Ray of Hope

I’ve been an Indigo Girl gal since, well, since I was a girl. And I have the (quite literal) receipts to prove it. I’ve reveled in the harmonic miracle of the combined voices of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers for decades. But I’ve also appreciated them apart. So Amy Ray’s latest song “Subway,” with an assist from none other than Brandi Carlile, is truly a gay celebration. Amy has said the song recalls the freeing feeling she had as a small-town queer going to the Big City. It’s something I think is a universal dream for most queer youth, at some point or another. And in particular it’s a tribute to the late NY radio DJ legend Rita Houston, who championed queer artists like our Girls and Brandi and so many others. Ah, youth and all that endless feeling of possibility — isn’t it pretty to think so, once again.