Indigo Girls to Perform in UB's Mainstage Theatre on March 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter duo Indigo Girls will present in a special acoustic performance at 8 p.m. March 3 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The concert is presented by the UB undergraduate Student Association, and is co-presented by the Center for the Arts and UBASE.

the Indigo Girls first became prominent as part of the late-'80s folk-singer/songwriter revival, and have had the staying power to outlast other artists from the same era who quickly faded. Their two distinct personalities and songwriting styles provides a tension and an interesting balance. Emily Saliers, hailing from the more traditional Joni Mitchell school, has the gentler sound, is more complex musically, and often leans toward the abstract and spiritual, while Amy Ray draws heavily from the singer/songwriter aspects of punk rock. In more than a decade of recording, they have managed respectable mainstream success, as well as keeping their rabid core following.

Ray and Saliers began using the name Indigo Girls in 1985 while living in Atlanta, although they had performed together since the early '80s. In 1986, they recorded an independent self-titled EP and followed in 1987 with the full-length "Strange Fire." In 1988 they were signed to Epic Records.

"Indigo Girls," released in 1989, made an excellent national debut, giving the duo initial college radio credibility and the hit single, "Closer to Fine." The album eventually broke the Top 30 and earned a Grammy for Best Folk Recording that year. A live EP, "Back On The Bus, Y'All," was released in 1991 and was certified gold and nominated for a Grammy.

In 1992, they released the platinum selling Rites Of Passage. Two years later, "Swamp Ophelia" was released and entered the charts at No. 9; it went gold by the end of the year. A double-live album, "1200 Curfews," was released in 1995 and the much awaited "Shaming of the Sun," followed in 1997. The duo's next effort, "Come On Now Social" appeared two years later. Their latest recording, "Become You," will be released in March of this year.

The opening act for the Indigo Girls' performance will be acoustic duo The Cash Brothers.

Tickets for Indigo Girls are $29.50 for the general public, and $24.50 for UB students. Tickets are available from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday at the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's and Movies Plus. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call (416) 870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information call 645-ARTS.