Current News
September 2000
Chicks Busting Out All Over!
As the Dixie Chicks continue their newly-expanded tour
(and as new lead Chick Natalie Maines does some "expanding" of her own),
the group's musical cousins are filling the gap with new releases.
Founding Dixie Chick lead singer Robin Lynn Macy
is back to bluegrass with her new group, Big Twang.
The Kansas-based group is self-publishing their debut release, Pastures of Plenty,
and it's only available from the group's web page: bigtwang.com.
The last time Robin and her friends published their own disc was in 1993, and that
rare first-edition Domestic Science Club release now sells for over $80 on eBay.
The Chicks themselves go back to the roots of bluegrass, helping
Ricky Skaggs pay tribute to the "Father of Bluegrass" with the tribute album
Big Mon - Songs Of Bill Monroe.
The Chicks' contribution, "Walk Softly (On My Heart)", features Natalie belting loose with a voice that
combines her "Sin Wagon" energy with the good parts of "Let Him Fly".
She pushes her voice to the limit, maybe a little beyond... and it works.
Emily's husband Charlie Robison, already considered a lucky dog by 99.44% of male country fans,
recently came off of the "Lucky Dog Unleashed" tour with fellow Sony/Lucky Dog artists
Bruce Robison (his brother) and Jack Ingram. Their
performance at Texas' legendary Gruene Hall provides the backdrop for
Unleashed Live,
an absolute party-in-a-box that's already getting heavy airplay on Americana Country stations like
Dallas' KHYI 95.3. The fans aren't just coming for the beer... Charlie, Bruce, and Jack
are consummate musicians and entertainers.
Even Bruce Robison's wife Kelly Willis is getting in the album-release act -- without even knowing it!
Inside word is that she didn't even know that her old label, MCA, had decided to cash in on her growing
fame by reissuing cuts from her three out-of-print MCA discs in a compliation titled
One More Time - The MCA Recordings
By the way, Kelly also sings a duet with Bruce on the "Unleashed Live" CD mentioned above.
Meanwhile, the buzz continues to swirl around
James Dickerson's Dixie Chicks: Down Home and Backstage.
It's the definitive word on Laura Lynch's days as the lead singer and driving
force behind the Dixie Chicks. There are even rumors of a movie in the works! Wouldn't that be
a dream for Dixie Chicks fans -- and a nightmare for cowgirl-phobic manager Simon Renshaw...
And here's one for the "yep, they've hit the big time" department. A little something that
makes my "troubles" with the Chicks' lawyers look like child's play...
Dixie Chicks Bootlegs! The owner of the site, Jamie, knows her stuff --
she's even seen pictures of Natalie as a Little Ol' Cowgirl. And she (like all bootleg buffs)
is always in the market for a trade. See her Dixie Chicks CD-Rs
site for more details. Just don't tell the lawyers!
Vanity Section
(Awards and such)
Wow!
All-Inclusive was featured in the
March 30, 2000 edition of
Rolling Stone,
the music magazine that's been on the cutting edge since Laura Lynch and
Robin Lynn Macy were toddlers, and the Erwin sisters' parents
were still in high school.
The editors included a blurb about this site in the first
edition of the magazine's new "Netbook" section, which will feature the top
music sites on the Web. I'm right there next to the venerable
Planet Garth and
Country Music Miniature Donkeys,
where you'll find a Grand Champion named George Jones.
All-Inclusive was selected as one of the ten
Finalists in the CountryNow.com
Second Annual Fan Site Awards, in the Amateur division. The winner, announced on
June 10, 1999, was Totally Trisha --
congratulations to webmaster Kenneth Lee!
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Who are those facinating Dixie Chicks,
and where did they really come from?
Indie Chicks CDs eBay Report
(closed auctions)
Dale Evans: $57 (8/29/00)
Radar Range: N/A
Cowgirl: $75 (8/28/00)
Shouldn't A: $100 (8/26/00)
10-trk DSC: $86 (8/26/00)
For details, see the Buy page.
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- Introduction to the Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are red hot and on a roll... but did you know that they've been around for
over a decade? This quick introduction will get you started with the basics of who they were...
and how they've evolved into the divas of Country Music.
