of the case and the mismanagement of Indian funds at cobellsettlement.com.
- We heard from Lona Burns, from the Blackfeet Constitutional Reform. Committee which works to amend a tribal constitution that doesn’t best serve the needs of the current Blackfeet tribe.
- We heard from Terry Tatsy about wind energy potential and development on the reservation.
DOE Tribal Energy Program
Tribal Wind Energy Resources
Download Honor the Earth’s Sustainable Tribal Economies booklet
Renewable Energy Development on Tribal Lands Brochure
Check out the National Wildlife Federation’s new study showing “significant” benefits that renewables offer tribal communities.
- We also listened to Pauline Matt from Real People Herbal who spoke of Indigenous medicinal herbs and plant life.
- At the end of the day, we celebrated with a traditional buffalo feast and cultural exchange, listening to the songs of Blackfeet artist Jack Gladstone, and the Blackfeet Confederacy Drum group. Amy and I gave a short performance and we honored Eloise Cobell and her work to cap off the evening.

DAY 3
We spent this day on the Flathead reservation, and attended an Environmental Justice panel at Salish Kootenai College.
- Pat Smith, attorney for Native Action, spoke of the Northern Cheyenne’s continued efforts to stop coal mining and destructive energy projects on their land.
- Francis Auld spoke of cultural preservation in Indian Country
- Rich Janssen told us of environmental issues being addressed and worked on in Flathead.
- A highlight of the panel was Eriel Deranger, a woman from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations in northern Alberta, who educated us on the Tar Sands Project in Alberta, Canada. The Tars Sands project is the largest industrial project on earth, and it is deadly. Please take time to familiarize yourselves with this horrendous energy nightmare.
Honor the Earth’s Stop the Tar Sands page
Dirty Oil Sands
NRDC: Tar Sands Invasion
National Geographic’s Tar Sands article Scraping Bottom
- Amy and I played a couple of songs to close this event, and then we all got on the bus and headed to the Kerr dam, where Teresa Wall-McDonald, a Flathead tribal member and activist, briefed us about the sordid legacy of the dam and what it holds for the future of the Flathead people.

DAY 4
We began our day with a visit to the National Bison Range on Flathead. Germaine White met us at the Bison Range center and we had a one hour presentation and discussion about buffalo and cultural ecosystem restoration.
- We then drove back to Missoula and ended our trip with a festive meal at the home of a WDN member. Amy and I sang songs and we all sat in a circle and recounted the trip and just what it had meant to each of us, and what we had learned, and how we had been transformed and energized to continue our work to realize energy justice, not just for Native peoples, but for us all.

Correspondence: 2010-06-03: Note From Amy

Indigo Girls and Honor the Earth's Winona LaDuke have headed up to Montana to host members of the Women Donors Network on a tour of some of Montana's Native communities. We will be visiting with folks and learning about their sustainable energy projects, cultural restoration and the struggles against continuing coal development.

Check out the complete blog and see the video on the Honor the Earth website here.

If you would like to donate to Honor the Earth, please click here.

Correspondence: 2010-04-12: Note From Emily

I recently had the pleasure of participating in the Ladies’ Rock Camp, Atlanta, which helped to raise funds for the Girls’ Rock Camp. I basically led a mini-seminar on song writing in which we discussed things like structure, chords, lyrics, rhythm, and genre. But first the women told us why they had come to Ladies’ Rock Camp, and most of them had come to pursue a love of music that they had set aside when other things in life took their time, like finding a job, or raising a family.

Girls’ Rock Camp provides that creative outlet for young girls, so that they can be mentored and inspired and free to express themselves musically at a very pivotal point in the development of their lives. They get a chance to rock before life gets too busy! And, who knows, they may just keep on rocking for the rest of their lives. When Amy and I were growing up, there were very few women mentors for rock music. It was solely a man’s world. Now with Girls’ Rock Camps sprouting up, girls have a chance to really find their voices and to rock freely and forge their own paths. It is truly revolutionary!

So, please spread the word about camp, or sponsor a young girl you know, or send your kid!

Click here to read more about Girls' Rock Camp.

Many thanks,

Emily

Correspondence: 2009-12-15: Note From Emily

Hello, Everyone, and Happy Holidays! 

I wanted to let you know that the cd of the Metro State Women's Prison choir, 'Voices of Hope' is now available through itunes and cdbaby.

This should make your holiday shopping easier! All proceeds from the sale of the cd go to the Children's Center at the Metro State Women's Prison. For more information, visit cccgeorgia.org. 

Spread hope and good cheer, and thanks for your generous spirit! 

xemily