UPDATED Amy Ray and Emily Saliers - the Indigo Girls - first crossed paths in grade school, when Amy was around 10, and the slightly-elder Emily was around 11.

The time was the middle '70s.

The place was Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Dekalb County, Ga.

Their pre-pubescent sensibilities were in synch … as one … perfectly joined.

Thirty-odd years later, the time and the setting may have unalterably changed. But those pre-pubescent sensibilities have remained in unison.

So what if they're deep into post-pubescence - nay, middle age - now?

The subject of keeping in synch from childhood through maturity arises during a conversation with Ray, who'll be here February 14 for her rescheduled Indigo Girls Valentine's Day gig at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. The originally scheduled February 1 appearance was rescheduled due to illness.

She's asked, "Would you recommend forging a creative relationship with your future musical partner at a very early age - oh, say, grade school?"

Ray responds in the affirmative.

At least where the Indigo Girls are concerned.

"I don't know whether I'd recommend it or not for everyone," she continues. "But for us it's meant we have this relationship to the community and that we understand each other, which is important in what we do."

And what they do, to put a somewhat glib and simplified label on it, is make memorably vibrant folk-rock-Americana music, infused with a distinct indie spirit.

Ray continues: "We also have this respect for each other's families and histories, which has bonded us together and given us a deeper understanding into the nuances of what each of us might be. It's like singing with a sibling."

Going glib again, that could be described via a paraphrasing of the old "Donny & Marie Show" mantra, "I'm a little bit country; he's a little bit rock 'n' roll."

In the case of the "Amy & Emily Show," the distinctions would have to read, "I'm a little bit rock 'n' roots" (Ray); she's a little bit pop 'n' roll (Saliers)."

As their fans well know, Ray and Saliers are separate and distinct entities as songwriters, if not performers.

An Indigo Girls album - be it one of the signature early-'90s works like 1992's "Rites of Passage" or something more recent like 2006's critically hailed "Despite Our Differences" - features an even menu of songs penned by Ray and songs penned by Saliers.

And ne'er the twain shall meet?

"We each like writing alone," says Ray. "We enjoy that artistic space from one another - it's our way of expressing ourselves."

And each Indigo Girl expresses herself slightly differently when the notes begin to fall into place.

"Emily is a little more poppy than I am," Ray says, dissecting their styles. "She's more of a 'hook' person and writes more complex melodies, lyrics and chord structures. I write from more of a rock and America perspective, and what I write is a little more simple."

But neither musician can be so easily pigeonholed when it comes to specifics; the above description, says Ray, has more to do with generalities and bigger pictures.

"That can all shift," she says. "We try to break out of those roles."

Certainly, there are misconceptions sometimes among that segment of the public who may be vaguely aware of the Indigo Girls without knowing what they're really about.

For starters, no, Emily and Amy aren't a "couple" outside their proscribed musical sphere, and never have been.

That misconception has arisen through the years from the fact each artist is gay and proud of it. Each has also been long involved in various avenues of gay activism (among many other political, human rights and environmental causes).

Even without that level of involvement, Ray agrees that long-term creative relationships such as the Indigos have enjoyed "can result in a lot of baggage with the history."

That baggage, she agrees, can weigh you down and bring an early end to things.

"Or you can work with it and take advantage of the good things and use that energy to challenge yourselves, play off of it," Ray says, which has been the manner in which she and Saliers have thrived over the decades.

Those decades are marked thusly: As children of the '70s, "we really saw the flowering of the whole indie music scene - we were there for college radio, which was so important for the community, when it really started happening. We got to have a taste of all that left-of-dial stuff."

That taste is what gave Ray and Saliers the appetite for more, as they morphed into high school bands like the B-Band and the somewhat prosaically named Saliers & Ray.

By the mid-'80s, the die was cast: they reunited after a college-enforced separation and became, for all time, the Indigo Girls.

The name was derived from making a pass through a dictionary looking for an interesting word with which to christen themselves.

(That fascination with dictionaries has extended into the new millennium, witness the duo's appearance in the 2006 documentary film about the world of crossword-puzzle competition, "Wordplay," in which they puzzle over the fact that they themselves have wound up as a New York Times crosswords entry.)

If the '70s instilled the Indigo Girls with their key indie music spirit, says Ray, "we really grew up in the '90s, as far as I'm concerned. I think our songwriting sort of peaked at different times - mine grew a littler slower than Emily's, and I sort of hit my stride at the end of the '90s."

But it was the '90s during which they forged their lasting musical identity.

Though they've long been associated with various modes of liberal activism, Ray says that agenda doesn't dominate an average concert unless said concert is being staged as part of a cause, a la last summer's "True Colors Tour," which benefited the Human Rights Campaign and other gay-friendly causes.

"We'll have our 'political groups' table out on the lobby," says Ray of this weekend's BCPA show. "But onstage it won't be like the centerpiece of the show or anything - unless something comes from the audience, then we might do something."

Offstage, Ray is fully stoked about the election year at hand.

"I'm really excited about the election," she says. "And I'm very hopeful - it's an historical time at hand, with both a woman and an African-American candidate to choose from. That's just cra-azy. And amazing."

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Michelle Malone set to open show

By Dan Craft | dcraft@pantagraph.com

Calling singer-songwriter Michelle Malone "the third Indigo Girl" might be stretching things a mite.

But one thing's for certain: She and the Girls go way back.

Way, way back.

That long history will be fully apparent when Malone opens for the Indigos at their Valentine's Day concert in the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Using the word "opening act," by the way, might be stretching things as much as calling Malone "the third Indigo Girl."

In her GO! interview, Amy Ray reminds us that Indigos have been crossing paths with Malone, musically and otherwise, for more than two decades now - clear back to the duo's mid-'80s club days on the Athens, Ga., music scene.

"We have really deep roots," Ray says.

Some things never change: The same interfacing will be taking place on the BCPA stage, where Malone will open with what Ray describes as one of her "bluesier" sets, then stick around and join in with Amy and Emily Saliers after they take the stage.

There's even talk of the headliners stepping out front early during Malone's set, but Ray says things usually aren't decided until dinner before the show.

That's when concentration is best and the night's musical decisions are made.

Like Ray and Saliers, Malone is a native Georgian, born and raised in Atlanta, and eventually winding up at Agnes Scott College, where she first crossed paths with the future Indigo Girls.

They encouraged Malone to make good on her blues-driven musical gifts, which inspired her to leave school and pursue her dream. By 1988, she was recording her first album, the aptly titled "New Experience."

In the 20 years since, she's recorded nine more solo projects, including 2006's acclaimed "Sugarfoot," which scored a place on many critics' year-end 10-best lists. She also recorded several albums with two of her bands, Drag the River and Band de Soleil.

At www.RollingStone.com Malone is defined as: "Raucous and jubilant … somewhere between Lucinda Williams and Shelby Lynne … alternating between soulful ballads and rowdy, riffy blasters."

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At a glance

What: The Indigo Girls and Michelle Malone

When: Rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 14

Where: Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 110 E. Mulberry St., Bloomington

Tickets: $34.50 to $40.50

Box office number: (866) 686-9541

Rescheduling Info: Tickets already issued for the original February 1 performance will be valid on the rescheduled Valentine's Day date. If patrons are unable to attend on the new date, they may apply the value of their tickets to another event in the 2007-2008 BCPA season, donate the cost of the tickets to support the BCPA as an Arts Partner, or return the tickets for a full refund.