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.
They released a self-produced, full-length record album entitled Strange Fire in 1987, and contracted with a major record company in 1988. After releasing nine albums with major record labels from 1987 through 2007, they have now resumed self-producing albums with their own IG Recordings company.
Outside of working on INDIGO GIRLS–related projects, Ray has released solo albums and founded a non-profit organization that promotes independent musicians, while Saliers is an entrepreneur in the restaurant industry as well as a professional author; she also collaborates with her father, Don Saliers, in performing for special groups and causes. Saliers and Ray are both lesbians and are active in political and environmental causes.
Today's tune "Closer To Fine" is taken from the second self titled studio album and first major label release. It was originally released in 1989 by Epic Records, and reissued and remastered in 2000 with two bonus tracks.
Upon its release, the album received mostly positive reviews from critics, went gold after six months and eventually went platinum. The duo was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy (losing to MILLI VANILLI), and won one for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.
Michael Stipe sang on "Kid Fears", and the other members of R.E.M. performed on "Tried to Be True". In addition, the Irish band HOTHOUSE FLOWERS contributed background vocals on several tracks, notably "Closer to Fine". Enjoy!
Anohni, then known as “Antony,” is known for being one of the few openly transgender Oscar nominees, with her nomination being for her song “Manta Ray.” Before her transition, the album “I Am a Bird Now” featured guest vocal appearances by Devendra Banhart and Boy George in the song "You Are My Sister," and Rufus Wainwright in "What Can I Do?"
Anohni styled as ANOHNI, is an English-born (24 October 1971) singer, composer, and visual artist. She was formerly the lead singer of the band ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS.
Anohni was born in Chichester, England. Her family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981. In 1990, she moved to Manhattan, New York to study at the Experimental Theater Wing at New York University, and in 1992 she founded the performance art collective BLACKLIPS with Johanna Constantine.
She started her musical career performing with an ensemble of NYC musicians as ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS. Their first album, "Antony And The Johnsons", was released in 2000 on David Tibet's label Durtro. Their second album, "I Am A Bird Now" (2005), was a commercial and critical success, earning her the Mercury Music Prize.
Today's tune "Drone Bomb Me" is a song from her debut solo studio album, "Hopelessness", and was released digitally on 9 March 2016 on Rough Trade Records. On the subject of the song's meaning, Anohni said:
"It’s a love song from the perspective of a girl in Afghanistan, say a 9-year-old girl whose family’s been killed by a drone bomb. She is kind of looking up at the sky and she’s gotten herself to a place where she just wants to be killed by a drone bomb too". The music video was released on 9 March 2016 and features British supermodel Naomi Campbell.
