Indigo Girls, an American folk rock and Grammy Award-winning band, performed with Jac Thompson at the Senate on Wednesday.
Its music set included acoustic versions of older classics and newer releases with accompaniment from violinist Lyris Hung.Amy Ray, one of the lead singers of the group, said Hung is like a one-woman band, and the music they play together is "stripped down" versions of their original songs.
Indigo Girls kicked off its set with hit song "Power of Two," which quickly led to attendees singing the chorus word for word. With this tour, Ray expressed wanting to build a bond with the audiences, which she believes they achieve.
"We're not the kind of band that just goes on tour to make money and to get our ego stroked or anything like that. We really just, we believe that music is a vehicle for empowerment and fun and also contemplation and action," Ray said.
Indigo Girls also played "Closer to Fine" and ended the night with fan favorite "Galileo" as members of the audience linked arms and sang along together.
Opening for the band in Columbia was Jac Thompson, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. According to Ray, Thompson was added to this lineup on the suggestion of a producer and drummer that Indigo Girls has worked with in the past, but before the show, the band members had never seen her perform live.
Thompson describes her music genre as '70s Americana with a slight rock leaning.
"I care about what the songs mean, and then translating that sonically with great players, and all the players on my record have been playing for years and are incredible," Thompson said.
Audience members at The Senate were welcoming to Thompson. She and her band members, Zac Swann and Grant Parker, even met with the audience as Indigo Girls set up, allowing the group to see firsthand the passion Indigo Girls fans had for the main act.
"Their fans have listened to music and care about the music and have been coming out to see them for a long time. So, honestly, it feels like you want to do right by them," Swann said.
Ray said that the Indigo Girls catalog has common threads with both music created before and after it, creating a musical lineage that resonates with what younger generations are listening to. It is in part that commonality, she says, that allows music to inspire others to have active voices within their community.
"That's just kind of what fuels us a lot is like, the activism of community," Ray said. "We just encourage people to be active."
Indigo Girls' and Jac Thompson's next stop on their tour will be in Charleston, South Carolina, on Jan. 14 and 15. Tickets can be purchased through their website.