Stag (thing)

Amy Ray's solo album, released on her own Daemon Records. Ray used this non-Indigo Girls album to go for a much more punky flavor (postpunk?), and confirmation to fans everywhere that yes, some flavors of indigo are better than others.

Few successful recording artists would, in their right mind, turn even temporarily away from a thriving mainstream career to chase down an indie dream. Just about any major label (and almost certainly the Indigo Girls' Epic) would have been happy to hand Ray a blank check to make a solo album. Instead she used the indie label she founded 11 years ago. Recorded with friends and cronies ranging from veteran tough girl Joan Jett to alterna-country Belle Kelly Hogan to the dyke-rock trio The Butchies, Stag also lays to rest any lingering doubts about whether girls with acoustic guitar can rock. "When i was younger," she's said, "I was listening to The Clash and Patti Smith. i didn't really fit in musically with them at all, but it was really inspiring music. So the way I approached this record was to follow that energy."

From the mandolin-based folk punk of "Johnny Rottentail" to the nostalgic, straightforward guitar rock of "Late Bloom" to "Laramie," a song ray written in response to the murder of Matthew Shepard ("hey all you jokers, hunting season's over"), to the raucous and outspoken "Lucy Stoner," which condenms the male dominated music industry and Rolling Stones/Jann Wenner in particular, the songs on Stag are a showcase for her gifts as a songwriter.

Amy Ray has given me words for emotions I couldn't quite define, and she's done just that as well as pushed way beyond the boundaries of her Indigo Girls work with this record.