Amy Ray, with her impressive body of solo material, has clearly established herself as the "rock" half of Grammy-winning folk duo Indigo Girls. One of the most recognizable voices in pop music, Ray has never been an artist to rest on her laurels and Lung of Love, out February 28, 2012 on Ray’s own Daemon Records imprint, is no different, featuring tracks ranging from distorted guitar rave-ups to an Appalachian come-to-Jesus throwdown.
Ray will be kicking off the first leg of her Spring US Tour on March 10th with a hometown Atlanta show and will include her first SXSW appearances in over a decade. The Butchies will be back as Ray’s band: Kaia Wilson on guitar, Alison Martlew on bass, and Melissa York on drums. Jenn Stone, most recently on tour with Ke$ha, will be playing the keys. Lindsay Fuller will support Amy on the West Coast dates; Kaia Wilson will be the opener for the East Coast run. (Scroll down for complete dates.)
Earlier this week, Ray released the first single from the record, "Glow." Listen to that below, and also check out a NoiseTrade sampler she put out this week as well, which features new songs "I Didn’t," "More Pills" and "Give it a Go."
The former suburban Georgia tomboy has always been on the side of the underdog and the songs on Lung of Love continue in that vein. In the mid 1970s, Ray was a Georgia ‘tween, plucking out Partridge Family songs on her guitar and dreaming of becoming David Cassidy, the teen idol who got all the girls. She loved psychedelic hippies like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, too. Ray began writing songs about injustice and the tragedy of unrequited love and playing her music in the schoolyard. "Even then, I had a sense that what I was writing was not for authority," says Ray. "I wrote for me and my peers."
Lung of Love is no different; it’s got a heart, a conscience and it’s current. The album finds Ray reunited with producer Greg Griffith, who worked with her on 2008’s Didn’t It Feel Kinder, but this time Griffith also acts as co-writer, the first time Ray has ever collaborated as a songwriter (Ray and Indigo Girl Emily Saliers write separately, then come together to arrange and record). Another first: After all of the basic tracks were recorded, keyboardist Julie Wolf laid Moog, Farfisa, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer sounds on top-the vintage keyboards and synths both adding to the uniqueness of the record and creating a subtly unifying motif for the diverse songs. Guest vocalists pop up throughout the record, including Brandi Carlile, Jim James, and Lindsay Fuller.
Watch an in-depth interview video with Amy Ray discussing the making of the new record, Lung of Love, below.
TOUR DATES
* with Lindsay Fuller opening
+ with Kaia Wilson (ex-Butchies) opening
Mon Feb 27 – New York, NY @ Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe (solo show with Lindsay Fuller)
Sat Mar 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse w/The Shadowboxers (8:30 pm)
Sun Mar 11 – Gainesville, FL @ Double Down Live w/The Shadowboxers (7 pm)
Thu Mar 15 – Austin, TX – SXSW at Deseo Centro Lounge (TBD)
Tue Mar 20 – Tucson, AZ @ Plush, An Acoustic Evening with Amy Ray, Lindsay Fuller, and Jeff Fielder, special guest Kaia Wilson(9:30 pm)
Wed Mar 21 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom; An Acoustic Evening with Amy Ray, Lindsay Fuller, and Jeff Fielder, special guest Kaia Wilson (8 pm)
Fri Mar 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar * (8 pm)
Sat Mar 24 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brewing Company * (7 pm)
Sun Mar 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall * (9 pm)
Tue Mar 27 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge * (8 pm)
Wed Mar 28 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern * (8 pm)
Thu Mar 29 – Olympia, WA @ Capitol Theater Backstage * (TBD)
Sat Mar 31 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room * (9 pm)
Sun Apr 1 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater * (8 pm)
Wed Apr 11 – Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage + (TBD)
Fri Apr 13 – Arlington, VA @ IOTA Club & Cafe+ (TBD)
Sat Apr 14 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House + (7:30)
Tue Apr 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Downstairs + (8 pm)
Wed Apr 18 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall + (9 pm)
Fri Apr 20 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint + (9 pm)
Sat Apr 21 – Durham, NC @ The Casbah + (8:30 pm)
Digital pre-orders for Lung of Love are now live on Amazon and iTunes.
