Indigo Girls have lasted over 22 years

Wish they'd known ...

» "I kind of wish I'd known that it would have been OK to be independent a lot earlier than we were," begins Saliers, who's joined Ray at their manager Russell Carter's intown office.

» "I wish I had known when we started to have more of a discipline about songwriting," says Ray. "I think it took me a long time to really catch up to our success in some ways. Not until maybe nine or 10 years ago did I really feel like I had a discipline around it and would spend a certain amount of time every day, a certain number of days a week, making a concerted effort. It actually helped my songwriting a lot. I wish I had known that in the beginning because I would have been a lot better, a lot sooner."

» "I wish I had known when we first got signed to Epic, not to have any fear about talking about our sexuality in the national press," Saliers says. "The progressive and queer community helped make us what we are today... I should have known what was right was to support my community and not be so concerned about my career."

What's harder,

different

» "Ever since radio [was] deregulated in '96 and corporations started snapping them up, you sort of lost that sense of regionalism," Saliers says. "Like a group like the Georgia Satellites could come out and have a hit. Or a group like the BoDeans could come out of their geographical place and have a hit. And that doesn't really happen anymore. Radio has become very homogenized and corporate."

» "Hey, and I guess I should just add [radio airplay is] impossible for us, specifically, in certain formats," Ray says. "We could spend a zillion dollars and we would never be on top 40 radio because of our age and our sex and our sexual persuasion. And so, some of it is not limited by money. Some of it is limited just by image ... or limited by brain."

» "It gets harder to be away from home," Saliers adds. "I'm kind of a split personality in that I've always loved touring. And I still do love it. ... But as we get a little older, I just find myself wanting to sit on my back patio and look at the trees. I've got owls in the backyard I just want to listen to them and feel the pace of life at home."

What's gotten easier

» "It's easier to make a record than it used to be for us," Ray says.

"We made these two records in three weeks," Saliers adds.

"I think we sing better in the studio than we used to," continues Ray. "It gets easier because you learn how to access more. You learn how to open up more..."

» "We've also learned a lot about how to be better activists over the years, through mentors," Saliers says. "Once we met Winona LaDuke ... she and other mentors in the indigenous communities taught us a paradigm for grass-roots activism that we learned we could easily implement into any of the activism that we do."

» "As far as building the community as far as music goes, the Web has improved a lot of stuff for us," Ray says. "Those networking sites are great for getting tour dates.

» "It's too much communication for me," Saliers continues with a laugh. "I don't Twitter. I don't think I ever will."