Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

Don and Emily Saliers show a tender and good-humored relationship between a father and daughter that could have worked out differently. The elder Saliers, an ordained elder (minister) in the United Methodist Church, is the recently retired William R. Cannon distinguished professor of theology and worship at Emory University, where he also directed the master of sacred music program. Emily grew up in the church and shared her father’s deep love of music, but she began to play music in bars some time before she was of legal age to perform in such venues. Emily Saliers and Amy Ray make up the highly successful folk-rock duo Indigo Girls.

This live event opens with the first public performance of “Power of Two,” with Emily on guitar and vocals and Don playing the piano. Later they perform a folk-rock version of “Dona nobis pacem,” inviting the audience to sing the chorus.

In a conversation hosted by Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III, father and daughter discuss the place of music in worship and daily life. Emily finds little distinction between secular and sacred music; Don believes that a song well sung is very close to prayer. They speak of the power of music to unify groups, citing “We Shall Overcome” as the anthem of the Civil Rights movement. Emily considers social consciousness an essential element of her song writing. She describes her “lovers’ quarrel” with organized religion, citing the pain of gay Christians today.

Don and Emily Saliers have written A Song to Sing, a Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice. The latest Indigo Girls album is called Despite Our Differences.

About Emily Saliers

Noted singer and songwriter Emily Saliers is one-half of the folk-rock duo the Indigo Girls and an out lesbian who has a “lover’s quarrel” with the church. She has jointly written a book with her father Don Saliers, a church musician and professor of theology and worship, A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice.

About Don Saliers

Don Saliers is a church musician and professor of theology and worship at Emory University. He has interviewed people and found that hymns like “Amazing Grace” evoke “body memory” – the sound of a grandfather’s voice, the smell of a church supper, the beat of a mother’s heart. He has jointly written a book with with his daughter Emily Saliers, of the folk-rock duo the Indigo Girls, A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice.