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All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Timeline

There's a lot more to the Dixie Chicks' history than is included in Sony's Road To Nashville page. This is a work in progress, of course. Enjoy!

1988 and before
Ahead to 1989
Read Stories from these years

Sony Bio

1969 -- Martie Erwin Seidel born

1972 -- Emily Erwin born

1974 -- Natalie Maines Tarabay born, the daughter of noted steel guitarist Lloyd Maines (of The Maines Brothers Band); Martie begins playing violin at age 5;

1979 -- Emily begins playing violin at age 7, then banjo, with dobro, mandolin and other acoustic instruments to follow

1983 -- Natalie turns 9; Maines Brothers Band scores the first of its 6 chart hits (1983-86)

1984 -- Emily & Martie perform in the teen bluegrass group Blue Night Express (1984-89)

1987 -- Martie wins 2nd place at the national Old Time Fiddlers Convention

Music

  • Robin Lynn Macy, a 6th grade private school math teacher, plays in a Dallas bluegrass band called Danger in the Air. This local band, with Robin on lead vocals and four guys on strings, played frequently at Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse, a well-known and still active North Texas folk venue. They issued two self-published cassette releases, in 1988 and 1990... you'll find the details here and nowhere else.

  • Laura Lynch, along with Dave Peters (mandolin on Thank Heavens For Dale Evans) and fiddle player Marvin Gruenbaum, spent a season in Japan playing as the "Texas Rangers".

  • External Links:

Festivals and other notable appearances

  • Martie (then known as Martha) and Emily's band, "Blue Night Express", played the Walnut Valley Festival in 1985. The other members of the all-teen band were siblings Sharon and Troy Gilcrist.

1989
Back to 1988 -- Ahead to 1990
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1989 -- Martie & Emily begin playing for tips on a Dallas street corner; debut club appearance at Poor David's Pub; Martie wins 3rd place at National Fiddle Championships

Corrections & Additions

  • Not to be picky, but Martie and Emily were playing backup for lead singers Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy.

  • For specifics of Martie's 3rd place win, check out the Walnut Valley Festival's web page at www.wvfest.com. And jump down to 1999 to see how one of the original Dixie Chicks is returning to her bluegrass festival roots!

Festivals and other notable appearances

1990
Back to 1989 -- Ahead to 1991
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1990 -- debut independent CD Thank Heavens For Dale Evans (recorded for $5,000); Best Band prize at Telluride Bluegrass Festival; performances at Texas & Louisiana State Fairs (opening for Garth Brooks at latter); gigs at Starplex in Dallas (opening for Reba McEntire & George Strait); Kerrville Folk Festival, Longhorn Ballroom, Austin Opry House (opening for Emmylou Harris); performance with Bill Monroe & Doc Watson at Poor David's

Music

Festivals and other notable appearances

  • The Dixie Chicks make their first appearance as a band at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
  • Robin Macy stayed pretty busy, as Danger in the Air was also featured at the 1990 festival.

1991
Back to 1990 -- Ahead to 1992
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1991 -- named Best Country Band by The Dallas Observer (they also win this honor in 1992, 1993 & 1994); Chicks' debut appearances on The Grand Ole Opry & TNN's Nashville Now; signed for booking by Buddy Lee Attractions on Music Row (the agency's only act without a recording contract); appearances on the national radio shows of Garrison Keillor & Riders In the Sky; ad jingle for McDonald's; the band adds a drummer; feature article in Elle magazine

Music

  • The original Dixie Chicks (including Robin and Laura) appeared on Garrison Keillor's public radio program A Prairie Home Companion, from Dallas' Bronco Bowl, in February 1991.

    This was the first time I heard the Dixie Chicks, but since this was before widespread 'Net usage (and way before RealAudio), I haven't been able to track down more info.

