The origin of the Indigo Girls began more than 25 years ago from a pub in Little Five Points, Atlanta, GA when the duo, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers joined forces, taking the folk-rock music genre by storm. Fourteen studio albums later, the Grammy-winning Indigo Girls deliver a beautifully crafted batch of songs that revel in spirited simplicity with, Beauty Queen Sister (released in 2011). The stunning 13-song selection touches on various topics such as the 2011 Egyptian revolution (in Ray’s plaintive “War Rugs,” featuring guest vocals by singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche), and the ins and outs of the music industry (“Making Promises,” a defiant, guitar-driven banger also authored by Ray). The album also features honey-tinged backup vocals by the Shadowboxers (an Atlanta-based all-male trio) whose breezy midtempo treasure is packed with lovelorn poetry.
The record’s stellar guest musicians are essential to shaping the sound throughout Beauty Queen Sister, according to Ray and Saliers. “Many of our players are top-notch Nashville talent—you just don’t get any better than that,” Saliers says. Noting the dynamic drumming style of Brady Blade and the smooth bass grooves of Frank Swart and Viktor Krauss, Saliers adds that the high-energy ensemble of featured artists played a key role in carrying out the “organic approach we wanted to take on this album.” Equally invaluable was producer Peter Collins, with whom the Indigo Girls worked on 1992’s Rites of Passage and 1994’s Swamp Ophelia.
Decades into their career, the Indigo Girls still amaze conventional pundits with their ability to grow and thrive no matter what the state of the music industry is at any given point. Saliers and Ray began performing together in high school, transferred their honest, urgent performing style onto the stages of countless small clubs, then saw their public profile take off with the 1989 release of their self-titled breakthrough (an album that included the first hit, “Closer To Fine,” and went on to win Best Contemporary Folk Recording at the 1990 Grammys).
For Ray and Saliers, Beauty Queen Sister—like each new musical endeavor they embark on—offers a fresh opportunity for exploration and discovery. “We really work hard to not lean on any tried-and-true path in making our albums,” says Ray. “So when it comes to writing new songs and working with different musicians, every record feels like a completely different adventure for us.”