(CNN) -- The Indigo Girls navigate the challenges of today's recording environment with their new two-disc album, "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug."





The Indigo Girls, Amy Ray, left, and Emily Saliers released their latest folk-rock album on Tuesday.





Rather than abandon ship amid the country's economic recession and after being dumped by their former label, the folk-rockers decided to release the album independently -- and they recorded it in a mere three weeks.





The veteran Atlanta, Georgia, duo remains optimistic about America's recording industry and the ability of artists to market themselves online.





But nothing will replace a heartfelt live performance, said Amy Ray.





"We need to keep art as a visceral experience, too, and not just an Internet experience," said Ray, who plays in the group with Emily Saliers. It is "going to be up to bands to keep touring and people to keep going to hear 'em."  Watch their live performance and interview with CNN »





CNN talked with the Indigo Girls about the Internet, food, their Southern roots and their newest album's strange name. The following is an edited version of that interview.





CNN: What's been the primary influence for you all? Has it been a place, like Atlanta? Or has it been something else?





Emily Saliers: Atlanta and the South, just in general. ... Some of it comes through the content and some of it just comes through a vibe. We're sort of a hootenanny bar band. We cut our teeth in Little Five Points Pub, and what we always like to do is bring people up on the stage and jam with us. ... We tie it back to the days when people just sat on the porch and played together. It's a very Southern thing, an Appalachian thing.





CNN: Tell me about the title for this album.





Saliers: Mitchell Froom, the producer, came up with the title, and it was originally a joke. He said it and he laughed -- and we all laughed. Naming a record is probably one of the hardest things in the whole process, and that name just stuck with us.





And it's also cool because "Poseidon" is a reference to a lyric in one of my songs, and "Bitter Bug" is a reference to a lyric in one of Amy's songs. So to be able to fit two of those pieces together in a way that works is cool.





CNN: And you all are working as free agents on this [album]. Tell me about that.





Amy Ray: We got dropped from the last label we were on, Hollywood, right before we were going to go into the studio, so we just kind of kept all of our plans in place and everyone that was going to be involved with us came to the table and gave us deals and made it work. ...





Creatively we've always done what we want, but on the business level it's demoralizing when you feel like there's not a team anymore because the label you're on isn't really behind you or doesn't know what to do, or is kind of paralyzed by the industry, generally.





CNN: What are you all listening to lately?





Saliers: You know, I just bought yesterday -- I downloaded it -- Sean Lennon's last record. I saw him on some obscure Japanese channel when we were in some other part of the world and I really like the sound of that. And then this artist named Sia. She sang with Zero 7 and she's a really good artist, I like her stuff a lot. I like the Weepies.





CNN: You [Emily Saliers] are a part owner in a restaurant here in Atlanta. ... Is there any kind of relationship between music and a good restaurant experience?





Saliers: There definitely is! The name of the restaurant is Watershed, it's in Decatur [Georgia]. We're very fortunate to have Scott Peacock as our executive chef. ... He's a very decorated chef but
Who have the girls been talking with? What is the name of the latest album? What day is the album being released? What genre of music does the group perform?
CNN "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug." Tuesday. folk-rock
question: Who have the girls been talking with?, answer: CNN | question: What is the name of the latest album?, answer: "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug." | question: What day is the album being released?, answer: Tuesday. | question: What genre of music does the group perform?, answer: folk-rock