  • The Dixie Chicks record a Christmas single on vinyl and cassette, Home On The Radar Range. This release, as well as Little OI' Cowgirl, is produced by Larry Seyer. Seyer invites steel guitar legend Lloyd Maines to contribute to both releases, setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to Lloyd's daughter, Natalie Maines, becoming the group's energetic lead singer. She was just 18 when the Christmas single was released.

  • External Links:
    • A Prairie Home Companion is heard on public radio stations nationwide, including Dallas' KERA 90.1.
    • The Bronco Bowl is a Dallas classic. It closed in the mid '90s, but reopened better than ever and is now the preferred venue for performers as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and Marilyn Manson.
    • Larry Seyer, who introduced Lloyd Maines to the Dixie Chicks, is still a well-known Texas producer, and got to join up with the Dixie Chicks again in 1999 for the Ride With Bob tribute. Check out his extensive Artist List at LarrySeyer.com

Festivals and other notable appearances

1992
Back to 1991 -- Ahead to 1993
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1992 -- release 2nd independent CD Little Ol' Cowgirl; Natalie begins playing guitar & attends Berkelee School of Music; appearances at Fiesta Texas, American Music Shop on TNN, Dallas Cowboys halftime show, New Mexico State Fair

Chick Chat Archives

As the Dixie Chicks rack up miles on their van and kudos from the critics, changes rock the group. While touring in support of Little Ol' Cowgirl, one of the founding members leaves to travel a different road.

Music

Images and Graphics

Articles

  • In March, Dallas Life Magazine took an inside look at the making of Little Ol' Cowgirl. A fellow long-time fan of the Dixie Chicks sent me this great article that details the Chicks' struggles to reach the big time on an indie label. Six months later, the CD was released to critical acclaim and some airplay... but Robin Lynn Macy had left the group. I'll add "notes in the margins" when I find time!

Festivals and other notable appearances

  • The Dixie Chicks make their final appearance at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. I don't know whether Robin was with them or not, but it's a sure bet that the folks in Winfield would have noticed if she was missing. See 1999 for info about Robin's return to Winfield!

1993
Back to 1992 -- Ahead to 1994
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1993 -- Dixie Chicks play Presidential Inaugural; 3rd independently released CD Shouldn't a Told You; land Justin Boots endorsement deal & appear on posters; perform at Nashville's Summer Lights Festival, West Fest, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Dollywood, The Birchmere

Chick Chat Archives

Music

  • Dallas public radio station KERA 90.1 includes the original foursome's 1992 rendition of Northern Rail, a fast, beautiful bluegrass tune, on a compilation titled KERA Sound Sessions. Unfortunately, the station soon replaces their daytime local music programs with syndicated talkfests and no further Sound Sessions discs are ever released. More information is available in the Discography

  • The Dixie Chicks debut Shouldn't A Told You That, their last independent release.

  • Although she said "it seemed as if it would take a miracle" to get her on stage again, Robin Lynn Macy teamed up with Texas folk songstress Sara Hickman and friend Patty Lege (credited with Thank Yous in the liner notes of the first two Dixie Chicks albums) to create the Domestic Science Club. They recorded a CD that was originally going to be given out as a Christmas present to the singers' close friends. But one of the friends was a DJ with some format flexibility, and the self-titled disc was released on the Discovery label. Another release followed in 1996.

    Detailed info on both discs coming soon; meanwhile, visit the Treats section of my Sounds page for more info and samples from that rare first release.

  • External Links:
    • Dallas public radio station KERA 90.1
    • Buy Shouldn't A Told You That (on tape) at CDnow
    • View Sara Hickman's extensive, eclectic discography, also available at CDnow.
    • For more information on Sara Hickman, visit her web site at sarahickman.com.

1994
Back to 1993 -- Ahead to 1995
Read Stories from this year

Chick Chat Archives

Music

  • The Dixie Chicks play with the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet in their production of "All The Right Women".

