The Chicks

The Chicks

The Dixie Chicks are a multiple Grammy Award-winning country music group, comprised of Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, and Emily Robison, having sold over 36 million albums as of May 2008.

The group formed in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, and was originally composed of four women performing bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years, without attracting a major label. After the departure of one bandmate, the replacement of their lead singer, and a slight change in their repertoire, the Dixie Chicks achieved massive country music and pop success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs like "Wide Open Spaces", "Cowboy Take Me Away", and "Long Time Gone". The women became well-known for their independent spirit and outspoken comments on controversial subjects, including politics.

Ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Natalie Maines said "We don't want this war, this violence; and, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas", (the Dixie Chicks' home State). The ensuing controversy, by people who supported an invasion and war in Iraq, cost the group half of their concert audience attendance in the United States and led to charges of the three female bandmates being un-American, enduring hate mail, and the destruction of their albums as a protest against the bandmates' comments. As of 2008, they have won thirteen Grammy Awards, with five of them earned in 2007 including the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Taking The Long Way.

Original Dixie Chicks

First formation of the band

The Dixie Chicks were founded by bassist Laura Lynch, guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin in 1989. The Erwin sisters have since married and changed their names. Martie had a short-lived marriage from 1995-1999 during which she was known as Martie Seidel, though in 2001, she remarried and the sisters are now known as Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. The four took their band name from the song "Dixie Chicken" by Lowell George of Little Feat, originally playing predominantly bluegrass and a beguiling mix of country standards. All four women played and sang; however, Maguire and Robison provided most of the instrumental accompaniment for the band while Lynch and Macy shared lead vocals. Maguire primarily played fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Robison's specialties included the five stringed banjo, and dobro.

In 1990, the Dixie Chicks paid $5,000 for a first independent studio album with the name,Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, named after the pioneering, multi-talented female performer Dale Evans. The album included two instrumental songs. In 1987, Maguire (still known then as Martha Erwin) had won second place, and in 1989, third place in the National fiddle championships held in Winfield, Kansas. A Christmas single was released at the end of the year - a 45 rpm vinyl recording named "Home on the Radar Range", with "Christmas Swing" on one side and the song on the flip side named "The Flip Side". The record titles were significant; during that period of time, the bandmates dressed up as "cowgirls", and publicity photos reflected this image. However, even with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, with few exceptions, such as Garrison Keillor's radio show, on NPR; A Prarie Home Companion, they didn't get much national airplay.

Changing sound

The Chicks began building up a fan base, winning the prize for "best band" at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and opening for established country music artists, including such big country names as Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, and George Strait.

A second independent album, Little Ol' Cowgirl, followed in 1992. Professional steel guitarist Lloyd Maines was one of the session musicians who played on both of these, and portions of the second album contained a more contemporary country sound as the women enlisted the help of sidemen to bring forth a richer sound. In doing so, they met Lloyd's daughter, Natalie, who was also an aspiring musician. However, not all of the band members were pleased in the direction that their music was taking. Robin Lynn Macy left in late 1992 for a "purer" bluegrass sound although she remained active in the Dallas music scene. With the gap left by Macy, Lloyd passed Natalie's audition demo tape, which had won her a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, to Maguire and Robison. Her distinctive voice was a match for Maguire's soprano and Robison's alto harmonies. As Maguire and Robison considered their options and the major record labels waffled over whether they should take a risk on an all-women's band, a few reviewers took note of their talents:

"Some record label executives will be kicking themselves soon enough when the Dixie Chicks are queens of the honky-tonk circuit. If their show at the Birchmere last week was any indication, these Chicks have what it takes to make the big time, yet no major label has taken the plunge to sign them." Eric Brace, The Washington Post March 30 1992

Unaware that other possibilities were being considered by the Erwin sisters, Lynch, thrust into the role of sole lead singer on their third independent album, Shouldn't a Told You That in 1993, was unable to attract support from a major record label. The group remained unsuccessful in gaining a large fan base outside the Texas and Nashville areas. By 1995, Maguire and Robison replaced Lynch with singer-songwriter Natalie Maines, the daughter of former Chicks' session player Lloyd Maines. The change left the cowgirl dresses in the past, and left the band with a more contemporary look and a sound that was broader in appeal.

