You and Amy have played in Lowell a few times. What do you remember most about your past shows here?

I just like the venue there, because it’s this little square where people can sit. Obviously it’s outside, and it’s really laid back. There’s this nice room adjacent to the stage – this is behind the scenes, obviously. We always have friends there with us, and the catering is always amazing there, and we always have a nice friendly time, and we go out and play, and it’s just a nice, cool vibe.

You guys obviously play a lot of outdoor venues. How does Boarding House Park compare with those?

It’s smaller, which is intimate, and that’s really cool. It’s a good summer feeling. I love touring in the summer, because everyone’s in a good mood and sort of takes the weather with a grain of salt.

Especially in New England. Everyone loves the summers, because they’re too short.

I know. You can feel that when you’re there. We’re from the South, so we get a long summer, but you can really feel that, especially up in New England.

You and Amy have quite a music history together. What do you think drives the longevity in your careers and your music?

I think there are lots of reasons. Starting at the beginning, we’ve known each other since elementary school. We grew up together. We literally went to school together, we ended up graduating from the same college, so the proximity of our lives has always been close. Our families know each other. We’ve been through each other’s life’s milestones. So there’s that, but also creatively speaking, Amy brings her own thing to the group, and I bring mine. From the very beginning, we just had different places that fit together. She had a lower voice, and she was more of a rocker, a strummer. I had a higher voice and was more of a picker. Just the differences – we’re a yin-yang band. We work really well together, we have respect for each other, and we’re like sisters. Beyond that, we have very strong individual lives that have nothing to do with Indigo Girls. She’s getting ready to release her third solo record, and I’m in the food business. I own a restaurant. So not all our eggs are in the Indigo Girls basket, so when we come back together, it’s really exciting and fresh. Plus we have the greatest fans in the world. They’re just amazing. We don’t have to count on radio play or lots of record sales. We can just keep going out and touring. We get their support, and we don’t take it for granted.

Unlike a lot of your contemporaries, you guys really seem to be interested in trying a lot of new things with your music. I’m such a big fan of [producer] Mitchell Froom and his work. What was it like working with him, and what effect do you think he had on your latest album?

We just finished a new record with him. He produced our latest record, which doesn’t come out until next February. Mitchell is a consummate musician. He’s got perfect pitch. He’s really a throwback to the old days, where record companies would hire an arranger. You’d have your A&R person, and then you’d have an arranger who would work with the songs, and that’s what Mitchell does. Early on in the process, when Amy and I are practicing and arranging, we actually send MP3s to him, and he adds his input. That’s the first time we’ve ever done that with a producer. He’s just really good at bringing out the essence of a song. He doesn’t like to muck things up. He doesn’t like to add things just to add them. He likes to capture a moment. He doesn’t like to belabor things. He’s that kind of producer, and for us, it’s perfect.

With that album due next February, did you take a similar approach in recording it, or is there anything new that you tried with it?

The new record was done really quickly. We recorded it all in three weeks. We did ten tracks with bass and drums in four days, because Matt Chamberlain was playing drums, and he only had four days. So it was really, really fast, and we made decisions as we went along, rather than saying, “Well, we’ll decide on this later,” or “we’ll come back to it.” This kept it really fresh and exciting for us, and at the end of three weeks, we hadn’t even listened to the songs that we’d done two weeks before. So we were just like, “Wow, we just made a record. How did we do that?” sort of thing.

Is that the first time you’ve done that?

Yeah – first time.

So what effect do you think it had on the music?

I think there’s an immediacy about it. I think we did this with the last record. We did it more quickly than we’d done any record previously, but even with that, we took more time than with this one. It’s hard to articulate, but there’s just something exciting about when you make a decision creatively as you go along. You’re capturing that moment – the inspiration, and performance – and you’re sticking with it. And I think there’s something to be said for that. Mitchell played keyboards on most of the songs, if not all of them. So he was part of the band, and that was something new for us. And fans who know our music will definitely hear his input, and appreciate it, because he’s such a really good keyboard player, with cool sounds and gear.

Exactly. That’s what I love about his music. He’s got that certain touch – there’s certain little added things in there.

Yeah, totally. He’s got the ear for it. He doesn’t just dump things on a track. David Boucher, the engineer who did our last record as well, is just great at getting songs. He’s very in your face. And also for this record, we did the band versions of the songs, but also Amy and I recorded them all acoustically just sitting around mic’s with acoustic guitars, or mandolins, or whatever. So we’re going to release a double experience for the fans – one will be the band, and one will be just me and Amy.