1995
Back to 1994 -- Ahead to 1996
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1995 -- Natalie quits college & joins band as lead singer & guitarist; Dixie Chicks play the Texas Governor Inaugural Gala

Corrections & Additions

  • Natalie Maines walked away from a full scholarship at Boston's Berklee College of Music. In keeping with the showbiz tradition, though, they gave her an honorary degree in 1999 and now describe her as an "alumna". So much for academic integrity...

Chick Chat Archives

1996
Back to 1995 -- Ahead to 1997
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1996 -- Dixie Chicks are scouted by Sony Music as the flagship act of the revived Monument Records label

Corrections & Additions

  • They may have been "scouted" in 1996, but Sony first stepped into the picture a year earlier -- before (or during!) Laura Lynch's departure. And the album deal didn't come until later, see 1997 for details.

Chick Chat Archives

Articles

  • External Links:
    • If you notice any similarity between lead singer Natalie Maines and the gentleman sitting behind the steel guitar, it's no coincidence... that's her daddy, Lloyd Maines. Universally described as a "steel guitar legend," the elder Maines is well-known in Texas music circles (as a player and as a producer), playing a large role in the development of artists such as Joe Ely. This excellent article from the weekly Austin Chronicle (dated 10/8/1996) details his contributions to the Texas music scene.

Music

  • Domestic Science Club issues a second release, Three Women, then disbands. Robin Lynn Macy moves to Kansas.

  • A startup band in Amarillo called The Groobees (two O's, two E's) releases an EP of three alt.country tracks. In 1997, they'll cross paths with the Dixie Chicks, and the results will be spectacular.

  • External Links:
    • The Three Women release is still available, at CDnow.

    • Details of The Groobees' EP are available at their web site, www.groobees.com.

1997
Back to 1996 -- Ahead to 1998
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1997 -- debut major-label single/video "I Can Love You Better;" showcase at Hastings Music convention in Nashville; industry showcase & label launch at The Ryman Auditorium

Corrections & Additions

  • The Sony timeline, of course, doesn't include the details of the negotiations that led up to the deal. According to the Dallas Morning News in February, 1997, it had taken five months of negotiations to get a 6-album deal out of Sony. That wasn't as good a deal as it sounds... it meant that the Chicks were stuck with Sony for a long time, even if Sony didn't treat them right. In fact, word is that Sony put the Chicks on the resurrected Monument label to position them as an alt-country act. Who ever heard of a bluegrass-inspired female country trio making it big for more than a song or two?

  • Also omitted, is the fact that the album hadn't even been named when the single was released. On the liners of the CD single was the notation "available on the upcoming Monument cassette/CD: 68195".

Chick Chat Archives

  • As they enter the studio to record Wide Open Spaces, the Chicks send a postcard that diverges sharply from the "Cowgirl Band" look.
    A Postcard, Summer 1997
  • Four years after the final indie release, Wide Open Spaces is about to hit the stores.
    Chick Chat, Winter 1997

Articles

  • External Links:
    • Oops! Picture this: the Dixie Chicks are coming to town, but the big college football game got moved for TV. Would you cancel the Dixie Chicks concert? That's just what they did in Natalie's home town of Lubbock in October. Read all about it in this story by William Kerns of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Music

  • Amarillo's The Groobees release their first full-length CD, Wayside, in July. Produced by Lloyd Maines, the disc includes a song written by lead singer Susan Gibson titled Wide Open Spaces. That song will go on to become the title cut to the Dixie Chicks' first major-label release, and the single by the Chicks will go on to spend four weeks at #1 on the Country charts.

    The Groobees' version includes an additional verse. See their 1999 appearance on Dallas radio for more details.

  • All three Dallas country stations add I Can Love You Better to their playlists soon after its October release.

  • External Links:
    • Visit The Groobees and follow their tour dates at their web site: groobees.com.
    • News Flash! CDnow now stocks The Groobees' Wayside release! Includes a sound sample from the original version of Wide Open Spaces.

The Internet

  • The Dixie Chicks ask Phil Casella to build them a web site. He reserves dixiechicks.com, but it never becomes reality when the Chicks hit big and their management "changes directions".