- The Complete Dixie Chicks Timeline
Original content you won't find anyplace else! Now you can trace the facinating history of the
Dixie Chicks from their 1980s roots,
through their 1990s struggles, and on to their
late 1990s triumphs.
Sony Nashville has a timeline, but you'll have to come here to
find out when founding Dixie Chicks Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy
left the group.
- The Complete Discography
The Dixie Chicks breakout album, Wide Open Spaces, is not the first release
by the group... and I Can Love You Better isn't even their first single!
This page includes information about past and future releases and compilations that
include the Dixie Chicks -- from the 45 rpm single release
Home On The Radar Range to their second major-label release,
tentatively titled Sin Wagon but now tamed to Fly.
Read how Ready To Run, the first single from the new album, bridges the gap
between the "Old Chicks" sound and the "New Chicks" attitude!
- The Chick Chat Archive
Before they hit the big time -- and one time after -- the Dixie Chicks
sent a newsletter to their loyal fans. The
irregularly published Chick Chat was a facinating stream-of-conciousness
look into the lives of a group of
talented young ladies (and gentlemen) struggling with life on the road.
- Dixie Chicks Stories
The Dixie Chicks have always been loyal to their fans, new and old.
In fact, you can read several stories by new fans who have met the sweetest ladies in
Country Music on any of the sites in the
Dixie Chicks WebRing...
but visit this page to read stories from before the Chicks hit big, when they played
in school cafeterias, at private parties, and yes, on street corners in Dallas.
- Suzanne's Dixie Chicks Scrapbook
The Dixie Chicks, old and new, have always been surrounded by appreciative and devoted fans. One of the "Old
Chicks'" biggest fans was Suzanne Lamb, and she has very graciously given me her permission
to tell her Dixie Chicks story in pictures! She started following the Chicks in late 1992 and stayed around all the way
through the album release party for 1998's Wide Open Spaces.
- Dixie Chicks Pictures
This page features images of the original Dixie Chicks, including
Robin and Laura. It includes old publicity photos,
scans of the CD liner notes from the first three albums, old concert photos
and pictures of the original Dixie Chicks posing with their fans.
And if you're surfing with images off,
don't worry... this page is completely text-friendly, unlike far too many other Chicks Pix sites.
- Original Dixie Chicks MP3 Files
Did you know that the Dixie Chicks released three independent albums before their
six-million-selling Wide Open Spaces? Listen to these samples for echoes of something
completely unique -- something Nashville had been missing for a long time.
Samples Only!
Full-length bootleg .mp3 filez are not available and I will
not send you one by e-mail -- don't ask!
- History of this Site
More than just the story behind this web site, learn here the story behind the Dixie Chicks' own forays
into the World Wide Web. From the Chicks' first steps onto the 'net, through the rollercoaster ride of
dixiechicks.com, and more! Includes an exclusive, fully functional mirror of the Chicks'
first-ever web page, long since lost in 'net oblivion.
- Site Index (under construction)
Direct links to every page on the site. If you're looking for something in particular, but don't need to
go through the Timeline or Discography, you can find your way there from here.
You'll find even more information on the Dixie Chicks' history, including Sound Files
(and the corresponding Cease And Desist letter!), information on related
groups like Domestic Science Club, Liner Notes,
and my selections for the Greatest Hits of the Dixie Chicks.
Now includes links to stories about the All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page --
and much more.
- Dixie Chicks Links (under construction)
Among the dozens of web sites and news articles with information about the "new"
Dixie Chicks are a handful of sites that discuss the full history of the group.
Also includes links to other useful tidbits of info on the New Chicks,
the Old Chicks, and even to other groups like
The Groobees, who originally recorded the 4-week
#1 smash-hit title cut to Wide Open Spaces.
- Update Announcements!
If you'd like to be informed of updates to this site, then please subscribe
to my announcement-only mailing list, hosted by eGroups.
I'll be sending a short message once or twice a month detailing the latest additions.
Click Here for complete details, or just sign up now:
You can also sign up by email: just send a blank note to
originalchicks-subscribe@egroups.com.
- Buy music by the Dixie Chicks (and friends)
By late 1998, Dallas' Crystal Clear Sound lost the rights to publish
the Dixie Chicks' independent releases. But check this page for hints on how to find
these rarities on eBay -- and if you don't have $200 for a copy of
Dale Evans, find out where to find some still-available gems by related artists.
Of course, if it's in print, you'll find it at CDnow -- at a good price.
I selected CDnow as the exclusive artist link for this site because no other online music retailer
can match their committment to customer service -- see more details on the
Buy page. And check the banner below -- they're always putting
something on sale!
- Hear the Dixie Chicks
Dallas' KHYI 95.3 The Range
has all the Chicks' CDs. |
The Dixie Chicks' early releases (1990's Thank Heavens for Dale Evans,
1992's Little Ol' Cowgirl, and 1993's Shouldn't A Told You That) are
running from $50 to $200 a piece on eBay, but if that's too rich for your blood, don't worry!
There are a few radical country stations whose jocks knew the Chicks before they hit big.
As the Internet gives small-signal and internet-only stations worldwide
reach, the sweet sounds of the original Dixie Chicks are on the air again.
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Original logo, from
Thank Heavens For Dale Evans (1990)
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An Introduction to the Dixie Chicks (all of them)
The Dixie Chicks are without a doubt the hottest "new" group to hit mainstream
country music in years. In a genre dominated by Suburban Cowboys like
Garth Brooks
and Billy Ray Cyrus,
they stand alone. The first all-female band to score a #1 hit
with There's Your Trouble, these ladies can actually play music, even if Martie
and Emily's virtuoso string performances are sometimes hidden behind thick layers of generic studio music.
But they're not a new group -- these Chicks have paid their dues. And they've
gone through some changes. Haven't we all?
What the Nashville marketing machine has chosen to ignore -- not surprisingly --
is the true history of the Dixie Chicks. By their own admission, the group is concerned about "confusion."
But the current Dixie Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Emily Erwin,
and Martie Seidel -- would not exist now if it were not for the Dixie Chicks of the past.
It was Laura Lynch and Robin Macy, along with sisters
Emily and Martie Erwin, who created the Dixie Chicks on a street corner in Dallas in 1989.
Return to the top to learn more...
They do remember!
That was then:
[Emily] Erwin and [Martie] Seidel are hardly
rookies, though; the two recorded three albums on an indie label with
another singer, a collection Erwin hopes "never surfaces," since "they don't
have the pure Dixie Chicks sound." Which is? "Old-time country played with a
new sensibility by three blonds is the best I can figure it."
- Entertainment Weekly, December 1998
This is now:
Says [Natalie] Maines: "There's three blondes who like hair and makeup and
clothes, and unless you know the history -- that the band started 10 years
ago and this configuration's been together for 4 years and all that -- it
looks like it's just Nashville trying to make a country Spice Girls."
- Entertainment Weekly, July 1999
Way to go, Chicks!
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The Dixie Chicks Webring, as well as the Dixie Chicks
eGroups discussion list,
is owned by Nici Larson. Her site, established in Spring 1998, is the first and the best of the "New Chicks"
web sites -- be sure to visit dixiechicksfans.com
for the latest news and gossip.
Disclaimers
This page is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the Dixie Chicks, or by any of their present or
past members. It is the original creation of Robert Brooks,
who is solely responsible for its content. The official Dixie Chicks web site can be found at
dixiechicks.com.
All original material is (c) 1998-2000 by Robert Brooks. Original images (c) 1998-2000 by Cryptic Productions.
Unless otherwise noted, all other images have been
lifted from various company and fan sites, with attribution in the img tag.
Site Created: 08/19/1998
Last Update: 09/11/2000
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/
Also available at: http://dixiechicks.mixedsignal.net/
Beta Testing Mirror Site: https://rbrooks.tripod.com/
Wireless Web version: http://www.tagtag.com/dixiechicks/
(requires web-enabled phone or an emulator: see
The Independent WAP/WML FAQ)
Original Site (now dead): http://www.dallas.net/~totoro/dixiechicks/
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Hits since 10/15/1999:
9/7/00: 100,000 hits
Thank you!
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