



In her 30-plus-year career in the music industry and touring the world, there has been one issue that Amy Ray noticed split fans.







Whether it is with longtime musical partner Emily Saliers, as the Indigo Girls, or her solo career, Ray has covered in song everything from the typical to the topical.







Yet it is abortion that she finds splits fans the most.







Considering the war on women's rights that is currently underway as states pass absurd legislation against abortion in the hopes that these dubious laws will end up in front of the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, it was impossible not to bring up the subject when talking with Ray, in light of her years of activism.







Ray and The Amy Ray Band will play Club Cafe on June 4 in support of her sixth solo album "Holler."







The Swerve Magazine recently had an all-encompassing conversation with Ray that touched on her new album to the feasibility of touring to the current abortion issue.







The Swerve Magazine: This is the East Coast swing of the "Holler" tour, are you ready?







Amy Ray: We leave on Monday (May 20). I go and pick the band up. Various people are flying in from various places, we drive up to Maryland and start there. Some of us come from Seattle; we have someone coming from North Carolina. We meet up and drive the van and trailer to the tour.







SM: There are a lot of people that played on the album, and the sound reflects that. Are you able to bring most of them with you on tour or do you have to adjust the sound to fit the live venue?







AR: Kofi Burbridge played on the album. He passed away this past year. It is a huge loss for the music world. He was Tedeschi Trucks keyboard guy. Allison Brown played banjo on the record, and she comes to some shows. The pedal steel, drums, bass, and everything else is from the record. We have a keyboard player right now with us who is from Anne Wilson's band.







We have done the West Coast and the Southeast a bunch. I've played with the same band now for about five years. We love going out and playing. It is pretty much why I do it. I don't make any money. It is a labor of love. We all love playing this music. I get excited to go out and play the songs. I really just love the band. They are a really incredible band. Great players. They always surprise me and do interesting things.







SM: For a lot of musicians, touring is the only way that they now make money...







AR: I don't make money at it because there are seven people in the band. I break even. I'm not trying to make a living with this musical experience. I'm trying to cover expenses. I want everyone to make enough money to pay their bills. I can make a living with Indigo Girls. For my life in Indigo Girls, we are definitely a working band.







We are in a weird place where we had the heyday of CDs, selling a lot of records, and making a lot of money. People got huge record deals. It was a little bit gluttonous. Now, we are on the opposite side of that. We get a lot of avenues for distribution and the creation of music. Technology and the internet have helped a lot of people to get exposure. It is also easy to get free music. It is a conundrum. I think it is a work in progress. I try to look at all these different things as tools. They all have their ups and downs. We just got to go with it and educate yourself.







For me, I just feel lucky that I still get to do it. To be able to make a living with Indigo Girls and do the solo stuff, I'm doing what I really love.







SM: You recorded "Holler" live to tape, how was that process for you and the band?







AR: It was fun. It is a fun way to do things. If you mess it up, you just go back and do it again. We can never get it the first time, so we keep playing it together until we get the track that we like. It feels better to do it that way with this kind of music. It feels more organic and more exciting.







SM: Considering the times in which we are currently living, I am personally surprised there are not more political or social message in music or the arts. The Indigo Girls formed in the midst of Reagan's salad days and there were numerous bands that were incorporating their frustrations into song. It seems missing today.







AR: Maybe it is not in super pop music and mainstream mainstream music, and I think we are not exposed to some of it, but I think it is out there. I think you have to look for it harder. It is a drag that that is even a consideration but is the way it is.







SM: I don't want to, but I can not talk to Amy Ray and not ask about your thoughts on the recent legislation in Georgia and Alabama against abortion.







AR: Oh, boy. It is so complex because they passed that Alabama and Georgia law. They are just passing these laws to strategize in hopes that they can challenge Roe v. Wade. In Alabama, most people that voted for it were told we are going to write this law to not have an exception for incest and rape, but don't worry if it comes back around we will change that.







No. You can't count on something like that. It is ridiculous. I believe in a person's right to choose. I also don't think there are people that are irreverent about getting abortions. It is a hard choice and a hard thing to go through. It is not something that someone wants to do. I'm sure there are a few exceptions of people who are just irresponsible. There are those people out there. And they will always bring those few people up. But, if you look deeper into their lives, they probably had seriously extenuating circumstances that make it look bad, but they are also going through something. You can't judge people. You can't.







I just heard them talking with some politician from Missouri. He was talking about a 12-year-old girl's not being able to get an abortion if she is a victim of rape or incest. How that thing inside her is a life, and every life is worth something. It is incredible. If you had to watch your daughter go through that, you would not let that happen, if it was your kid. If you would let it happen, you are a monster. That is a 12-year-old kid. It is barbaric. It is this political game, and they are playing around with it. Why don't you guys find a compromise, just find some common ground.







I respect people's faith. I'm a fan of faith-based choice about this where they wouldn't do it in their own lives, but it should be a choice. I respect when people have those beliefs, but I don't think that you can legislate it.







I think a lot of this is going to take a while to go into effect. People still have an opportunity to vote different people into office. I know the Supreme Court is set, but we have an opportunity to work on this. This isn't the last word that is what I take heart in. People are speaking out. People are afraid to speak out because some of the church members may be mad at them. There is a lot of fear around this.







It is one of the most contentious issues that Emily and I ever talk about. This is the one where the most people get mad at us. On anything else, people will respect our place. If we talk about this, if we had a table in the lobby at a show about it and we announce, we have had people walk out. It is such a contentious issue. I wish it didn't have to be that way. I wish that there would be a way for people to understand. Just because you don't legislate it, doesn't mean that we disagree with people's position on it that are faith-based.







With elections and the legal avenues that we have, there is still hope. It is just going to take some involvement.



Right now local elections are super important.