    Meanwhile, the Dixie Chicks' original web page at austinlinks.com is updated for the last time, and finally ends up in a Trash directory. Nobody ever emptied the trash... but the house burned down. austinlinks.com died in mid-1999.

    Fortunately, I saved a copy... read the whole story of the Dixie Chicks' first-ever web site and visit my saved mirror copy on the History page.

1998
Back to 1997 -- Ahead to 1999
Read Stories from this year

Sony Bio

1998 -- Wide Open Spaces issued as The Dixie Chicks' Monument Records album debut

Chick Chat Archives

  • An invitation to the album release party/concert at Dallas' Cowboy's Red River Opry.
    The Final Mailing

Articles

  • What is the threshold of fame? Perhaps a feature article in People Magazine would count? The well-written article gives several hints into the group's past as well as its bright present -- I've transcribed the piece and added my own comments in the margins.

  • On September 27, 1998, the Dixie Chicks returned to Dallas for (almost) the first time since the January release party for Wide Open Spaces. Since then, they had scored a top 10 single, a No. 1 hit, another top 20 single still on its way up, an album that had gone platinum and sat at No. 3 on the national charts... and two of the industry's top awards. It was the event of the year... and I missed most of it after being overcome by the heat.

    Fortunately, the local newspapers sent their reporters in with more water and fewer kids to carry. Check out the review of the event by the Dallas Morning News (the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also reviewed the event, but I haven't transcribed it yet).

  • In a November interview of Emily Erwin in Australia's Country Update, Emily Erwin discusses the past and the future of the band with an openness that hasn't always made it into the North American press. Was Emily's Entertainment Weekly quote (where she dismissed the old sound as not "pure" enough) taken out of context? After you read her interview with Country Update, you can decide for yourself!

  • External Links:
    • In March 1998, as There's Your Trouble began its rise to the top, local alternative newsweekly The Dallas Observer took a rather scathing look at the subject of the "New Chicks" vs. the "Old Chicks." Interesting reading, although they sometimes miss the point... nobody in Nashville was buying into the frills 'n lace thing.

    • But at least the Observer still remembered the "Old Chicks." The legal troubles encountered by All-Inclusive's Sound Samples pages sparked the magazine to write a feature article on the Dixie Chicks' history... or rather, the way that they and their label were trying to "rewrite history with an eraser."

    • Earlier, shortly before the surprise hit album Wide Open Spaces was released, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram penned an article (dated 1/18/98) with some honest info about the group's evolution. Natalie is quoted as being concerned about the "sophomore scare thing"... Hey, Dixie! That was two albums ago!

      Unfortunately, this article is no longer included in their online archive, and this link will take you to an error page. I'll transcribe the article from library archives and add my own comments in the margins when I have time to visit the Ft. Worth library.

    • An particularly NO vote was registered by Bill Gates (or at least by his close friend not! Michael McCall), as Microsoft's Music Central declares in a one-paragraph review that "someone has body-snatched the personalities of the once charming Dixie Chicks and replaced them with country-music clones." But the reviewer is guilty of the very sin he decries, by focusing on the new look before listening to the music. By the way, it takes longer to bring up this site than it does to read the pointless review.

    • Canada's Jam! Country Music, part of a large online Canada-oriented showbiz site, has archived several insightful articles on the Dixie Chicks and their concert at the June 1998 Calgary Stampede, and they're all available in a convenient package at the Jam! Dixie Chicks Archive. Jam!s interviews delve deeper into the history and evolution of the group than any US interviewer to date, asking specific questions about the changes in the Chicks' look and sound. Highly recommended!

    • Dallas/Ft. Worth's Young Country 105.3 (which grew up in 1999 to become Superstar Country features bio's of all the top stars of Country, and of course, that now includes The Dixie Chicks! They also detail the full story (and include a link to this site! Thanks, Katie!)

