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“I appreciate that the Indigo Girls have been willing to take a stand on so many social issues over the course of their long career — feminism, sexism, environmental justice, Native American rights, and have done so poetically, beautifully,” said Angela Willis, professor of Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies. “Their songs have a way of reaching and speaking to a wide, diverse audience. As a child of the 1980s, I have long admired their musical sincerity.”

Willis’s Spanish composition and conversation class, “Activism in the Arts,” studies multiple forms of artistic expression — documentaries, poetry, street art, painting — to understand how art reaches people and moves them to act.

“The music and activism of the Indigo Girls serve as concrete, relevant and powerful examples of what we have studied,” she said. “I believe the film (and concert) will help to cement what we have explored.”

Physics Professor Dan Boye’s “Music: Sound with Impact” course examines the science behind how sound is produced, recorded, and played back, as well as how music impacts so many areas of our individual and communal existences. Just recently, students attended Opera Carolina’s production of Turandot. 

“Coming off of that experience, this week’s Indigo Girls events add another layer,” he said. “In addition to hearing the Indigo Girls’ artistry and inspirations behind their journey, I want the students to experience the DFPH with their new, scientifically inquisitive eyes and ears. The acoustics change quite a bit from a vacant sound check to a fully crowded room. For the concert, we will all be experiencing a new venue. How well will the amplified sound be setup and how successful will the audience hear and understand what they see happening onstage?” 

Boye studied physics and classical voice at the University of Georgia at the same time the music scene in Athens, Georgia, exploded, with bands including B-52s, REM and Indigo Girls honing their craft in local clubs. As a grad student going to their live shows, Boye appreciated their “intricate harmonies” and “clean accompaniment;” alone in the laser lab, he cranked up “Closer to Fine.”

“I suppose I’m known around campus as the singing physicist whose primary focus is classical voice,” Boye said. “I want students to know that I respect and love that we can make expressions beyond words through music of all kinds.”

Luke Watson ’24, a musician and self-declared big music fan, attended with English Professor Suzanne Churchill’s “Modern Poetry and Politics” course. 

“I really appreciated how the film showed intimate portrayals of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers without letting those moments overshadow the community and importance of the band. I feel I got to know both of them extremely well, but the film wove the duo’s widespread impact into the personal stories of the two,” she said. “As a musician, I admired the honesty of both the duo and the filmmakers; they were willing to show how the company you keep and community you create is just as important as the art itself. Their past doubts about their creative abilities and identities resonated deeply with me.”

The Indigo Girls return to Davidson after 35 years a little older and wiser, but with the same power to create community and inspire change, hallmarks of their longstanding partnership. 

“While the concert will be a terrific community gathering, the even more extraordinary and enduring moment for Davidson occurred when two talented musicians gave their time to talk with our students,” President Hicks said. “At Davidson, we are about educating humane leaders to address global challenges. Emily and Amy are genuine examples of what it means to put values into action over a lifetime.”