Emily Ann Saliers was born in New Haven, Connecticut July 22, 1963. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia with her parents, Don and Jane Saliers, and three sisters. Her father was a professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Emily first met her future bandmate Amy Ray when they were students at Laurel Ridge Elementary School. When they attended Shamrock High School they started performing together at talent shows and local venues as "Saliers & Ray" and the "B-Band".

After graduation she went to Tulane University and later transferred to Emory University. Emily graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in English. Amy had also ended up at Emory and it was there that they settled upon the band name of "Indigo Girls".

Emily began playing guitar at an early age. She also plays the banjo, piano, mandolin, ukelele, bouzouki and many other instruments.

Watershed Restaurant is owned by Emily Saliers and three partners. Led by the award winning chef Scott Peacock, the restaurant specializes in seasonal southern cooking, old fashioned made from scratch desserts, and offers boutique and hard-to-find wines. It's housed in a converted gas station, and offers a casual, relaxed atmosphere. They are an eco friendly establishment, responsible locally and globally, cutting back on waste, recycling, supporting local organic farming, and participating in local service groups.

Watershed Restaurant
406 West Ponce De Leon Avenue
Decatur, Georgia 30030
404.378.4900

Hours of Operations:
Monday - Saturday 11:00am - 10:00pm
Sunday Brunch 10:00am - 3:00pm
(Limited menu between the hours of 3:00pm and 5:00pm)

Reservations recommended, walk in guests welcome.

www.watershedrestaurant.com

Emily also co-founded the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia. There are now 3 locations throughout the city. Best known for their breakfasts, it's also a great place for lunch & dinner and offering Southern style comfort food.

Candler Park
1655 McLendon Ave
Atlanta, GA 30307
404.687.8888

Midtown Piedmont
1001 Piedmont Ave
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.874.8887

Buckhead W Paces Ferry
3515 Northside Pkwy
Atlanta, GA 30327
404.816.3152

www.flyingbiscuit.com

I just found the transcript to an ARTISTdirect chat with Emily Saliers from May 5, 2000. I thought you might like to see it too. These are some of my favorite Q & A from the chat:

Jax: I've decided not to play softball in college so that I could become conjoined twins with my guitar. Did you ever play any sports, and do you feel that you had to ever give up anything for your love of music or your career?

Emily Saliers: Good question! Well, I am a huge sports fan, huge! My favorite spectator sport is football, I love to play golf, and I'll watch just about anything on television. I especially love women's sports, basketball, but I never played sports. The competitiveness I found a little intimidating. So, when I played sports it was like pick-up games with my friends. I guess I never had the 'killer' instinct! (laughs) When I was applying for grad school, I was thinking about becoming an English teacher, but Amy and I already had a career going. So, I made that choice and I have absolutely no regrets, except when I have to be away from home for so long.

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Eckybay: Hi Emily. Do you ever get tired of singing "Closer to Fine?"

Emily Saliers: No.[laughs] do you ever get tired of listening to it? It's just sort of become a fun, rah-rah song for us. We used to close every show with that, but once we moved it up in the set list, it took on a different life and now it's just a fun hootenanny song!

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Kazzidy24: What was the inspiration for the extra track "Philosophy of Loss" on "Social?" Why was this song hidden and not listed on the album liner?

Emily Saliers: The inspiration was particularly about the church rejecting gay people and how hurtful that is to me as an individual, a gay person. It was just about the way we as a society or a culture rationalize our loss or the destruction that we create. It was a hidden track because originally, Amy wanted to make a pretty short record and as it was, we had twelve complete songs. But I was so attached to that song personally that we decided to make it a hidden track. So, we got the song on the album without making it part of the concise whole of 12 songs. I also like the idea that you've got the CD on, and you're listening, and it's just there. It's a nice surprise.

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BLacey: As a 40 year old straight girl trying to make my peace with organized religion, I'm interested to know how you have (or if you have) found a way to have a meaningful faith life as a lesbian. I'm wondering what your feelings on this subject are. Thanks for being an inspiration every day of my life for the past 11 years!

Emily Saliers: Well, first of all, thanks for listening to the music. I have a really good relationship with my faith community at home. My father is a minister and a theology professor. He's really open, and I consider him a leader, because he believes, and other leaders believe, that those members of the church who are constantly voting to ostracize gay people are wrong. I believe that eventually things will change. I think a lot of things have to be taken in historical context. I'm not a fundamentalist; I think things have to be taken in context. And the main thing I get from the life of Jesus is He was all about loving, people loving other people, even when they're different. I've searched my heart for many, many years and I'm grateful for my faith and my faith community. I believe there are a lot of really good people in the church and I believe things will change. So, I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater, for lack of a better phrase. I think all faiths have something to offer, and I think it's just about not getting caught up in the perversions of the teachings.

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Peachy: Emily, which do you write first - your lyrics, or the music?

Emily Saliers: I kind of do it at the same time. I'll usually start a chord progression and however it goes will direct me to choose lyrics, things I've been thinking about over a period of time. Other times, there's something I really want to talk about, and then I'll find a chord progression that goes with it. Then, I'll just kind of hack around and find something that goes together, but it never quite captures what's in my mind. It's very difficult to write a song.

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Rosepetal: I read that you had written the song "Leeds" while in England but had lost the words, only to find them later. What is the story behind that?

Emily Saliers: I wrote those words on a page in my Franklin Planner and I lost that Franklin Planner in Australia, or some other country. Somebody found it and returned it to me, and there were all these lyrics in the book, including the words to "Leeds." So, if I had never gotten that back, I never would have written that song.

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Cjmasch: Has Amy ever played one of her new songs for you and your response was "Huh? What the hell does that mean?"

Emily Saliers: (laughs) I've had to ask her what things mean before, not just once. But I always like her songs, I just like the way she writes. The only thing I have to do sometimes is clarify what she means by a line, and she has to do that with my songs, too. Sometimes, we'll be doing an interview and explain what we mean, and the other one will be, oh, I didn't know that. But for the most part, we're pretty in touch with what the other is saying.

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You can read the complete chat transcript on LiveWorld.

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