When musicians are asked to list their influences, their answers usually consist of other musicians. Rarely does a former U.S. president hold sway over artists' creativity. But Emily Saliers, half of the iconic Grammy-winning Atlanta duo Indigo Girls, said Jimmy Carter was different.

At the Carter Center on the eve of a national day of mourning for the late president, who died at home in Plains, Ga., on Dec. 29 at age 100, Saliers spoke to media as she laid a bouquet of flowers on a makeshift memorial in honor of a man she said influenced both her songs and actions.

Indigo Girls Saliers and Amy Ray met in elementary school in DeKalb County, graduated from Emory University and launched their debut (recorded in Athens, Ga.) in 1987 and found worldwide fame in 1989 with "Closer to Fine" (penned by Saliers and included in the hit soundtrack to the 2023 film Barbie). They have have released 19 studio and live albums.

Throughout their careers, both Saliers and Ray have been involved with the fight for equality and justice as well as women's rights, the environment and ending poverty. The pair has racked up dozens of benefit concerts for organizations including Habitat for Humanity, which was close to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's hearts, and even recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" in 2020 for President Carter's 96th birthday.

Wednesday morning, on the lawn of the Carter Center, Saliers explained how Carter became a guiding light for her and the duo's music.

On her personal memories of Carter

My parents voted for Jimmy Carter. I was too young to vote, but I remember that. That's the first time that he really was in my personal consciousness. And then over the years, Amy and I became very involved in the Habitat for Humanity. And I've been a member of the Carter Center. I have heard President Carter speak there with Rosalynn and Amy and I have played lots of benefits for Habitat. President Carter is a personal hero, a man of unfathomable, profound faith that never divided anyone, but just was an inspiration to us. His life was always a beacon of light for us because of the way that he walked the walk of his faith and his personal integrity.

So, I could just remember pictures of him after he'd fallen and his bruised face. And he's building houses for Habitat and then being a member of the Carter Center. What he and Rosalynn did in Africa and helping to eradicate the Guinea worm. And we, Amy and I, were able to play guitars made from wood from President Carter's farm for his 96th birthday. And then for his 99th birthday, we were playing a live show, and we had — this is the 100th birthday cap (points to head), but we had the 99th birthday cap and we sang, playing those guitars for President Carter. So he is, as I say, a beacon of light in our lives. We're very proud to be from Georgia and have him be from Georgia. And I think I cannot think of another president in the history of this country who exuded such personal integrity and lived by his faith in a way that I don't know if we'll ever see it again. I certainly haven't seen it in the history of presidents of the United States.

And then to have him, after his presidency, continue on with such profound humanitarian work, it's just there was just nobody ever like him, like President Carter. And the boundaries and oppression of racism that he worked so actively to break down. Just so many things to name about President Carter and how he inspired us all and why.

… But just when I think of the human beings within my lifetime, you speak to what human life is capable of in terms of living by your moral compass and your ethics, working to save the Earth. He was way ahead of his time, saving over 100 million acres and in Alaska and starting the Department of Energy and all the things that he did to preserve the Earth that were way ahead of his time, his courage with the Panama Canal. His courage in the face of all kinds of opposition, his stubbornness for the sake of justice in doing what was right. Just absolutely incredible human being. We're going to miss him, but he will live on forever.

 

On being at the Carter Center

I mean, I'm holding back tears. Honestly, I don't want, like, my nose to run and like, this stuff. So I'm — it's profoundly moving. Members of my family came by and — because of having been here and having been in his presence when he was alive at the Carter Center, in some ways, although he lived such a long life, it's hard to believe he's gone. So I feel very emotional. I feel very grateful to be here. I feel honored to lay flowers and —

I love you, President Carter. We all love you. This is profound and humbling.

 

On Atlanta in the spotlight

It’s only appropriate that Atlanta and Georgia would have their moment with him. I mean, he is our native son. And just being a member of this community, it's just very important that that he came here to rest before he went on to his final body's resting place. And yeah, it's one of those things. It's like, you know, I got to vote for John Lewis for Congress, and I didn't get to vote for Jimmy, but my parents did. And so to be from Georgia, there's a lot of misconceptions about the South. And then when you have these tremendous leaders and him, a pinnacle leader from Georgia, it makes you proud and it makes the rest of the nation and the world know what comes out of Georgia soil and what is possible from Georgians who live the kind of life that Jimmy Carter held as a, you know, a total pinnacle for the rest of us. So it feels very good. It feels very Georgian, it feels very local, and yet it feels international at the same time.

On Carter’s influence on her music

There’s absolutely no doubt he influenced our music. You know, our a lot of our songs are focused on the beauty of the Earth and our relationship to it. And obviously he stood for that, as I say, way ahead of his time. And I can think of songs that I wrote that were inspired by him and his vision for taking care of the Earth and also for peace among human beings. And he was such a beacon for justice. And Amy and I write a lot of songs about that. So but if you were to ask, stop and ask us, like, who are some of your personal human heroes? He'd be right at the top of the list. And that's inspiring when you're a songwriter. A lot has been said, you know, for a long time and over the last week of the way he raised up.

 

On his legacy of equality

His legacy on that? Again, you might be surprised that an older white man from Georgia were capable — was capable of such a vision. For equality. You know, as a queer person, it means so much to me that he stood for LGBTQ rights and — Obviously I can't speak as a Black American or a person of color. But standing outside, what he has done for racial equality in this country is just like — they're just few who carry the banner the way that he did. So, again, it's like, especially in today's world and in this country where there's so much division and in the world and all the conflict in the Middle East, he was very courageous about speaking truth about the Middle East. So in every facet of sort of like human justice issues, he just walked the walk, and he knew what — And he didn't just talk. I mean, every, all of his policy and the work he did after his presidency was over, it was just all about bringing people together and seeking justice for people. I mean, it's just — it's really unbelievable. So as a queer person and as someone who cares a lot about racial justice and human justice and equality. It's a wonderful to think about what he was able to achieve and what he stood for. And Rosalynn, too, you know, them as a team.





On negative press and social media about Carter

Negative things about Jimmy Carter? That makes me laugh! I mean, I don't know what the standards are for, or how high we can set the bar for, what a human being can be or live by his faith and live honestly. I know that people will knock his presidency, and they'll talk about the hostage situation, which was terrible. There are things that are out of a president's control. There are very, very large things that work in a situation like that. And most of us know the reason why the hostages cannot be freed when they were freed. And if you want to talk about the economy and the gas crisis and all those things, I mean, that was a storm that was brewing before he took office. And so if you want to say, like, specifically what people know about his presidency, OK, but I would ask people to dig more deeply into the reasons why those things occurred when they did and how little power for certain things you actually had in the small scope of the terms of the years of his presidency. But if you want to take him and compare him in terms of his moral compass, his humanitarian work, his feet on the ground and dirtying his own hands and building houses and working to eradicate a horrible, horrible disease. Who can — I mean, give me a break. I don't have any patience for people who knock President Carter. He was a glorious human being.

Tags: Georgia  Atlanta  music  Jimmy Carter  Indigo Girls  Emily Saliers