    • An article on the Maines family from the daily Austin American-Statesman of 8/20/1998, gives more details on Natalie's background. It also includes confirmation of two of my own suspicions... that Laura Lynch wasn't willing to subject her teenage daughter Asia to the "year-round touring regimen" that took the Chicks that final yard to stardom. It also confirms that Natalie never played guitar on stage before joining the group... while original Chick Robin Lynn Macy was as strong on the guitar as Emily and Martie were on their own stringed instruments.

The Internet

  • From its release until its March 1998 peak at #6, I tracked the success of the Dixie Chicks' first national hit, I Can Love You Better. In the process, I found dozens of radio stations, national publications, and just plain folks who maintained "Top N" lists (where N is a number between 5 and 250). Now, I'm sharing this information with the world on my Country Charts page, along with my comments on the more notable sites.

  • Feburary: Nicole Larson creates the first Dixie Chicks Fan Page. She goes on to create a mailing list that is the primary source of "New Chicks" info on the 'net, thanks in part to her contacts with the Chicks themselves.

  • July: Nici's list becomes the unofficial fan club when the Chicks disband their own fan club after almost 10 years. See the Winter 1997 Chick Chat for details.

  • "All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks" was created 8/19/1998 in response to the need to tell the full and complete history of the #1 country band. It was originally called "The Unofficial All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page", but I dropped "Unofficial" because it was kind of obvious.

  • "Cease And Desist," they said, and I had no choice but to comply. The sound samples from Little Ol' Cowgirl and Thank Heavens For Dale Evans were been removed from my site, even though they inspired several fans to search out and find the Dixie Chicks' original three indie CD releases. For details and links to media reports (including the Dallas Observer feature article), visit the Cease And Desist page.

  • External Links:
    • For more information and pictures of the "New Chicks", start your search at one of the original -- and still the best -- Dixie Chicks fan sites. Nici's UnOfficial Dixie Chicks Site is a great source of news, pictures, sounds, and other info. Not only is she the Ringmaster of the Dixie Chicks Webring, she's also the founder of the Dixie Chicks Mailing List, with over 100 fans swapping information and stories. Not bad for a 14-year-old! Join us at dixiechicks-subscribe@egroups.com.

    • In 1998, 'net interest in the Dixie Chicks reached the ultimate level: a Yahoo! Category just for them! And to think, just a year ago (in late 1997), the only Dixie Chicks sites were their old site and some music festival recap pages. Thanks to Yahoo! for including my page in their index! Well, actually, I lost my listing when I lost dixiechicks.com, but I'm sure they'll add me back any day now...

    • This site started out on my ISP, dallas.net. This address is now a mirror site, and I've also created a "beta test" mirror site at Tripod.

Music

Where Are They Now?

  • A January Fort Worth Star-Telegram article mentions Laura Tull (née Lynch) appearing in an ad for Fort Worth's own Vaqueras Western Wear in Cowboys & Indians magazine. I browsed one at a newsstand -- think Vogue with a cowboy hat.

  • External Links:

1999 and after
Back to 1998
Read Stories from this year

Band Changes

  • History repeats itself. After a huge July 4 concert in Phoenix, the Dixie Chicks released guitarist Tommy Nash and bass player Bobby Charles, Jr. with no fanfare and even less explanation. In a late July benefit for St. Jude's, Natalie was heard singing Give It Up Or Let Me Go with a new lyric: "Play that guitar, Boy!" Posters on the mailing list say it just doesn't have the same kick. Bobby and Tommy were both with the band since before Natalie joined; see the Fall 1995 Chick Chat for more info.

    How is this a repeat of the past? Because the band started out with yet another set of players on bass and guitar... Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy.

The Internet

  • dixiechicks.com points to All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks for two great months, from mid-January through mid-March. Over 68,000 fans visit before the Chicks management company, Senior Management, gets ownership of the domain transferred to them from Phil Casella.

  • All-Inclusive finds a more stable Internet home at Mixed Signal Solutions, a suburban Chicago provider of high-speed internet access for small office/home office clients.

  • External Links:
    • When the Dixie Chicks' management wrangled dixiechicks.com away from ACI.net, they forgot to put any actual content on the site. An unconfirmed message on a public Dixie Chicks forum claimed that a new site would appear in "three months," but as of May 1999, the site still gives a 403 Access Forbidden error. Will the new site appear in time for the release of the new album?

Music

  • The album, Wide Open Spaces, becomes the #1 country album and enters the top 10 in the Billboard 200 53 weeks after its release.

  • You Were Mine spends two weeks at #1 and two more at #2, but is not issued as a retail single.

  • In advance of the Chicks' wins at the 1999 Grammy Awards, the single Wide Open Spaces is included on the official Grammys CD featuring nominees from all mainstream genres.

  • Amarillo's The Groobees, whose lead singer Susan Gibson wrote and originally recorded Wide Open Spaces in 1997, appeared on Dallas country station 99.5 The Wolf in March 1999, on the weekly Front Porch program. If you have the RealPlayer installed, you can listen to the whole two-hour show, or use these special links to hear the highlights:
    • Last Of His Kind, from the Wayside CD. Susan Gibson on lead vocals. Although Wayside is an indie release, it is now available at CDnow.
    • Wide Open Spaces, played live. Includes an additional verse that didn't make the cut in the Dixie Chicks' version. Also on the Wayside CD.
    • Cheap Trucker's Speed, from the new CD scheduled for spring or summer 1999. Ever pull an all-nighter on the road? Ever hear of Ephedrine? One of the guys sings lead.
    • Austin Dawn, not released yet. They say they'll release it after "another two or three CDs." It's beautiful -- are they saving it for that first major-label release? The guy's on lead again.
    Despite the success of Wide Open Spaces, The Groobees' 1999 tour schedule still bears a striking resemblance to the Chicks' schedule in 1992 (see the Summer 1992 issue of the Chick Chat).

  • Tonight, The Heartache's On Me is released as a radio single, but not at retail or even as a video single. Nonetheless, it still became the Chicks' fifth top 10 hit.

  • The Dixie Chicks tour with George Strait while recording their fifth release, tentatively titled Sin Wagon. It is slated for release at the end of August. The album title is changed to Fly in May due to pressure from the label, but the well received song Sin Wagon is still slated to be included.

  • The Chicks get picked to play two songs on the soundtrack for the feature film Runaway Bride (starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts). As noted in the Discography, Ready To Run was released to radio in late June to rave reviews. The other song is a cover of You Can't Hurry Love.

    Hear it now! Check out the Treats page for a sample from this great tune. Just a sample, mind you -- you'll have to buy it to hear the whole thing.

  • Yahoo! Music lists Cold Day In July b/w Wherever You Are as the first single from the new album -- but it gets beat out by Ready To Run

  • External Links:
    • Berklee College of Music gave Natalie Maines a scholarship, but she dropped out in 1995 to join the Dixie Chicks. When the Chicks won a Grammy in 1999, though, her status changed from "dropout" to "alumna". Check out the college's "News" story on the Grammys... but to be fair, they did note in a later paragraph that she left to join the Chicks "shortly after enrolling."

    • Miles Of Music, based in California, was once one of the only online sources for The Groobees' Wayside release. Even though CDnow now stocks both Wayside and the new (10/99) self-titled Groobees release, Miles of Music is still worth a visit. These alt.country specialists may still have a copy or two of the pre-Sony Dixie Chicks catalog...

    • Dallas country station 99.5 The Wolf is the Dixie Chicks' semi-official favorite radio station. In mid-1998, the station (formerly known simply as KPLX 99.5) underwent a huge format change. After a few months of "just play the hits and shut up" (see the KRUD Radio site for what that implies), the station changed from a generic top-40 country factory to a truly Texas-oriented radio station. They're the only station in town with the flexibility to play cuts from Texas artists like Robert Earl Keen, Deryl Dodd, Lyle Lovett, and Emily Erwin's new husband Charlie Robison.

    • The Yahoo! Discography, while not as complete as my own Full Discography, was the first to list the info about the singles from the as-yet-untitled 1999 album release.

Gossip and other personal stuff

  • Natalie pregnant -- by Deryl Dodd?
    It turned out to be a rumor started by the Chicks themselves! They admitted it on national TV, including on the Jay Leno show. They were pretty impressed by how quickly the rumor got back to them -- just two weeks. Here's how we found out about it on Nici's Dixie Chicks Discussion List:

    --------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: <---@hotmail.com>
    To: <---@juno.com>
    Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 11:43:10 EST
    Subject: Get ready to freak out!
    NATALIE IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just heard it a second ago. I was at
    EMI on music row with Brad and EVERYONE was talking about it. Everyone
    is also saying that it's by Deryl Dodd. Like I said, I heard this from
    songwriters at EMI, so I'd say that's a pretty reliable source.

    The moral, folks, is this: don't believe everything you hear on the Internet! Especially if "EVERYONE" is talking about it...

  • Who did we let Emily marry?
    The story of Emily Erwin's marriage to fellow Texas singer/songwriter Charlie Robison (pronounced "rob-ih-son", not "robe-ih-son") is well-documented on just about every fan page. But not very many of the Chicks' fans are familiar with Charlie's work... let's just say that where the original Dixie Chicks played a lot of traditional "lovin' and leavin'" bluegrass, Charlie Robison's honky-tonk tunes draw heavily from the "murder 'n mayhem" also found in bluegrass tradition.

    I was lucky enough to win a copy of Robison's debut with Sony Nashville, Life Of The Party. Although none of the Chicks play on it, I've included a track-by-track breakdown of the disc. But I warn you... teenage Dixie Chicks fans who still believe in a perfect world -- where everyone's from the right side of the tracks, doesn't drink or smoke, and violent death always happens to "someone else" -- may not approve of Emily's choice to be Mr. Emily Erwin!

Where Are They Now?

  • Laura Lynch Tull is profiled on Dallas/Ft. Worth television. Reporter Stephanie Lucero discovers that she is happily married to the man of her dreams and living on a ranch outside Weatherford, Texas. Her daughter Asia is now 17 years old, and is a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks.

  • Robin Lynn Macy (now Robin Bennett) returns to her musical roots, playing in a five-piece bluegrass band called Blue Plate Special in the Wichita, Kansas area. She is still teaching school, and lives in a restored arboretum in a small town in southern Kansas.

  • Andy Owens, who founded Danger In The Air with Robin Macy and a few other members of the Dallas bluegrass community, embarks on a year-long world tour called The Bluegrass Expedition. With him on the tour is Troy Gilcrist -- one of the members of Martie and Emily's teen bluegrass band, "Blue Night Express". See the Stories page for more info on these early roots.

  • External Links:
    • CBS affiliate KTVT Channel 11 ran the feature piece on Laura Lynch, Former Dixie Chick. Ironically, the station was owned by Gaylord Entertainment, which also owns the Grand Ole Opry and TNN (The Nashville Network). However, the station was sold to CBS in Spring 1999.

    • Follow Andy Owens' world tour at The Bluegrass Expedition's homepage: bluegrassexpedition.com. Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list. The tour is sponsored in part by iBluegrass Magazine, a very well-designed and informative web 'zine.

    • News Flash! Blue Plate Special is on the menu for the 1999 Walnut Valley Festival, taking place September 16-19. Talk about a return to the roots! This is the festival where the Dixie Chicks got their start -- see the earliest Stories of the band's beginnings. In 1989, Martie Erwin (now Martie Seidel) won 3rd place at the the Walnut Valley Fiddle Championship -- a credit still included in the Sony timeline.

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