Current Dixie Chicks

Success with a new vocalist

After Natalie Maines joined the band, the instrumental lineup was essentially the same, although instead of playing acoustic bass, Natalie played guitar in concert. She sang lead vocals, with Martie (Erwin) Siedel, and Emily both singing backing vocals. Robison was now contributing to the band's sound adding guitar, accordion, sitar and papoose, to her mastery of the five string banjo and dobro, and Maguire began adding guitar, viola, and mandolin chops more frequently to her expert fiddle. The sisters welcomed the change; Maguire said, "It's very rootsy, but then Natalie comes in with a rock and blues influence. That gave Emily and I a chance to branch out, because we loved those kinds of music but felt limited by our instruments."

Within the next year, Sony scouted the Chicks and signed them to the newly revived Monument Records label. A single "I Can Love You Better" was released in October 1997, and reached the Top 10 on American country music charts, while the new lineup recorded the rest of their debut album. Wide Open Spaces was released in January 23, 1998. Over the space of a year, the next three singles from Wide Open Spaces reached first place on the Country charts: "There's Your Trouble," "You Were Mine", and the title track, "Wide Open Spaces"; a song reflecting youthful yearning for independence, and possibilities yet undiscovered; and increasingly, the majority of fans became young women. Lines like these brought forth a yearning from their public:

She needs wide open spaces,
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces;
She knows the high stakes

_{-"Wide Open Spaces" by Susan Gibson}

This first album for the current band added a widespread audience to their original loyal following, entering the top five on both country and pop charts with initial sales of 12 million copies in the country music arena alone, taking the record for the best-selling duo or group album in country music history.

In 1998, the Dixie Chicks sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined. Big Country music took note of the Chicks, awarding them the Horizon Award for new artists in 1998, which, according to CBS News, is "given to someone expected to have a long, successful career". By 1999, the album won the new line up their first Grammy Awards as well as acclaim from the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, and other high profile awards. As of 2008, Wide Open Spaces has gone on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it a diamond album.

Continued success and tours

The Dixie Chicks further proved themselves with another hit album, Fly on August 31, 1999 which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts selling over 10 million copies, and making the Dixie Chicks the only country group and the only female group of any genre to hold the distinction of having earned two rare repeat RIAA certified diamond albums, back-to-back., Nine singles emerged from it, including country No. 1's "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Without You." Because of this success, the Dixie Chicks have albums that have continued to place in the list of the 50 best-selling albums in American history, over a half-decade after they were released. Fly again won Grammy awards and honors from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and a humbling amount of honors from a variety of other sources for their accomplishments. The band headlined their first tour, the Fly Tour, with guest artists including Joe Ely and Ricky Skaggs appearing at each show. and additionally joined Sarah McLaughlin, Sheryl Crow, and other female artists on the all-woman touring Lilith Fair,

The source of Dixie Chicks' commercial success during this time came from various factors: they wrote or co-wrote about half of the songs on Wide Open Spaces and Fly; their mixture of bluegrass, mainstream country music, blues, and pop songs appealed to a wide spectrum of record buyers, and where the women had once dressed as "cowgirls" with Lynch, their dress was now more contemporary.

"Cowboy Take Me Away," from Fly, became another signature song, written by Maguire to celebrate her sister's romance with country singer Charlie Robison, who Emily subsequently married, exchanging her surname for Robison. However there were a few songs that the Chicks also provided that brought controversy within their conservative country music fan base; and two songs caused some radio stations to remove the Chicks from their playlists: "Sin Wagon", from which the term "mattress dancing" takes on a new twist, and "Goodbye Earl," a song that uses black comedy in telling the story of the unabashed murder of an abusive husband. (The band later made a video portraying the nefarious deed, with actor Dennis Franz playing the murdered husband). In an interview, Maines commented about Sony worrying about the reference to "mattress dancing" on the song, "Sin Wagon", refusing to discuss it in interviews. She said, "Our manager jokes, 'You can't say mattress dancing, but they love the song about premeditated first degree murder'! She continues, "..So it's funny to us that "mattress dancing" is out and murder is in!" Although there were some disagreements regarding such songs, the trio were consistently unapologetic.

