Indigo Girls Perform in Morristown on Wednesday

The Indigo Girls’ diverse new album, “One Lost Day,” is part musical travelogue, including songs that reference California, Texas, Canada and even the sights and smells of the New Jersey Turnpike.

“My family drove that turnpike a lot on family trips when I was growing up,” singer-guitarist Emily Saliers said by phone from a tour stop in Colorado. “I have memories of it being a stinky ride but also being intoxicated seeing the large flames rising from the refineries.”

The storied north-south artery is mentioned in the song “Findlay, Ohio 1968,” which references the hometown of Saliers’ grandmother.

“We have traveled so much and have had so many lessons learned in different places,” Saliers said, referring to herself and fellow singer-guitarist Amy Ray. The folk-rock duo perform with a full backing band on Wednesday in Morristown.

Additional place-based songs on “One Lost Day,” which was released in June, include “Alberta,” inspired by a Saliers road trip through the Canadian province, “Southern California Is Your Girlfriend,” about a dysfunctional relationship, and “Texas Was Clean,” which delves into Ray’s mem-ories of the South.

Saliers gets most personal on “Come a Long Way,” in which she opens up about her belief in God. She said she had previously been afraid to broach the subject on record.

“You mention the word God and people will say he has hurt gay people and people who are different,” Saliers said. “I had a powerful faith experience that was not judgmental and helped save me from different things. I was ready to say, ‘Thank you,’ out loud.

The album’s emotional pinnacle, “The Rise of the Black Messiah,” tackles racism, reflecting the Indigo Girls’ career-long commitment to social and political activism.

Saliers and Ray are vocal proponents of gay rights and are highly regarded in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. They have also been strong supporters of environmental causes, Native American rights, women’s health issues and other movements.

The track “Happy in the Sorrow Key” explores the nature of activism and maintaining the passion to work for change in the face of harsh realities. “Being involved in social or political or environmental issues comes naturally to us,” Saliers said. “We’re both believers in human resilience.

“We see the way that people are treated and the Earth is treated and to be part of the process for change deepens our lives,” she said.

Saliers and Ray were raised in Georgia and met in elementary school. They began performing together in high school and took the name Indigo Girls while students at Emory University in Atlanta.

The Indigo Girls released their debut album, “Strange Fire,” in 1987. Their 1989 self-titled sophomore breakthrough reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart on the strength of hit single “Closer to Fine.” “Indigo Girls” won the 1990 Grammy Award for best contemporary folk recording.

Additional Indigo Girls catalog standouts include “Swamp Ophelia” (1994), “Shaming of the Sun” (1997), which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Charts, “Become You” (2002) and “Poseidon and the Bitter Bug” (2004).

“One Lost Day” is the Indigo Girls’ 14th studio album and first in four years, marking the longest gap between discs in the duo’s career. The past few years have marked some major non-musical milestones for Saliers and Ray.

In 2012, Saliers’ partner, Tristin Chipman, gave birth to the couple’s child, and the pair married in 2013. Ray and her partner became parents in 2013.

“A lot has been going on and I think we just got busy with life,” Saliers said. “But it was good to have that break from recording and touring. We both came back invigorated. There’s new life and a new record, and it’s a really good time.”

IF YOU GO: The Indigo Girls and A Fragile Tomorrow. 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4. $39 to $79. Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown; 973-539-8008 or www.mayoarts.org.