Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the well-known contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls.
On March 6, 2001 she released her first solo album, Stag, a southern and punk rock album. The Butchies provided support for five songs, and Nineteen Forty-Five and the Rock-A-Teens supported on one song apiece. Joan Jett helped out on "Hey Castrator." On April 12, 2005, Ray released Prom, and on December 19, 2006, she released Live from Knoxville. Her fourth solo album, Didn't It Feel Kinder, is scheduled for release on August 5, 2008.
Her backup band for her Stag tour was The Butchies. In 2004, when she embarked on her Prom tour, she brought Les Nuby (guitar), Will Lochamy (drums), and Jody Bleyle (bass). Bleyle was replaced with Tara Jane O'Neil in October because Bleyle was on maternity leave.
Ray was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, and went on to begin college at Vanderbilt University. After a year at Vanderbilt, Ray returned to the Atlanta area to continue her education at Emory University. Ray graduated from Emory in 1986 with majors in English and Religion.
Ray currently lives in the foothills of North Georgia.
Songs from compilation albums
Live track "Lucy Stoners" on Calling All Kings & Queens (2001) Mr. Lady Records sampler album
Live track "On Your Honor" on a compilation for Home Alive.
Side projects
In addition to the Indigo Girls and her work as a solo artist, Ray also runs an independent record label, Daemon Records, which she founded in 1990 and which is based in Decatur, Georgia. Some bands signed to Daemon include Girlyman, Magnapop, Nineteen Forty-Five, Michelle Malone, Three Finger Cowboy, Danielle Howle and the Tantrums, Gerard McHugh, Grady Cousins, The Oblivious, Snow Machine, Utah Phillips, and Rose Polenzani.
Ray is also an activist involved in multiple political and social causes, including gay rights, abortion rights, Native American rights, low-power broadcasting, women's rights, indigenous struggles, gun control, the Zapatista movement, environmental protection and the anti-death penalty movement among others. She has made several trips to Chiapas, Mexico to support the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
In 1993, she and Emily Saliers co-founded Honor the Earth with Winona LaDuke. Honor the Earth's mission is "to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard."
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Amy Ray
^ Allmusic biography
v • d • e
Indigo Girls
Amy Ray · Emily Saliers
Albums and EPs
Strange Fire · Indigo Girls · Nomads Indians Saints · Back on the Bus, Y'all · Rites of Passage · Swamp Ophelia · 4.5 · 1200 Curfews · Shaming of the Sun · Come On Now Social · Retrospective · Become You · All That We Let In · Rarities · Despite Our Differences
Related articles
Daemon Records · Ray solo: Stag · Prom · Live from Knoxville · Didn't It Feel Kinder
Persondata
NAME
Ray, Amy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Singer-songwriter, record producer
DATE OF BIRTH
April 12, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH
Georgia, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Ray"
Categories: 1964 births | American female guitarists | American female singers | American folk singers | American songwriters | American vegetarians | Emory University alumni | Female rock singers | Georgia (U.S. state) musicians | Lesbian musicians | LGBT musicians from the United States | Living peopleHidden category: Articles needing additional references from May 2007
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