The Indigo Girls are back on tour, this time touting their new album, "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug." The duo have known each other since elementary school, eventually both graduating from Emory University in Atlanta. Their experiences and musical background come into play to make what Emily Saliers describes as being a spontaneous and fresh new CD.

The album features Michael Froom, world-renown music producer and keyboardist, joining the "girls" for a second time. It also has versions all the album's songs in purely acoustic format.

The Indigo Girls will be performing their new songs and a long list of fan favorites at Pine Mountain Amphitheater on July 9. They are also using the tour to promote Rock for a Remedy, a charity which uses concerts in order to collect food for human and pet shelters.

Saliers was reached by phone to talk about the new album, the tour and the group's activism.

Daily Sun: You said on your Web site that you thought your song "Digging for your Dream" was the closest to R&B you've ever come. Are you going to try and branch out to other styles of music in your new songs?

Emily Saliers: I think if I did that largely, I'd probably make a solo record. Amy, while she appreciates that kind of music, that's not really where she gravitates to specifically. So, I'm always asking the producer "I want more loops, I want more beats," you know, I just like that kind of music. So if it were to happen more, it would happen in sort of a solo adventure.

DS: Have you done solo work, and has that helped the band stay together?

ES: I don't have a solo record, I do things more like co-write with people or solo performances. … We just have different solo projects. But it's certainly true that whatever we have done independently has made our relationship more strong. It's kind of like a good marriage, where you have to have the strength to feed yourself and your own interests and when you come back together, it's awesome 'cause you have things to share.

DS: You helped found an environmental group called Honor the Earth. Can you tell me more about its history?

ES: We met Winona LaDuke at an Earth Day show, and Winona is a tremendous Native American leader. We started talking about our environmental work, which had been with mainstream groups like Green Peace, and she started talking about the indigenous environmental work. So we decided that, because so many environmental issues come up on Indian land, that it became impossible for us not to become environmentalists except to see it through the lens of the indigenous perspective.

With Winona, we started Honor the Earth along with some other folks, and the idea for us, Amy and I, to be sort of the musical liaisons, to bring attention to these various issues. Winona was the executive director, and so we went into different communities and found out what kind of issues they were working on, when it was nuclear waste dumping or deforestation or gold mining, strip mining, coal plants, all kinds of stuff. You wouldn't believe it, all that goes on there. So we learned a paradigm of activism through working with traditional, native communities…

DS: Do you ever write the issues you're working for into your songs?

ES: Yep, yep, now and then. Amy's got a song called "Point Hope" that's specifically about an experiment the government did where they placed toxins in native land and wanted to see how it went through the food chain. It's a very poignant song, and very specifically directed at what went on at that particular time. So from time to time depending on the issue, those will get into the songs for sure.

DS: How difficult is it to balance your activism with what you're doing with music at the same time?

ES: The hardest thing is saying no. We get a lot of very, very valid requests. But it's not hard at all. In fact it makes the music better. It all feeds itself; it's sort of entangled to each other. No matter what I'd be doing for a living, I'd still be an activist. Music is a very powerful tool for creating change. It's not difficult at all to balance those things.

DS: Hypothetically, if you had to choose either music or activism and only stick with one or the other, which would it be?

ES: That's an impossible question, because I can't imagine one without the other. I mean at my core, I'm a musician; it's the thing that I know how to do. It's the thing that pours out of me and keeps me alive and fed as a human being. I can't imagine music being void of a political or social consciousness. So, hypothetical but impossible to answer.

DS: How is being on a major label different now than it was in the past?

ES: When we got signed in 1988, there was no deregulation of radio stations where corporations could come and snap 'em all up and make music homogenous. There wasn't I Tunes; there wasn't digital downloading and file sharing, things like that. There wasn't the emphasis on just having a hit song. It was really a different time. So when we got signed, labels like Epic were nurturing the life of the band, not just saying "if you don't come up with a hit single for us, your career is over after one record." So we came up in that period of time.

