and Hothouse Flowers, both of which contributed their talents to the duo вЂ™s first Epic album.

In the meantime, the Indigo Girls had acquired successful musicians among their growing number of fans, including the groups R.E.M. вЂќ So the duo signed a contract with Epic Records in 1988, but only after the company had reassured them on the issue of artistic control. But we had so much to do, we were just falling apart. This strategy вЂњwas working, вЂќ Ray claimed to McCormick. They cut вЂњCrazy Game, вЂќ a single, in 1985 an extended-play record in 1986 and an album entitled Strange Fire in 1987. Wanting their music to remain completely independent of others вЂ™ control, the Indigo Girls began recording on their own Indigo label. A Stereo Review critic included in his assessment of Indigo Girls the compliment, вЂњThis is red-blooded folk music with no holds barred. Despite their good intentions, however, the perception persisted. вЂќ Saliers further explained that Ray then felt that вЂњwe needed to play rock & roll clubs instead of folk clubs, вЂќ because the Indigo Girls were being stereotyped as pop-folk artists. вЂќ As the latter told McCormick, вЂњfrom then on, we were making career decisions. Moira McCormick reported in Rolling Stone that Ray handed her partner вЂњan ultimatum, and Saliers chose the group. вЂќДЄs the women prepared to graduate from Emory, Ray was totally committed to a musical career, but Saliers wavered. вЂњI found in the dictionary, вЂќ Ray told People. Eventually, when they both found themselves attending Atlanta вЂ™s Emory University -Ray studying religion and Saliers English -they decided to change their moniker. Their repertoire at this point predominantly consisted of folk standards, but they would occasionally slip in their own compositions. Calling themselves simply Saliers and Ray, they played in an Atlanta bar on amateur nights.

When the two young women reached high school, however, they began performing as a team. вЂњWe had this unspoken competition because we both played the guitar, вЂќ Saliers explained in People. вЂќ The future partners met during grade school in Decatur but had little to do with each other.

вЂќ Ray performed at parties given by relatives in her youth, and her grandmother tried unsuccessfully to gain her an audition for the country music variety show вЂњHee Haw. She confessed to a People reporter, however, that her lyrics вЂњmade no sense. Saliers, who spent her earlier years in New Haven, Connecticut, before her family relocated to the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, Georgia, began composing songs when she was nine. Despite the darker tones of many of the album вЂ™s other numbers -tones which led a People reviewer to call listening to Indigo Girls вЂњin one sitting a rather grim experience вЂќ -Ray and Saliers have received much critical acclaim for their 1989 effort.Д«oth women sing, compose, and play acoustic guitar, and both started practicing their arts as youngsters. вЂњCloser to Fine, вЂќ an upbeat single from the disc, has proved especially popular, and its accompanying video has seen much airplay on video stations such as MTV and VH-1. вЂќ The duo, made up of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, have enjoyed tremendous success with the release of their first album on a major label, Indigo Girls. вЂњTheir voices soar and swoop as one.and when they sing.they radiate a sense of shared purpose. The Indigo Girls are вЂњideal duet partners, вЂќ announced Jerry Guterman in Rolling Stone.

Indigo girls