Dispute with their record label

After the commercial success of their first two albums, the band became involved in a dispute with their record label, Sony, regarding accounting procedures, alleging that in at least 30 cases Sony had used fraudulent accounting practices, underpaying them at least $4 million dollars (£2.7m) in royalties on their albums over the previous three years. Sony held out, and the trio walked away, with Sony suing the group for failure to complete their contract. The Chicks responded with their own $4.1 million dollar lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment on August 27th, which added clout to claims made by rockers Courtney Love and Aimee Mann as well as LeAnn Rimes against the recording industry. After months of negotiation, the Chicks settled their suit privately, and were awarded their own record label imprint, "Open Wide Records", which afforded them more control, a better contract, and an increase in royalty money, with Sony still responsible for marketing and distribution of albums.

"I don't think any of us ever trusted Nashville. When you're in that town you know everybody is talking about everybody else. Everybody is wishing for the other guy to fail." -- Martie Maguire, to The Los Angeles Times, 5/21/06

Continued success with a "non-commercial" sound

During the time that they worked with Sony to reconcile their differences, the Dixie Chicks debuted their quiet, unadorned song "I Believe in Love" on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The three women found themselves home, in Texas, each happily married, planning families, and writing songs closer to their roots, without the usual pressures of the studio technicians from the major labels. The songs they didn't write were solicited from songwriters who wrote with a less commercial emphasis. The result was that Home, independently produced by Lloyd Maines and the Chicks, was released August 27, 2002. Unlike the Chicks' two previous records, Home is dominated by up-tempo bluegrass and pensive ballads; and Emmylou Harris added her vocals to "Lullabye". In addition, the lyrics of the opening track and first single, "Long Time Gone," was a pointed criticism of contemporary country music radio, accusing it of ignoring the soul of the genre as exemplified by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams. "Long Time Gone" became the Chicks' first top ten hit on the U.S. pop singles chart and peaked at #2 on the country chart, becoming a major success. Over six million copies of Home were sold in the United States.

Home also won Grammy awards, and other noteworthy accolades as before, although it fell short of reaching the diamond record status of the first two albums. Natalie Maines said afterward, "I want to check the record books and see how many fathers and daughters have won Grammys together."

2002 televised appearances

By 2002, the Dixie Chicks were featured on two television specials: An Evening with the Dixie Chicks which was an acoustic concert primarily composed of the material from Home, and a CMT three hour television special, the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. Ranked #13 out of 40, they were "selected by hundreds of artists, music historians, music journalists and music industry professionals -- looking at every aspect of what a great artist is.."

The top of the world

After obtaining their own label imprint, Home was released. The band embarked upon a tour that following the album, named after a song on the album, "Top of the World", composed by Patty Griffin, whose songs had become staple cover songs and favorites of the Chicks. It was a high point for the band, who proceeded to tape the tour and release both an album from it: Top of the World Tour: Live, and Top of the World Tour: Live on DVD, released in 2003. The band played the Grand Ole Opry, with one of the songs rendered being a Fleetwood Mac song, "Landslide", which the Chicks later made into a video with the help of the song's composer, Stevie Nicks who later sang it with them in the VH1 concert Divas Live in Las Vegas, hosted by comedian Ellen Degeneres. Early 2003 brought another boost of exposure for the Chicks, as they performed the "Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXXVII.

Political controversy

Main article: Dixie Chicks political controversy

The Dixie Chicks were mired in political controversy after comments made by Natalie Maines about the 2003 invasion of Iraq war and United States President George W. Bush. In which she said, to a sold out crowd in London, England, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Many critics of the comment felt that criticism of the Commander-in-Chief should not be done on foreign soil. The aftermath led the band to suffer severe backlash. After which Maines released a public apology to Bush stating "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect," in order to quell the controversy. It did not work, and at one point, 76% of former fans polled responded with, "If I could, I'd take my CDs back."

A few months after Maines' comment about George W. Bush, the Chicks responded to their new sense of political injustice by performing and donating money at events to overcome his leadership in the United States. Soon after the backlash against their band, they donated $10,000 to help build a section of the Rock the Vote website. Their goal, they said, was to increase the number of young women registered to vote. The majority of their fans have traditionally been women; thus they provided opportunities at their concerts for people to register to vote. According to Maines, "We always felt like we were searching for ways to make an impact outside of music", and, "I believe everything that's happened in the last few months happened for a reason," said Maines. "A lot of positive things have come from it, and this is just one of them. We're very dedicated and motivated about this now."

In 2005, Maguire, Robison and Maines joined with a host of 31 other recording artists, including Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Yoko Ono, and Mandy Moore supporting relationships of all kinds, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity on a double disk release entitled, Love Rocks, with their song from the album Home called, "I Believe In Love".

Return

On March 16, 2006, Dixie Chicks released the single "Not Ready to Make Nice" in advance of their upcoming album. Written by all three Chicks alongside Dan Wilson, it directly addressed the political controversy that had surrounded the group for the past three years and, in criticism of the death threats the women (particularly Maines) received, as well as a response to a protesting woman in their documentary telling her small child to say "screw 'em".

In a press release, Robison said, "The stakes were definitely higher on that song. We knew it was special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right. And once we had that song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden." She also added a comment that writing the song had become their "therapy", since they'd had to hold in so many stored emotions for so long. Thus, as Robison pointed out, the bandmates said that they considered the album not to be so much a political album as it is one that is very personal, seeing themselves mature over the course of a couple of years.

The question of how the group's new record would fare commercially attracted intense media interest. The Chicks' new album, titled Taking the Long Way, was released in stores and online May 22, 2006. The album was produced by Rick Rubin who had worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Danzig, System of a Down, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, and later on Metallica, among other artists, and although being known for more rock-intensive than country in musical approach, the genres of his former clients spoke for themselves. The band felt they had nothing to lose by a newer approach, and possibly quite a bit to gain. All 14 tracks were co-written by the three Chicks, alongside various other songwriters, including Neil Finn of Crowded House, on "Silent House".

The album contained additional tracks that seemed to indirectly reference what the group called "The Incident", and the group remained defiant. For instance, Maguire commented in a Time Magazine interview that, "I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith. We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do." Maines also retracted her earlier apology to George W. Bush, stating, "I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."

Taking the Long Way debuted at number one on both the U.S. pop albums chart and the U.S. country albums chart, selling 526,000 copies in the first week (the year's second-best such total for any country act) and making it a gold record within its first week, which was remarkable given that they had little or no airplay in areas that had once embraced them. The Chicks became the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1.

In Europe, both singles from Taking the Long Way were well received by country radio, remaining on the European Country Charts for more than 20 weeks each: Not Ready To Make Nice peaked at #13 and Everybody Knows at #11.

The group's Accidents & Accusations Tour began in July 2006. Ticket sales were strong in Canada and in some Northeastern markets, but notably weak in other areas. A number of shows were cancelled or relocated to smaller venues due to poor sales, and in Houston, Texas, tickets never even went on sale when local radio stations refused to accept advertising for the event. In August, a re-routed tour schedule was announced with a greater emphasis on Canadian dates, where Taking the Long Way had gone five-times-platinum. The tour's shows themselves generally refrained from any explicit verbal political comments, letting the music, especially the central performance of Not Ready to Make Nice, speak for itself. At a November 5, 2006 concert in Calgary, Alberta the Chicks received a thunderous ovation when the song was over, and the band held up a handwritten sign from a fan that read "Nobody likes a nasty Bush."

During 2006, Dixie Chicks became the first major band to hire a designated blogger "all-access" to keep up with them in their promotional activities and tour. They partnered with Microsoft and hired Junichi P. Semitsu, a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, as the first designated blogger ever hired, to write first-hand accounts for their Accidents & Accusations Tour at their MSN website. Having to give Semitsu a title, the band finally decided on Management Assistant, to allow him all-access entry on tour and at home. Slowly, this was laughingly shortened to "Man. Ass.", with Semitsu finding at least as much humor as the Chicks.

MSN broadcast an entire live concert, called "Scene of the Crime", of Dixie Chicks' return to Shepherds Bush, London, the site of "The Incident". Toward the end of the concert, Natalie said from the stage, "And all week, the only thing people keep asking is, 'What are you gonna say? Do you know what you're gonna say?' As usual I didn't plan anything, but I thought I'd say something brand new and just say, 'Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.' " which was met with thunderous applause and cheers.

In 2006, Taking the Long Way was the ninth best-selling album in the United States. It won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Album, Best Record, and Best Song (for "Not Ready To Make Nice") - 14 years since one artist or group last swept those three awards - and Best Country Album on February 11, 2007. After their Grammy win, Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way hit #8 on Billboard 200 and #1 on the country album charts and the Song of the Year-winning Not Ready to Make Nice re-entered the charts at #4 on the Hot 100.

The music video for "Not Ready to Make Nice" was nominated for the 2007 CMT Music Video Awards in the categories of "Video of the Year" and "Group Video of the Year," however, the video did not win in its nominated categories.

Dixie Chicks were nominated for the 2007 Country Music Association's award for Top Vocal Group, their first nomination from the CMA Awards since 2003. The trio lost to Rascal Flatts.

Al Gore announced on April 2, 2008, that the Dixie Chicks and fellow country artist, and at one time stark opponent of the Chicks, Toby Keith, will appear side-by-side in a commercial spot to promote Gore's "We Campaign" initiative to raise awareness about climate change and what Americans can do to help the environment. According to Keith's publicist, the filming date and location have not yet been determined.

Shut Up and Sing

An ad for Shut Up and Sing, a documentary about the furor over Maines's comment, was turned down by NBC on October 27, 2006, citing a policy barring ads dealing with "public controversy." Ads for the documentary were rebuffed by the smaller CW network as well; local affiliate stations of all five major broadcasters, including NBC and CW, ran promotional spots for the film in New York and Los Angeles, the two cities where it opened that day. "It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America," the film's distributor Harvey Weinstein said in a statement.

Shut Up and Sing's title was taken from "Not Ready To Make Nice", which in turn took the phrase from a threatening letter received by the band.

Discography

Actual set list from Dixie Chicks concert on the Top of the World Tour: Madison Square Garden, June 20, 2003.

Main article: Dixie Chicks discography

Albums

Initial Lineup:

• 1990: Thank Heavens for Dale Evans
• 1992: Little Ol' Cowgirl
• 1993: Shouldn't a Told You That

With Natalie Maines:

• 1998: Wide Open Spaces
• 1999: Fly
• 2002: Home
• 2003: Top of the World Tour: Live
• 2006: Taking the Long Way

Top-ten singles

Year	Song	Chart Positions
		US Country	US Hot 100	CAN Country
1997	"I Can Love You Better"	7	77	3
1998	"There's Your Trouble"	1	36	3
	"Wide Open Spaces"	1	41	1
1999	"You Were Mine"	1	34	3
	"Tonight the Heartache's on Me"	6	46	4
	"Ready to Run"	2	39	3
	"Cowboy Take Me Away"	1	27	1
2000	"Goodbye Earl"	13	19	5
	"Cold Day in July"	10	65	7
	"Without You"	1	31	-
2001	"If I Fall You're Going Down With Me"	3	38	-
	"Some Days You Gotta Dance"	7	55	-
2002	"Long Time Gone"	2	7	-
	"Landslide"	2	7	-
2003	"Travelin' Soldier"	1	25	-
2006	"Not Ready to Make Nice"	36	4	17
	"The Long Way Around"	-	-	4

Awards

American Music Awards

• 2003: Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
• 2003: Favorite Country Album - Home
• 2001: Favorite Country Band, Duo or Group
• 1999: Favorite New Country Artist

Billboard Music Awards

• 2000: Country Artist of the year
• 2000 :Country Albums Artist of the year
• 2000: Country Artist duo group of the year
• 2000 :Country album of the year: Fly
• 1999 :Country Artist of the year
• 1999 :Country album Artist of the year
• 1999 :Country album Artist Duo/Group of the year

Country Music Association Awards

• 2002: Vocal Group of the Year
• 2000: Album of the Year - Fly
• 2000: Entertainer of the Year
• 2000: Vocal Group of the Year
• 2000: Music Video of the Year - "Goodbye Earl"
• 1999: Single of the Year - "Wide Open Spaces"
• 1999: Vocal Group of the Year
• 1999: Music Video of the Year - "Wide Open Spaces"
• 1998: Horizon Award
• 1998: Vocal Group of the Year

Country Music Association Flameworthy Awards

• 2002: Video Visionary Award

Grammy Awards

• 2007: Album of the Year - Taking the Long Way
• 2007: Song of the Year - "Not Ready to Make Nice"
• 2007: Record of the Year - "Not Ready to Make Nice"
• 2007: Best Country Album - Taking the Long Way
• 2007: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Not Ready to Make Nice"
• 2005: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Top Of The World"
• 2003: Best Country Album - Home
• 2003: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Long Time Gone"
• 2003: Best Country Instrumental Performance - "Lil' Jack Slade"
• 2000: Best Country Album - Fly
• 2000: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "Ready to Run"
• 1999: Best Country Album - Wide Open Spaces
• 1999: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "There's Your Trouble"

Juno Awards

• 2007: International Album of the Year - Taking the Long Way

MTV's Rock the Vote

• 2004: Patrick Lippert Award for "protecting freedom of speech".

People's Choice Awards

• 2002: Favorite Musical Group or Band

Other Awards

• 2006: ACLU Bill of Rights Award

Tours

As an opening act

• 1998 Clay Walker
• 1999 George Strait Country Music Festival
• 1999 Tim McGraw
• 2006 The Eagles (Twickenham - June 17, 2006)
• 2007 The Eagles (Grand Opening of The Nokia Theatre L.A. Live)

Benefits

• 2001 America: A Tribute to Heroes
• 2003 Honor the Earth
• 2003 Recording Artists' Coalition
• 2003 Rock The Vote
• 2004 Vote for Change
• 2005 Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast

Festivals

• 1999 Lilith Fair

Headlining tours

• 2000 Fly Tour
• 2003 Top of the World Tour
• 2006 Accidents & Accusations Tour

Further reading

• Dickerson, James L. (2000). Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 0-87833-189-1.

See also

• Best selling music artists
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• Music of Austin

External links

Official

• Official Website
• Dixie Chicks at MSN
• Dixie Chicks Columbia Records

Other

• Extensive Dixie Chicks Multimedia Site with original media interview clips, and music
• DixieChicksFans.net offers the latest in news, photos, lyrics, and a fan forum
• The All Inclusive Dixie Chicks Site An extensive timeline with stories, discography, links to news articles and information from the origins of the original Dixie Chicks through today.
• Dixie Chicks Exclusive Performance & Behind the Scenes footage on AOL Sessions

Archived news articles

• Chicks' Naked Fury about the Entertainment Weekly cover
• Dixie Chicks & Alec Baldwin Fighting For 'Center Square'on The Hollywood Squares? Jake Easton, Radok News (pro-boycott)
• Dixie Chicks Return, 'Taking the Long Way' - NPR Interview on All Things Considered, May 23, 2006. Includes discussion of death threats received in 2003.
• Dixie Chicks song about Lubbock, Texas stirs up some local trouble.
• Dixie Chicks feature and CD and concert reviews at Country Standard Time