Posted on 06/05/2003 9:09:01 AM PDT by robjna
Dixie Chicks' Maines uses her voice to sing and to speak out
By DAVE TIANEN dtianen@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: June 4, 2003
With all the non-musical furor surrounding the Dixie Chicks, it's easy to forget the profound impact Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire have made on country music in the past five years.
Like Shania Twain and Faith Hill, they've brought in legions of new young fans to country music. And they did it without abandoning the core attributes of traditional country music.
The year opened with the Chicks flying high. They sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl and won multiple Grammys, including best country album of the year, in February. They booked the "Top of the World" tour, which includes tonight's sold-out show at the Bradley Center.
And then the feathers hit the fan. On March 10, with the war in Iraq approaching, the famously plain-spoken Maines told a London concert crowd, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
The uproar came quickly. Although Maines apologized, radio stations boycotted the group, record sales plunged and even brother country musicians joined the snarling chorus - including Travis Tritt, who called Maines' remarks cowardly and said, "I dare her to go to the Astrodome and say that."
Of course, Maines had already been sniping with her country brethren over art and foreign policy.
Last summer, she denounced Toby Keith's huge anti-Taliban hit "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" as ignorant and embarrassing to country music.
Maines seemed to go out of her way to go after Keith in late May when she appeared on the Academy of Country Music Awards show wearing a T-shirt that said F.U.T.K.
Keith, who won Entertainer of the Year at the ACMs, seems to be expecting a protracted skirmish.
"She's still not done," he said. "If y'all think she's done, you're crazy. Stuff comes out of her blowhole daily."
Long before she decided she was ashamed of the president's home address, Maines had a reputation for speaking her mind. Some examples:
On Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)":
"Don't get me started. I hate it. It's ignorant and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture, not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact."
On her first marriage to musician Michael Tarabay:
"Personally, I can tell you that that marriage was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made, and I wish I could just erase the whole thing from my life."
On her responsibility as a role model:
"I don't feel any obligation to be a role model. I don't think any of us do anything that would not be worthy of a role model, but that's not my responsibility, . . . I'm legal to drink, I'm legal to have sex, and I'm comfortable making decisions about my own life."
On her time as a student at the prestigious Berklee School of Music:
"As for Berklee, I didn't really like being there. I was pretty surprised when I heard they wanted to give me an award. They really didn't know who I was when I was there."
On unwanted autograph seekers:
"There was a time when I'd be on the telephone and someone would slip me a magazine and I'd sign it. Now I stand up for myself and say, 'Hello! Can you see I'm on the phone?' "
On personal wealth:
"I don't even have a million dollars in the bank. Tell me where this money goes. I have no idea."
On her hometown:
"Other people told me Lubbock was flat and brown and gross and boring, but, to me, it was fun. I loved it. Now, since I've been away so long, I can see what they saw. I mean, let's be honest, Lubbock is freakishly flat."
On internal politics in the Dixie Chicks:
"We don't disagree much at all, but I think by nature I'm the biggest mouth and most bossy. But I like it. I like being in control."
On the Dixie Chicks' place in country music:
"We'd rather be the rock stars of country than the lame-asses of rock."
How they earned their wings: A Chicks timeline
Oct. 12, 1969: Martie Maguire born Martie Erwin in York, Pa.
Aug. 16, 1972: Emily Robison born Emily Erwin in Pittsfield, Mass.
Oct. 14, 1974: Natalie Maines born in Lubbock, Texas. Dad Lloyd Maines is a popular country steel guitarist.
1974: Martie starts playing the violin.
1979: Emily starts playing the violin, with the banjo, dobro and mandolin to follow.
1984: Sisters Martie and Emily join bluegrass band Blue Night Express.
1989: Emily and Martie work as street musicians in Dallas; first incarnation of Chicks with Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy make club debut.
1990: The fledgling Chicks open for Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Strait and Emmylou Harris. They also play a club date with Bill Monroe. They record debut Dixie Chicks CD, "Thank Heavens for Dale Evans."
1991: Dixie Chicks appear on "Grand Ole Opry," "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Nashville Now."
1992: Group releases second CD, "Little Ol' Cowgirl." Robin Lynn Macy leaves the Chicks.
1993: Third independent release, "Shouldn'ta Told You That."
1995: Natalie Maines drops out of Berklee College of Music. Replaces Laura Lynch as Dixie Chicks lead singer.
1997: Dixie Chicks sign six-album deal with Sony. Single "I Can Love Better" goes top 10 country.
1998: First Sony CD "Wide Open Spaces" released and eventually goes 11 times platinum. Band scores three consecutive No. 1 singles: "There's Your Trouble," "Wide Open Spaces" and "You Were Mine." Chicks win Country Music Association award for best new group.
1999: Group wins two Grammys. They tour with George Strait. Second Sony CD "Fly" is released and goes nine times platinum.
Also 1999: Group releases controversial hit: "Goodbye Earl," which relates the tale of a battered wife and her old high school girl friend who conspire to poison the abusive husband. Natalie calls it their "O.J. Simpson song," but critics accuse the Chicks of condoning vigilante justice.
2000: Fashion fascist Mr. Blackwell puts the Chicks on his worst dressed list for 1999 saying, "They look like a trio of truckstop fashion tragedies trapped in a typhoon."
The Chicks fire back, asking "Is he still alive? We've never taken fashion advice from our grandparents, so why would we care about pleasing someone of that generation now?"
2001: The Chicks file suit against Sony, accusing their label of "systematic thievery" in cheating them out of royalties.
2002: Lawsuit is settled. Third Sony album "Home" is released. Album has gone six times platinum to date.
2003: In an effort at damage control after Natalie's remark about Bush, Chicks do TV interview with Diane Sawyer and a lengthy interview with Entertainment Weekly. Story is accompanied by a nude cover shot of the Chicks with political slogans pasted on their bodies.
Some Dixie doodads
Natalie claims to have seen "Grease" 200 times.
The group took its name from the Little Feat song "Dixie Chicken."
Natalie redecorated her mom's loft on an episode of "Trading Spaces." Her mom and sister redecorated Natalie's guest room, but she has since changed most of the room back.
All three Chicks have 11 tiny chicken feet tattooed on their feet.
Natalie once had to "borrow" a bra from Sally Jesse Raphael for a TV appearance.
The Chicks were contestants on "Rock & Roll Jeopardy."
Natalie claims to have seen "Grease" 200 times.
then I suspect a clinical mental or emotional problem.
It was the first day of school and the teacher thought she'd get to know the kids by asking them their names and what their fathers did for a living. The first little girl said, "My name is Mary and my daddy is a postman."
The next little boy said, "I'm Andy and my Dad is a mechanic."
It was then little Johnny's turn and he said, "My name is Johnny and my father is a striptease dancer in a cabaret for gay men."
The teacher gasped and quickly moved on, but later, in the school yard, the teacher approaches Johnny privately and asks if it was really true that his Dad dances nude in a gay bar.
Little Johnny blushed and said, "No, he's really a guitar player for the Dixie Chicks, but I was too embarrassed to say so."
Not to mention that they never told us Earl's side of the story.
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