*Natalie Maines
*Emily Robison
*Martie Maguire
Check out the video for "Not Ready to Make Nice" and see what everyone is talking about. And there is a link at the end of the video to purchase the CD on Itunes!
Influences
Tim O'Brien, Mark O'Conner, Eddy Stubbs, Sam Bush, Joe Venuti, Alison Krauss , Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Jerry Douglas, Dolly Parton, Boston, Merle Haggard, and Shawn Colvin , James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Maria McKee, and the Indigo Girls
Superstars, renegades, innovators, heroes, villains, and moms - over almost a decade, the Dixie Chicks have grown from a band into a phenomenon. Now more than ever, the eyes of the world are on them, and with TAKING THE LONG WAY, they come out swinging, surpassing the pressures and expectations history has placed upon them. The nine time Grammy-Award winning Sony Recording artists will release this highly-anticipated fourth album (Open Wide/Columbia/Sony BMG) on May 23, 2006.
With TAKING THE LONG WAY, one of the most anticipated albums in recent years, the Dixie Chicks are putting themselves out there like never before. For the first time, every one of the disc's fourteen songs are co-written by the Chicks themselves, exploring themes both deeply private and resoundingly political. Collaborating with legendary producer Rick Rubin (who has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Run DMC to Neil Diamond), the biggest-selling female band in history has truly pushed themselves to new heights both as writers and as performers.
"Everything felt more personal this time," says Natalie Maines. "I go back to songs we've done in the past and there's just more maturity, depth, intelligence on these. They just feel more grown-up."
Rubin assembled a band including Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, session hero Larry Knechtel, and Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, and matched the Chicks with co-writers including Dan Wilson (who wound up collaborating on six of AKING THE LONG WAY's songs), Pete Yorn, and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks.
Inspired by such classic rock artists as the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Mamas and the Papas, TAKING THE LONG WAY adds a sweeping, Southern California vibe to the Chicks' down-home intimacy. That ambition is matched with lyrics addressing everything from small-town narrow-mindedness (Lubbock or Leave It) to the psychology of celebrity (Everybody Knows).
Not just "big for a country band" or "big for a big female band," the Dixie Chicks are a multi-platinum selling act in North America, Europe and Australia as well as one of a mere handful of acts with multiple albums achieving "diamond" status (meaning sales over 10 million copies) - both WIDE OPEN SPACES (1998) and FLY (1999) hit that stratospheric landmark - and have won nine Grammy awards. Their on-stage reputation has helped them sell over $100 million worth of concert tickets, and outspoken songs like Goodbye, Earl made it clear that this power trio played by nobody's rules.
And that was all before Natalie Maines's comments about a fellow Texan, President George W. Bush, during a London appearance in March, 2003 really put the Dixie Chicks in the headlines. The resultant uproar - complete with boycotts and death threats - is the focus of TAKING THE LONG WAY's defiant first track, Not Ready to Make Nice. "The stakes were definitely higher on that song," says Robison. "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."
The results cover an impressive range of territory. Silent House examines the emotions that come from watching an older relative struggle with Alzheimer's. It's So Hard When It Doesn't Come Easy addresses infertility, an issue that both Robison and Maguire have faced. The Chicks debuted the gospel-inflected I Hope, co-written with Keb' Mo, during last year's telethon benefiting the victims of Hurricane Katrina; the album version features a blistering guitar solo by John Mayer.
"This album was total therapy," says Natalie Maines. "I'm way more at peace now. Writing these songs and saying everything we had to say makes it possible to move on."
You guys are awesome! Please take a moment to check out my songs ,and let me know which one you would like to be my first hit. Thanks www. myspace. com/chadpeavy
You girls are my heroes, expecially Natalie Maines. For using the freedom of speech to say what you really mean! And standing by it, even though your lifes got turned upside down.
You are all amazingly brave and i admire you for that!
With lots of love from: Sofie TC
BY THE WAY: the dixie chicks is the greatest band of all time!
Vernissage Mai 2 Finissage concert Mai 24 FREE ENTRY From 8pm May 2-23 @ Neurotitan RosenthalerStr 39, Mitte, Berlin WeinmeisterStr U Bahn Hackeschermarkt S Bahn
hey yall, just wanted to send a shout expressing my love for your talent, your wisdom and intelligence, and your strength. such an inspiration. as a fellow texan, you took the words right out of my mouth during "the incident". i really appreciate what you have done and wish you the best of luck in all matters. stay well yall. God bless.
My song "Heard It All Before" available at AMAZON. COM, ITUNES. COM, NAPSTER. COM, RHAPSODY. COM, BESTBUY. COM, WALMART. COM, MTRAKS. COM, EMUSIC. COM, IMEEM. COM, VERIZON. COM, SPRINT. COM etc. Please check out my other tunes and request me as a friend...Peace...Doc Carter
so...i have been a Dixie Chicks fan since the VERY beginning...and stuck with you all through it all... i love you girls so much...you don't even know... got out the documentary today and watched it again...reminded me how amazing you all were...and are. it brings me to tears.
i love love love Favorite Year and Easy Silence...those both speak volumes to me... i love you girls and miss you... come out with something soon...