Was it recorded at Mitchell’s house again?

No. We wanted to work in Atlanta, and he was very gracious, because he doesn’t really like to work in other places. But he came to Atlanta – they both did – and that was another reason why we wanted to get it done fast. Now they’re back in Santa Monica mixing it.

That’s great news. Changing gears a little bit - with your history of political activism, and this being a critical election year, I assume you guys are doing some sort of promotion of the election, voting, etc. on this tour?

We’re working with different groups like the League of Women Voters, or other groups that are registering people to vote and educating them about how to get other people to vote. It’s just sort of a grassroots campaign to register and spread the importance of taking part in this political process. So at the shows, we have tables set up with those groups represented. If fans have not registered, then they can register, or if they want to get involved in canvassing, or making phone calls, or just getting other people out there to vote, they can also do that. At some shows, there have been as many as 50 people registering. For us, in a small venue, that’s a really cool thing, and that’s what we’re really focusing on this summer.

So that’s your main cause this summer?

It is. There are always other groups that are present for us, like Amnesty International is out a lot with us. It’s important to have those groups present. Also the group that we helped start called Honor the Earth, that works with indigenous issues, particularly environmental issues. Those groups are always present with us.

Thankfully, you both have a passion for a variety of political causes. Is this something that you think all popular artists should be doing?

I think it’s up to the person or the group. I don’t think there’s a judgment involved with it. I believe that everybody should want to be involved, just because we’re all parts of various communities, and ultimately one community, and we all have to work it out together, so if nothing else, dialogue is important. Amy and I just discovered early on how really easy it was to network, and set up benefits, and there’s something about marrying music and activism that really deepens the whole music experience. People love getting involved together, and helping to make change. It’s just a positive thing. Artists, fortunately or unfortunately, have a lot of influence, so I’d like to see many people become involved, but you have to be involved from a place of motivation. Your heart has to be committed to it.

You and Amy have worked with a lot of younger female artists, like Brandi Carlisle and Pink. What sort of difference do you see in today’s young artists versus back in the 80s when the two of you were starting out?

I think with Pink and Brandi, they’re exercising their autonomy in a way that particularly women couldn’t early on. I still think it’s a male-dominated business, and particularly so historically. There were only certain roles that women could fit into until the riot grrrl movement came along, for example. Brandi and Pink both signed to a major label, but they call their own shots. Pink’s latest record is different from her record two or three albums ago. We know Brandi – we’re friends with her – so we know that she does what she wants to do creatively. These are very strong, very creatively-involved-in-their-own-music women with a vision. It’s inspiring. Amy and I have been around so long that eventually you start hanging out with younger artists. You get on up there in years, and you get inspired by younger artists.

Have you two made any changes in your own tactics in this new Web 2.0 age?

We’re independent now. We’re no longer signed to a label. So we try as hard as possible to keep the web site updated, to make as much use of the technology as possible. We did low budget videos that were broadcast on YouTube rather than spending tons of money for something that will never get played…just a waste of money. We’re just out there brainstorming, and trying to be in touch with people who are on the sharper edge of that curve to help educate us on how we can best make use of technology, to not only be creative but to remind people that the music’s out there and available. It’s exciting.

You mentioned you’re no longer on a label. What kind of changes have you had to make as a result of that?

The first change was making the record quickly, expediently. Budget comes to mind. Fortunately, we have great people like Mitchell who are willing to work with us. After that, everything is in house. We’ll hire an independent publicist, and we’ll hire a radio promotion person, and we’ll hire people to help us with marketing – just tactical decisions. We have to sign a deal with a distributor to make sure a record gets out there. So the onus is on you, but in a way it’s liberating, because you’re not counting on a middle man or woman to help you try to get things going. If they’re not motivated, or they’re caught in a different machine, and they get in the way of you getting your stuff out there, that’s really frustrating. So now it’s just all on us. It’s very exciting.

So what’s in store for your fans over the next six months?

We’ll tour through the third week of July, then we’re going to tour in September and October. Amy’s solo record comes out August 5. She’s going to be touring in October and November. We’ll probably be pre-releasing things from the new record. We just have to decide on that – stuff that will be available on the web site. We’re just going to get ready to release and start the cycle again. But we’re really committed to keeping fans up to date on the web site with what’s going on with the tour. Amy’s been shooting a lot of footage. She’s going to edit that together. We’ll have that available for people to check out on the web site. That’s the portal into the Indigo World.