Attendees at the press conference in Cincinatti were Sarah McLachlan, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers (The Indigo Girls), Kelly Willis, Lisa Loeb, Madeleine Peyroux and Michelle Malone.
Amy and Emily were asked why they chose "Closer Than Fine" as the song for which they invite collaborators to join them onstage. Amy responded that Emily and her had discussed finding "a folk song that had a lot of verses and which the chorus was the same everytime."
"Closer To Fine .... there's a lot of verses to choose between and its pretty easy to learn. Its a kind of tradition for us, we usually pull up audience members."
Sarah, Lisa and Michelle who joined the Indigo Girls on "Closer To Fine" last night were asked how it felt to participate in what the Indigo Girls' affectionately call "a hootenanny".
Sarah: "For me it's one of the highlights of putting this on, definitely. To be able to go out and sing with other women and to hear many voices together is beautiful." Michelle Malone, who is on her second day at Lilith, said "I felt a lot of strength up there in the midst of all these women. It's really nice and its very nurturing. It's a growing thing but it's a lot of fun." Lisa Loeb added "Yeah it's fun. I'm just saying that because I forgot my lyrics on stage. There was a slight tinge of embarassment because I couldn't live up to the other women onstage. But when I walked off stage everyone said that was great."
A local reporter quoted Time magazine as saying "Macho is out and empathy is in" and wanted to know what was happening with men and women to make this possible. Michelle Malone jumped right in and said "I think people are ready for a little more truth and a little more emotion in their daily lives and they're really tired of the alternative. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself but it seems to be moving in that direction in a lot of different areas of life."
Wendy Hartman of the Biore division of The Andrew Jergens Company presented a cheque for $20,000 to the International Rhett Syndrome
Association (IRSA) as one of five such presentations by Biore throughout the tour. Harvey Leeds, the president of the association, accepted the cheque. Harvey made a brief, yet eloquent speech in which he explained that IRSA is a non profit organization that provides information for parents and professionals about Rhett syndrome. Rhett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder that only occurs in females including his nine year old daughter Andy. He wished everyone to enjoy the day "after all music is the most powerful and universal drug thats something I learned from nine-year-old Andy."
Linda Andre, director of The House of Peace for the YWCA, accepted a cheque from Sarah for $16,200. The House of Peace is a rural shelter
and an extension of the YWCA Cincinatti which she mentioned was fitting because "over 100 years ago women began the YWCA Cincinatti to assist rural women coming in because of the industrial revolution." Linda added that "everybody that is currently in the shelter is very excited and our children wanted to be involved. We had an eight year old girl that wanted to make something special for Sarah to show her how important the House of Peace is," at which point she presented a beautiful painting to Sarah.
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