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Dixie Chicks Links
A selection of external links -- with notes -- from all over the
All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page. Not just a useless list of links, but a description of
what they link to. No popups either. Have you ever met someone who actually likes popups?
Pardon Our Dust... this section's just getting started!
Poll: When did you first hear of the Chicks?
Since you're here, you now know a little more about the Dixie Chicks' history.
When did you first hear the Chicks play yourself? Voting booth courtesy of the
very generous Brad Fitzpatrick, owner of the
world's best Slurpee tribute site.
Latest Poll Results: Out of 1108 votes from 8/31 through 2/3/1999,
the percentage of visitors who knew the Dixie Chicks
before the breakout single
I Can Love You Better was released has increased to a little over 25%,
up from 24% of the 521 visitors who voted before the site moved to dixiechicks.com.
Add your vote!
And if you find me feeling lonesome
Don't be ashamed to call my name
And if I seem a bit uneasy
You know that I've only got myself to blame
-- Dixie Chicks, "I've Only Got Myself To Blame", on the CD "Shouldn't A Told You That"
One's choosin', and one's cruisin' down the highway of her dreams
While songs are sung, the dream's begun, and she thinks of what it means
To live through her voice -- she made her choice -- but neither one is free
Am I a lot like her, or is she just a bit like me?
-- Dixie Chicks, "Just A Bit Like Me", on the CD "Little Ol' Cowgirl"
Other sites with the full Chick History
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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.
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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.
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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 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!)
And you're out there on your ginger mare
You're not prayin', so I do
Not so much a prayer for rain as a desperate prayer for you...
-- Dixie Chicks, "Thunderheads", on the CD "Thank Heavens For Dale Evans"
Other Useful Dixie Chicks Links
- Crystal Clear Sound, the Dixie Chicks' original label.
- Sony Music Nashville,
or more specifically, Monument Records, is the Dixie Chicks' major label benefactor. Each Sony country group has its own
page... it's just that the Dixie Chicks'
is the cutest! Also keep an eye on Sony's
Appearances
page, because the Dixie Chicks are often featured here -- everybody wants to see them!
By the way, it's not listed on the Sony site anymore, but the Dixie Chicks'
email address is still active at dixiechks@aol.com.
- Buy the breakout album,
"Wide Open Spaces"
at CDnow,
the Internet's number one music store. Don't even think of trying ktel.com -- they
do not have the CDs and won't tell you so until the rest of the order has shipped!
Update: The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page has been selected
as one of CDnow's Dixie Chicks Web Links! Here's a big "Howdy!" to my visitors from CDnow.
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Love the title cut from Wide Open Spaces? Well, it's been recorded before...
by unsigned Amarillo-based group
The Groobees,
which includes the song's writer
Susan Gibson. The site includes audio files and pictures -- even a picture of
a surprise visit by the Dixie Chicks! Check out their tour schedule at
www.groobees.com -- it bears
a striking resemblance to the
Chicks' schedule in 1992 (see the Summer 1992 issue of
Chick Chat).
The Groobees were 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. Wayside is a hard-to-find indie release --
Miles Of Music is your best bet to buy it.
- 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.
from 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." The guy's on lead again.
- Want to see the Chicks in person? They're as close as a
Pollstar Dixie Chicks Search!
This site features a huge database of concerts for artists in all genres,
and is very easy to use. A (sometimes) more complete listing can be found at the
Music-Cal site.
It's not as user-friendly, but the information is more comprehensive and comes from more sources.
Music-Cal has a better email update feature than Pollstar does,
but you just about have to be a computer programmer to get it to work.
Sony includes a "Tour Info" link on their
Dixie Chicks page
as well. It's not as complete as the Music-Cal list, but it does include better
contact information, often including a phone number for each venue. Great for those Dixie Chicks
road trips!
But don't take your trip based on just the online information! Cancellations and changes don't always
make it to these sites, so always call ahead. And tell 'em you found out about the
concert through the Internet -- the venues get a kick out of it (especially when it was supposed
to be a private party...).
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Homecoming '98: the State Fair of Texas concert!
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 reviews of the event by the Dallas Morning News and the
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
(oops, Star-Telegram link is dead).
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The Dixie Chicks won the Country Music Association's
1998 Group Of The Year and Horizon Awards. Some highights:
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The three original CDs are getting hard to find, so if CDnow doesn't have it, try
Miles Of Music,
a California-based retailer focusing on Alt-Country indie releases, as well as other
forms of "Good Music": No Depression, Americana, Folk,
Rockabilly, Bluegrass, and Pop. I wrote to make sure that they
really have the old Chicks releases... "Several copies of all three,"
was the reply. Tired of hearing
Shania
play "Honey, I'm Deaf"? Your hearing aid is just
Miles away.
- After the visitors to this page clean out Miles of Music's stock,
and if CDnow doesn't
find some Chicks sitting in the corner of the warehouse, you'll want to check out
used CD superstore
CDBargains.com. They have four
actual stores in the Dallas area (where they're known as
CD Warehouse), and it's going to be hard to find someone outside
of North Texas who has even seen a copy of "Little Ol' Cowgirl".
Of course, I just cleared them out of their Dixie Chicks stock, but you never know
when something might show up...
- Another source of "Old Chicks" discs: Village Records
in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Very fast email replies, and an extremely eclectic collection of
"Folk Music, Americana, Country, Roots Rock, and Reissues."
- A Fort Worth Star-Telegram article (see the previous section) 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.
- The Dixie Chicks (especially Laura) used to work with The National
Cowgirl Museum & Hall Of Fame in Fort Worth, even once sharing the Chick Chat
mailing list with this worthy organization. I hope that the new post-Cowgirl Chicks will continue to support
this group, which seeks to "honor and celebrate cowgirls and women of Western heritage."
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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.
Meanwhile, check out Minnesota Public Radio's
Morning Show,
which tracked down Thank Heavens For Dale Evans and played
the original Chicks' uptempo version of Rider (according to the show's
daily music listings
for April 22, 1998). I'll keep an eye out for more details from these
Northern Plains fans of the Dixie Chicks.
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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?
They did in Lubbock -- Natalie's home town -- in October, 1997!
Read all about it in this story by William Kerns of the
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
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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.
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Another article on the Maines family, this time 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.
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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.
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And of course, the Dixie Chicks now have 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 (again)!
Here's a bonus question: Who is WAS Tommy Nash?
Send me a note to find out...
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