The Indigo Girls are always happy to return to Salt Lake City.
"We love playing there," said Amy Ray, "We have a great group of fans there, and we always enjoy seeing them." (The other Indigo girl is Emily Saliers.)
The Indigo Girls come back to Utah for reasons in addition to playing live music, however. Since 1992, they have been working with Honor the Earth, an organization that works to raise awareness and support for Native American environmental issues and to raise funds for Native American communities.
For the past few years, the Indigo Girls and Honor the Earth have been focusing on the proposed nuclear-waste dump on the Goshute Indian Reservation in Skull Valley. "Things have developed there, and being non-Indian, we don't get involved with tribe politics — but we make non-natives aware of what's happening in the area."
For some time, the Goshute tribe has been battling a decision by its self-appointed leader to take the waste for a cash settlement, Ray said during a telephone interview. "Even though it was against the wishes of the whole tribe. The trouble is, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has recognized the decision as legitimate, as has the Private Fuel Storage, a conglomerate of big energy companies."
But other issues have emerged, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Committee being concerned that the facility is in the F-16 flight pattern from Hill Air Force Base. "Right now they are investigating the possibilities and regularities of plane crashes in the flight pattern," said Ray. "So it's pretty convoluted. And we'll see how things turn up."
The concert will help raise public awareness of the dispute, said Ray. "And we will have sign-up sheets and other information for those who want to get more involved with the issues."
Activism has always been a part of the Indigo Girls' lives. "When Emily and I started playing together, we were high school students. But we weren't as versed in politics and issues as the high school kids are today. They are very informed and are getting involved more than we ever thought we could when we were their age.
"We got involved with our community with our music then. It was us giving back to the community and kind of based on the tithing idea. Emily's dad was a preacher and a professor of theology, and my family was a churchgoing family and were involved in the community. But as we got older, we wanted to dig deeper into other issues. We wanted to get into the heart of matters and deal with complexities that lead us to dealings with races and classes.
"Our music helped us get involved with organizations and also helped us touch people's lives and raise awareness. And that's where we are now."
With a new album, "All That We Let In," Ray and Saliers have returned to live-recording sessions, a place where they are most comfortable. "It was a simpler approach this time," said Ray. "We did an album ("Come On Now Social"), which was very electric, and we were into layering at the time.
"Our last album, 'Become You,' was more of a return to the acoustic sound. And the new album is the continuation of that. But as with all of our albums, there is give and take, and we really ended up doing what we do all the time — making music that we feel like making at the time."
"All That We Let In" is the last studio album the duo is recording for Epic Records. The next album, said Ray, will be a compilation of rarities. "Then we will be finished with the contract. And then we'll see what our options are."
If you go. . .
What: The Indigo Girls
Where: Kingsbury Hall
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $40
Phone: 355-2787 or 1-800-451-2787
Web:www.arttix.org
E-mail: scott@desnews.com