Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Mood Indigo

Some creative partnerships last about as long as an ice cube on an Atlanta street in July. But Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been gigging together — and turning out top-tier tunes — since they were in high school. The pair of Georgia natives chose the band name “Indigo Girls” by flipping through a dictionary in 1985. Five years later, they won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, and they’ve continued to win over listeners with their close harmonies and gritty, honest lyrics incorporating socially conscious messages. Though they’ve never been a couple, the Girls have been openly gay for the greater part of their careers, and play regularly in support of LGBTQ civil liberties as well as environmental issues, Native Americans’ rights, and anti-death-penalty causes. Catch them coloring outside the lines in Rutland this weekend.