Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

The Indigo Girls’ 2007 and 2009 (pictured) dates at Ravinia both featured a then swiftly rising-to-prominence Brandi Carlile, who has cultivated similar values and standards as a citizen musician with extensive activist and humanitarian work alongside longtime companions the Hanseroth twins. Ray and Saliers both guested on Carlile’s 2007 breakthrough album The Story (on “Cannonball”), and Ray contributed to the 2009 follow-up Give Up the Ghost (on “Looking Out”). “It’s been a complete confluence of good things,” says Saliers about the past 12 or so months. “We tried to space things out, but then Barbie , Glitter and Doom , and the documentary all hap- pened in the same timeframe. It felt like eating a really rich dessert! “I don’t know why things reappear on people’s pop-culture radar, but we’ve enjoyed the resurgence, and we’ve noticed it in the crowds,” she continues. “We have an incredible loyal following with an energy that’s always spectacular, but now younger people have started to come to our shows. That’s always vali- dating, to feel like your music can speak to the experience of a younger audience. So it’s been a great year.” THE SINÉAD LEGACY The latest addition to the Girls’ ever-ex- panding discography is Look Long , their 16th studio album, released into the dark pandemic days of 2020. Its producer, John Reynolds, is another of the band’s longtime artistic partners. Ray and Saliers first met him during the summer of 1998, when they all toured with the second Lilith Fair; Reynolds, a drummer, rocked out as part of Sinéad O’Connor’s band. (He was also her first husband, and the two remained close after divorcing in 1991.) Thanks to their Lilith connection, Reynolds and the Indigo Girls became friends and collaborators, with him producing and sometimes drumming on several of their subsequent albums. “John is an amazing man,” reflects Ray. “He’s a musical touchstone for us, a compass in so many ways. Our connec- tion to him is super special, and we’re always thankful to Sinéad for introduc- ing us.” With the one-year anniversary of O’Connor’s death approaching when the Indigo Girls chatted with Ravinia Magazine (she passed on July 26, 2023), the conversation organically turned to memories of the bracingly courageous, iconoclastic Irish musician. “I remember sitting in the audienc- es at Lilith, hearing her sing,” Saliers says. “It was a gale-force wind blowing against me, she was just so powerful. “She was almost like our spirit guide in a way. She really didn’t give a shit about fame. She wanted to make music that was important to her, and she wanted to speak about injustice—the injustice from the church, the injustice from any force of oppression. We’re so grateful for her life, what she gave to us all. It’s a tremendous loss, coupled with tremendous gratitude.” “We met her at Lilith and became friends,” Ray recalls. “We met her whole band. John was drumming, and our bass player now and our keyboard player, they were playing with her too. We got along so well. It was a golden moment, hanging out, playing cards together, listening to music. She really brought us a whole team of musicians who we still go to. That’s really special. What a gift. “Sinéad really saw us. She saw us,” Ray continues. “Lilith was great, but as gay women during that time, it was still pretty hard. As great as it was, we still felt—not from [founder] Sarah [Mc- Lachlan], of course, who was amaz- ing—but when you get that many people together, there’s still homophobia. Sinéad saw us for who we are, and it was a really good feeling.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Crain’s Chicago Business , and The Advocate and Chicago magazines. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 18, 2024 12 RUSSELLJENKINS/RAVINIA