How the gold-standard Indigo Girls will bring 'Power of Two' to Columbia

Editor's note: Saturday's Indigo Girls show at The Blue Note has postponed due to a case of COVID-19, the venue shared on social media Friday morning. "We are already working to reschedule and will update you soon. All tickets will be honored for the new dates! We share in your disappointment and frustration and promise to return. Please take care, stay safe, and look long," the announcement relayed shared in part.

Indigo Girls aren't a band that needs to traffic in songs as mission statements.

When Atlanta-forged duo Amy Ray and Emily Saliers hit the scene some 35 years ago, it felt like their folk-rock sound arrived in its full, forever form. The band felt, and still feels, sure in its steps and purposes.

Still, it's hard not to hear a pitch-perfect description of the band on its 1994 cut "Power of Two." The song, which is about the ride-or-die dynamic of romantic love, also has something to say about what Ray and Saliers have made of themselves:

"Adding up the total of a love that's true / Multiply life by the power of two."

The power of two will grow exponentially, as it always does when Indigo Girls plays live, this weekend before a crowd at The Blue Note.

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Ray and Saliers have accomplished more than any two people might expect to, establishing themselves as the once and forever gold standard for folk-rock artists. From 1987-1997, they released six straight albums that achieved at least gold — and all the way up to multi-platinum — status. And their songs and spirit remain an inspiration for the songwriters who followed.

"Their two-women-with-guitars formula may not have been revolutionary on paper, but the combination of two distinct musical personalities and songwriting styles provided tension and an interesting balance," Chris Woodstra said, writing for AllMusic.

Woodstra dubbed Saliers a disciple of "the Joni Mitchell school," boasting "a gentler sound but" one that's "more compositionally complex, with lyrics that revealed the abstract and spiritual." Ray comes to the table with a "more direct, often confessional approach" owed to influences such as the Pretenders and Husker Du, Woodstra added.

You hear a wonderful dance of tension and revolution throughout the Indigo Girls catalog as they trade vocals, then point their natural resonators toward the space between.

Listen close to the harmonies on a song like "Power of Two," or a predecessor such as 1992's "Ghost," and elusive human connection suddenly sounds possible.

Sit with the balance of heaviness and hope Ray and Saliers bring to a song like "Secure Yourself" (off their self-titled 1989 effort), and you'll experience what Saturday's audience is likely to feel many times over — that community and belonging are out there for each of us, and life is best lived in the power of two or more.

Five cover songs the Indigo Girls made their own

Ray and Saliers are known for their superlative songwriting. You don't write lines like "I call on the resting soul of Galileo / King of night vision, king of insight" without serious gifts of beauty and craft. But Indigo Girls are also master interpreters of song, relaying others' work in their own voices, after the best traditions of folk music.

Here are just five of the songs they've adopted, some of which tend to find their way into live sets.

"Blister in the Sun" Ray and Saliers add a little Georgia jangle to this appropriately ragged take on Violent Femmes' magnum opus. Hear their live version on 1998's "Shed Your Skin" EP.

"Clampdown" The pair finds the acoustic angle on this Clash classic, with Ray and Saliers' stacked vocals adding a different kind of gravity to the political anthem. Their more timeless take is situated between cuts by distinctly of-the-decade bands Third Eye Blind and Mighty Mighty Bosstones on 1999's Clash tribute "Burning London."

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"Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters" Among Elton John's finest, the naturally soulful balladry of "Mona Lisa ..." is perfect fodder for the duo's vocal abilities; Ray and Saliers find and beautify every melodic bend here with their unvarnished tones and sublime harmonies. A live version can be heard on 2005's "Rarities" collection.

"River" We all owe a debt to Joni Mitchell; the Girls pay off their part with a simple, sublime live version of her winter song. It can be heard on the terrific live compilation "1200 Curfews," from 1995.

"Romeo and Juliet" One measure of a great song is its ability to take on new shape and color in any hands. Perhaps Mark Knopfler's finest composition, the song soars in its original form as well as covers by the likes of The Killers. Essentially a Ray solo, this version is the song at its rawest and most viscerally aching. Hear it on 1992's "Rites of Passage."

Indigo Girls play The Blue Note Saturday with Chapel Hart. The show starts at 8 p.m.; tickets are $39. Visit https://thebluenote.com/ for details.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen. 

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Gold-standard Indigo Girls' career testifies to 'Power of Two'