Epic records was very supportive of us, but that ran its course and the whole industry shifted. So now, being independent, we have all the relationships we need in the business to go on and do it on our own. In fact it's better for us to not have a company in the middle of it, making decisions that don't really make sense to us…

DS: How are the record companies getting in the way?

ES: They get in the way by making decisions that don't necessarily make sense. That could be dumping marketing dollars into something that's not effective, or if you have to go through the process of having things approved. Right now, if Amy and I want to do any independent project or make any Youtube stuff or anything we want to put together, we can just do it ourselves. We don't have to go through the company and get approved, and we don't have to worry about anybody spending money on things that we don't want to spend money on.

DS: Do you think newer artists are being stifled a little bit because of that?

ES: I think it depends. For very successful pop artists and country artists, I think the record companies have a relationship that works for them. But for the majority of artists there's just no need for it. … You have to take it case by case. Most of the stories we hear now are just like horror stories, where bands get screwed over or dropped, or the relationship doesn't work out or the company will hold the record and then they own your stuff. With things like pro-tools that have revolutionized making records at home, it's a lot cheaper. It's just easier to make your own music now without having to involve anyone else.

DS: Why did you make the new album so quickly?

ES: Budget and people's availability of time. Like our drummer, Matt Chamberlain, he only had 4 days to cut all 10 tracks, studio time is expensive, and Mitchell's time is precious, and all those factors came to play and we just… During the time, it's really quite exhilarating, and you don't spend a lot of time be-laboring issues. You sort of make decisions in a fresh and spontaneous way, rather than having the luxury of time and budget to come back to it later.

DS: Do you think the spontaneity adds to the music?

ES: There's no doubt about it. I think Mitchell brings that anyway, we just trust him and he's a great musician and he's got fresh ears, so I think he did that on the last record and he certainly did that on this one, and there's no doubt. We were re-energized by being independent and by having this great team put together. We were very grateful for it, and we were ready to go. The time was right.

DS: How's it different from your other albums?

ES: I don't think it's drastically different from the record we did before. I mean, the main difference is that Mitchell plays on practically all, if not all, the songs. He's really added another beautiful texture to the songs, and he doesn't over play. He's the kind of guy who will pick three notes that fit in a space. He doesn't like to over layering things, he likes everything to have its own space and to come out so he really scrutinizes the songs… And the fact that we made it so quickly, it has a freshness and spontaneity to it. And our fans are certainly taking to it, that's what really matters to us.

DS: What has the feedback from your fans been?

ES: Our fans are amazing. They kind of know the songs even before they hear them, it's uncanny. Somehow they know the music and you can tell because, during the course of an evening if we're about to announce a song or we break into the beginning of a new song, if the audience starts applauding or they can sing along with a new song, then you know you're still on track with your following. And this record, people have said that they really really like it, and they love both versions. It feels awesome to still be making music that your fans like.

DS: Why did you decide to make the acoustic version of the album?

ES: That was Mitchell's idea, and he was just kind of joking around saying "I think your fans probably hate me because I put stuff on your songs and produce you," and he was joking. He just thought it would be a neat idea. … It just seemed to make sense, and give fans something different.

DS: How do you expect the Flag show will go?

ES: We don't get up that way very often, so the Southwest is always a treat for us. I think it's going to go great …. It will be hot as hell, and we'll be happy to be there.

If you go….

What: Indigo Girls with special guest Gregory Alan Isakov

Where: Pine Mountain Amphitheater

When: Thursday, July 9. Gates open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.

Admission: All ages event. Advance tickets are $35, $25 for lawn seating. $5 parking pass at gate. They are available at The Rainbows End or Animas Trading Co.

Also: Bring four or more non-perishable items (human or pet food) to donate to Rock for a Remedy and be entered in a raffle for autographed prizes. The donation is being coordinated with St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance.