Dixie Chicks
It seems eons ago, now, that the Dixie Chicks were being dismissed as a countryfied version of the "Spice Girls." Oh, and just where are the Spice Girls these days.
Yes, the Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Seidel -- are cute, and sexy, and dress accordingly. But they can sing and play up a storm.
And never let it be said they don't have staying power. Fact is, the group has been around in one form or another since 1989, when sisters Emily, then 16, and Martie, then 19, joined two other Dallas-area young ladies to form a band, and they'd occasionally stand on street corners and play for tips. The music was more traditional country, the women wore Dale Evans-style cowgirl clothes, and the original name of the group was "Dixie Chicken," from the Little Feat song of the same name. Natalie, the daughter of veteran pedal steel guitarist Lloyd Maines, joined the group in 1995, the last of several lineup changes.
So, see, the name "Dixie Chicks" has nothing to do with political incorrectness. Then again, these ladies aren't reluctant to stir things up. Take, for example, the controversy over the song "Goodbye Earl," a song some country radio stations refused to play because of its portrayal of how two ladies handled a convicted spousal abuser. (Hey, listen closely to the song. The sadistic jerk deserved everything he got.)
Has success changed them? Well, in one respect. Their original plan was for each to get a little chicken footprint tattoo for every significant career achievement. But when the good times came so rapidly, they altered that plan. Now, they've agreed, they'll get tattoos only after a No. 1 hit.
Photo courtesy Dixie Chicks Central website
Photo courtesy Dixie Chicks Central website
Photo courtesy DixieChicksFans.com website
Photo courtesy DixieChicksFans.com website
Photo courtesy
Laura's Dixie Chicks Page
Photo courtesy DixieChicksFans.com website
Photo from their first album. "Wide Open Spaces"
Emily on the dobro in the old days, when the Chicks were still playing nightspots around Dallas and were years away from being megastars. Photo courtesy All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks website.
Photo courtesy
All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks website