Dixie Chicks Stories
(1998 - present)
Fans' stories of the Dixie Chicks before they hit the big time!
The Dixie Chicks touched the hearts of their fans wherever they went -- and they
still do. Several of the new fan pages detail how sweet and open the ladies are to their fans -- staying
until the last fan gets an autograph.
This page is for stories by the Chicks' original fans, and how they were captivated by the music and artistry
before Sony catapulted them into the national limelight. If you saw the Dixie Chicks before
I Can Love You Better became a surprise hit, please send me your story! I won't reprint any
personal information without permission, so let me know how you would like
to be credited -- anonymously, or by name, city, and/or email or URL.
Send those stories to robertb@dixie-chicks.com, and
relive the history of the Dixie Chicks!
Jump through time:
Page 1:
1989 and before -
1990
Page 2:
1991 -
1992 -
1993 -
1994
Page 3:
1995 -
1996 -
1997
Page 4:
1998 -
1999 and after -
Tommy Nash!
For the newest stories, search for "added 6/16/1999"
A convert to the "Old Sound", 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Ken Hohhof (ken@mixedsignal.com, http://www.mixedsignal.net/)
I assume the lawyer types will be happy and leave you alone once
you remove the mp3 files, but if they still try to make trouble for
you, let me know if you need a character witness.
You're probably the #1 publicist and keeper of the faith for the
original Dixie Chicks (certainly on the Web), and they haven't had
to pay you a dime.
In my case, I never listened to the sound files (I don't even have
the player), but based on the info on your site (and of course having
heard the New Chicks), I determined I HAD to purchase the old CDs
if they were still available, and then you steered me to
Miles of Music,
where I bought the Crystal Clear CDs. If not for your site
and your help via email, I doubt I would have bought the old CDs or
even known they existed, much less where to get them.
What would be nice is if Crystal Clear Sound would stamp out a few
more of the old CDs and if music stores (or someone like CDNow) would
carry them. Whether we will ever see a Best Of The (Old and New)
Dixie Chicks album like you suggest on your site, is another question.
What would be really nice is if the Dixie Chicks would pay you
to design their new site rather than sending their lawyers after
you - but of course they didn't send their lawyers after you, just
like I doubt they decide who designs their website or even what
goes on it. With 3 concerts a week in different cities, I'm
surprised they have time to add new songs to their repertoire,
much less keep track of what all their newly hired help is up to.
And I even understand where the lawyers are coming from. They
probably have to defend intellectual property against even minor
infringement, or the next person will take it a little farther,
and farther, until people are selling bootleg CDs through the mail.
Feel free to cite me as an example of how you have helped, not hurt,
the sales of their products, if they continue to harass you even
after you lose the sound clips.
- Ken
Ken Hohhof's mixedsignal.net now hosts
the All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page. He gave it a stable, reliable home after it lost
its lease at dixiechicks.com.
-rb
Westminster, MD, Summer 1998 story added 1/8/1999
Courtesy of Tequila Sunrise
Hi
I was really disappointed this year when I went to see the New Dixie
Chicks (country
Spice Girls).
I drove to Westminster Md, (135 miles one
way) and had also thought of seeing them at Bethlehem, and the NJ State
Faire, based on their old albums, and the time I'd seen them on Austin
City Limits, and on some show with my all time favorites
Riders in the Sky.
I had reviews from Germany of I believe it was the Thank Heavens For Dale Evans
album. I expected to see an all girl western band, there used to be
some great ones around --
Ann Jones and The Western Sweethearts,
Abbie Neal and the Ranch Girls,
came to mind. The original Dixie Chicks had this sound.
Well, when I saw them they had back up musicians (male) also
definitely ROCK, the bass and drum were the lead instruments. One song
and I was ready to walk out,appearnace wise they looked like truck stop
girls. Now I know I've heard from people how nice they are, etc., etc. I
didnt stay because I didnt give a damn but I understand they also are
not fan friendly. I am old country music, and well what they play now
sure isn't country. I was very disappointed, since I based my wanting to
see them on their old music.
They used to wear western clothes, right? They should have changed
their names when they changed their styles etc.
They went where the money is, fine, but then don't try
to draw traditional music fans. Even call themselves THE NEW DIXIE
CHICKS if they are ashamed of their old music.
I just drove 270 plus
miles for a bunch of stuff I don't listen to -- the electric bass is not
a lead instrument but it was that night. I had based my wanting to see
them on albums I'd heard.
I dont listen to country music on the radio much any more, I was a DJ
and quit over top 20 playlists, and stuff that wasnt country.
I am a CD buyer yet... in the last 6 months have bought CD's by
Micheal Martin Murphy,
Ian Tyson,
Confederate Railroad,
Old Dogs,
Iris DeMent
and David Allen Coe.
I attend "country music shows..." in December [1998] I saw
Bill Anderson,
Jan Howard,
Jean Shepard
and Jack Green, and in January [1999] I have
tickets to see
Roy Clark,
and also Mel Tillis
and in February,
Riders in the Sky.
I was really thrilled when I saw the Dixie Chicks were in the tristate
area, and I had planned to see at least 2 shows. Westminster, MD is not
near Philadelphia, PA. I'm just glad I hadn't talked some one else in to going
with me to see the "country spice girls"
Anything I say is taken as sour grapes, they are big time and I'm not.
I got flamed over that, but I also quit radio rather then "sell out" the
music I love and play.
Good hearing from you, I'm in my 42nd year in country music.so I am not
in the demographics that music, TV, and advertising aim for anymore.
Happy New Year
Tequila Sunrise
New York City, July 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Rob from Staten Island, NY
Well, being one of the few 17-year old country music fans from New York, I
take every oppurtunity to see my favorite artists when they are in the area.
I had heard the Dixie Chicks, and seen their videos, and loved their sound,
but never bought much music... just listened to what I heard on the radio. But
that all changed on July 9,1998.
I was in New York City for a free concert
given by the local radio station, Y-107.
Hal Ketchum,
my favorite artist before the chicks, was live and free
in Manhattan, and Hal was as usual, incredible, however it wasn't the concert
that I remembered that day, it was prior to the concert that the greatest
music played.
Preparing for the concert, they just played random cd's, and i
got my first taste of Dixie. I was amazed, and on my way driving down to
Nashville for a vacation the next day, I made my family stop to purchase
Wide Open Spaces, and immediately played it for them. I am proud to say that
there are now 4 Dixie Chicks Fans in my family instead of just one. I have
attended their live shows, and continue to love their music more with each
time I hear it.
The irony in this letter is that Hal Ketchum is also known for his hit
Past The Point Of Rescue. The pre-Natalie Dixie Chicks played a great version
of this song on Little Ol' Cowgirl in 1992!
-rb
Private autograph session, 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Derek Fisher from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I'm Derek Fisher from Calgary, Canada. I had a one-on-one experience with
the chicks when I won a trip to their private autograph session. I got
their autographs as well as my picture taken with them. As has been said
before they are truely fan oriented. My story is sort of an
interesting one.
During the autograph session there was a radio station
booth that announced that Wide Open Spaces was top of the charts again
for the week. When they announced it I cheered but I was alone with my
cheering. One of the radio station DJ's made the comment "Geez have
another drink!", I thought quickly on my feet and said "I haven't had
one yet, I was waiting to see if the Dixie Chicks wanted one". Natalie
said "Sure I'll have a ginger ale if you are buying!" So I bought her a
drink.
That's the end of my story, you make up your mind whether you
want to use it or not.
The Dixie Chicks' biggest fan,
Derek Fisher
A Country & Western club in January 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Ernest Pergrem
Actually my "discovering" the Chicks has more to do with catchy album titles than having heard them.
Several years ago (we're takin' 8 or 9 ) I was at Blockbuster Music in Buffalo Grove, IL and
saw the cassette Thank Heavens for Dale Evans. I briefly looked at it
because I figured that any group who would mention Roy or Dale probably deserved a
listen. However, being on limited budget I passed.
A few years later, Borders opened a store near work. I again saw the cassette and having
remembered it, bought it. Instant fan... Great blend of styles (bluegrass, early rock, etc.), perfect
harmony and I could sing along with it in the car. The Chicks had produced an album which met
all of my qualifications for great music, so I immediately ordered the other two.
About a year ago, prior to the release of Wide Open Spaces, the Chicks did a tour, which
brought them nearby to a County & Western Club. I was probably one of the few people in the crowd
who knew who they were. The acoustics was terrible, and the Chick sound had turned from
unique to very 90's Nashville... Vanilla.
I bought the album the week that it was released, listened to it and immediately went about trying
to find if Laura or Robin Lynn had done any work since they left the group.
There were a few songs that I really liked on Wide
Open Spaces, but my favorite, a ballad (gave the CD to one of my daughter's
friends so I don't have the title available) hasn't been released yet.
[You Were Mine, the song Ernest referred to, later spent two weeks at #1 -rb]
I really enjoyed the blend of music.. celtic, early rock done in harmony,
Emily's banjo playing and Robin's songs.
I was able to secure a copy of
Domestic Science Club's
"Three Women"... great album! Unfortunately, DSC has also broken up.
I spent 12 years in Texas, the last 8 months as an announcer at a little
country station in Gainvesvile (KGAF), and weekends in Sherman at KIKM.
Ernie
A bar outside of Chicago, early 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Jodi (dilly@rconnect.com)
A friend of mine met the Chicks in a bar outside of Chicago
just as their first song came into the top ten. He didn't
know who they were at the time, and still doesn't really
listen to country music, but he sure does kick himself now for not
knowing who they were then and getting to know them better.
I kick him now too and wished he got to know them better. They
are one of my all time favorites, have seen them 2 times in
concert and hopefully again in April in Ames, Iowa. They
put on a great show!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CRS Convention, Nashville, TN, February 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of "Joey"
This is a long one... the Dixie Chicks encounter is near the end, but the whole
story is pretty interesting... especially if you're into Nashville name-dropping! -rb
The Best Birthday I Ever Had
It was February 26, 1998, Michelle and I was in Nashville for the week
to help out with the CRS convention (Country Radio Station Convention). We
were set-up to work the front door to check badges make sure the artist
knew where they were going. Well after a while they started to bring the
artist through a back entrance so that no one will stop them to talk to
them on the way to the artist taping. In the artist taping they would tape
radio station promos like "Hey this is
Shania Twain
and you are listing to
Young Country 95.7". Well being that we traveled the furthest the director
Brian wanted to give us the coolest jobs so he set Michelle and I in the
tunnel in which the artist would past through. The first person I seen come
through the hall was
Brian White.
He was pretty nice but not very
talkative. Other artists passed by but they weren't as popular so no one was
interested in talking to them.
Next,
Trace Atkins
walks through the tunnel
with his manager. He stops about three quarters of the way and his manager
walks up to me to ask me where should he go. I pointed him in the right
direction and he goes to tell Trace that he will be right back. His manager
leaves and Trace starts to walk towards me. It is just he and I in the hall
at first. He then introduced himself to me and asked me if I wanted a
smoke. I told him no then he asked if it was ok that he did so. He started
in small talk telling me where he was from then he asked me questions about
myself and come to find out he performed across the street from my
grandparents house in Louisiana and knew where they lived. After about 15
minutes his manager finally showed back up. Trace thanked me for the conversation
and then went on.
The next artist to pass by was
Clay Walker.
Clay had his
little group around him but when he was walking through the tunnel he
noticed that my wife and I were from Houston. He started talking about
Houston and how much he loves it because he live about 20 min away from it
in Humble. His people dragged him out and he stood waiting for his booth to
open up. Well he was waiting a while so he walked back over to my wife and
sat down and started to talk to her for a while until they called his name.
He was a very down to earth type of person.
Next,
Steve Warner.
Steve's manager walks through the tunnel making sure that there was no one in the
hall to talk to Steve. He walked up to me and asked me to go on the other
side of the door so that Steve does not see me when he walks through
because he will stop and talk to me forever and they were on a tight
schedule. I did so. They did not stay for long and on their way back down,
my wife and I was standing in the hall. They started to pass us up with his
manager walking in front of him. His manager passed us up and Steve stopped
to talk he introduced himself and asked about us. After a while his manager
finally dragged him out. Steve was the most caring of all the artist that
we met there.
My last experience in the tunnel was
Shania Twain.
Shania's manager came through the tunnel and made sure all of the doors were closed
so that no one would see her. He asked me to stand on the other side of the
door. Well there was no way in hell I was going to miss getting a hello
from Shania herself so I stayed put. She passed buy lifted her head, smiled
and said hello. Then kept walking. Shania arrived late and stayed late
after it was over so that she would give all the radio stations their
promo.
We went in to clean up and there was the Dixie Chicks about to
leave. Natalie recognized Michelle and waved. Michelle and I walked up to
their table and Natalie asked if she was Deanna's friend. Deanna is
Michelle's best friend. Deanna moved to Nashville and was going to school
at UT in Murphresburro. Deanna moved there when Natalie moved there to
record with the Dixie Chicks. Natalie and Deanna were roommates at South
Plains College in Lubbock.
Natalie asked if we were going to see them perform tonight and we agreed to
meet them later. Later that night we went to
John Michael Montgomery's
concert sat front row where he gave me one of his picks. We then went to
the old Rymann Theater to see
Hal Ketchum and
Leann Rimes perform. We left
the concert early so that we could catch one of my old friends' play at a
café. He is the fiddle player for
Jeff Carson.
We grew up taking lessons
together and going to fiddle contest together.
We got there and the café
was already full. Deanna said that the Dixie Chicks were across the street
and was about to start their sets. We ended up in an up stairs pub where
they were performing. All the Chicks told us hello and went to their set.
We stood next to the President of Sony Nashville the whole time. When it
was over everyone started to leave. I was looking around standing by myself
in a corner when I looked down and I heard someone singing Happy Birthday
to me I looked down and it was Natalie doing so. I did not see her at first
because I stand 6'3" and she is not very tall at all. After she sung Happy
Birthday to me she gave me a hug.
We walked back over to Deanna and
Michelle and Emily and Martie came over we all decided to go out and listen to
Sheri Austin.
We all piled into Simon, their manager's vehicle and went
over to the bar. The bar we went to was the same bar that
Collin Raye
filmed his video "I Can Still Feel You" before he went out into the streets of
downtown Nashville. Their we listened to Sheri perform. After a few songs
and drinks we said goodbye to the Chicks and Simon and we became Dixie
Chicks fans for life.
Eat Your Vegetables Cafe, Newton, KS, 1999 story added 6/16/1999
Anonymous (by request)
Sir,
Are you still trying to keep track of Robin Macy? Last night,
I saw her sing and play as part of a five piece band
Blue Plate Special at the Eat Your Vegetables Cafe in Newton, Kansas.
It was the second time they've played here in the past two or three months,
and I'm aware that they're gigging around the Wichita area. They're
a spectacular group--Robin is the lead singer,
and plays guitar. Her husband, Mark Bennett of Belle Plaine, Kansas, also plays
guitar. Two people who are husband and wife play banjo and mandolin,
respectively. And there's a lead guitarist whose name I don't remember.
They play exclusively bluegrass, but cover a number of popular old songs by
Dylan,
Shawn Colvin,
Sting,
Mary Chapin,
etc. Both times I've seen them, the audience has been less than 50,
and the cover $3.
Ms. Macy doesn't trade on her Dixie Chicks
connection--never mentioned it during either show I saw. She does
talk about her current married life in Belle Plaine (a town of about
3000 about 30 miles southwest of Wichita) where she
lives with her husband in a defunct, but locally famous, arboretum.
She apparently teaches geometry at a local school.
Since Blue Plate Special is a small regional band, they're about as unknown as
a band called the Dixie Chicks were in 1989. Anyone with a new story about Robin's
latest effort should feel free to send me
the latest info!
-rb
Bonus Section: Tommy Nash
Cactus Canyon Club, Temple, TX, January 1998 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Buck Martin (buckm@centex.net)
[A reply to my trivia question: Who is Tommy Nash?]
He plays guitar for the chicks. I met him in Temple, Tx. at Cactus
Canyon Club in January 1998. He's the best and cleanest guitar player
I've ever heard. I'm a fiddle player from San Saba, Texas, and actually
came to hear the fiddle player, Martie. Most guitar players are loud and
play a lot of hochem. He doesn't. Now, what do I get?
Congratulations... you get included on the "Stories" page...
-rb
More info about Tommy Nash story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Paul from Kaufman Texas (PawPrint96@aol.com)
I grew up around "Guitar Tommy Nash"...Choctaw Indian who's played with
everyone in Dallas/Fort Worth... and with names like
Janie Fricke and Red Stegal...
and no-names like Weldon and the Medium-Rares.....Tom had his own
band "White Buffalo" which was the house band at Dewey Groom's Longhorn
Ballroom. I'm a big Tommy Nash fan and I say he's a big asset for the Dixie
Chicks, and I believe they feel the same.
In the late sixties I knew Tom as a family
friend. He lived with my family off and on. He's always somehow made ends meet
playing music. When I first met Tom he was playing jazz. I didn't understand
jazz myself, but knew he was really good at it. Since then I've really just
ran into him playing around town with different bands just to make a living.
For a while I understand he was working at a music store in Fort Worth and
giving guitar lessons on the side. I usually sit with his wife Vicki when we
get to see him play. She seems to be a great gal. I'm not sure how many kids
they have but it's a big family. Their oldest son is also quite a musician I
understand.
I briefly meet him at the State Fair this year, he's the spittin'
image of Tom. I met a daughter who also greatly resembles her dad. All I
really know is that Tom is a real down to earth guy and I'm really glad he's
finally getting his due.
Thanks,
Paul from Kaufman
Disneyland, April 1997 story added 6/16/1999
Courtesy of Peter Ingle (inglep@stolaf.edu)
Tommy Nash is probably one of the coolest guitar players I have every
witnessed on stage! I have loved the Dixie Chicks ever since my high
school choir traveled to Disneyland and I saw the Dixie Chicks for the
first time! Ever since April 1997, I have listened to all three of
their old albums and have really come to love their newest album.
Tommy plays some of the most amazing country guitar licks I have ever heard.
Also I have seen a few Dixie Chicks shows and I think that Tommy's stage
presence is really cool. (Reserved, but at times he really gets into it
and shows how much he loves playing the music he does.) Sorry that I'm
rambling, I go to St. Olaf College in MN and just saw the Dixie Chicks
in Mankato. It was amazing to see them again, but I wish they could
have played longer than a 1/2 hour set. (They opened for
Clay Walker)
One quick question.... is the Home On The Radar Range, out of print, or
do you know of any places that it might be sold? Also would you know by
chance how much it would cost if it does exist? Thanks.
Sorry to keep talking about Tommy, but ever since I was able to witness
his playing at the Iowa State Fair this summer (a venue of that the
Dixie Chicks played) I was convinced that I needed to purchase a Fender
Telecaster, which gives Tommy so much of the unique "twang" of the
country guitar.
If you could give me any information on the "45" Home On The Radar
Range, that would be wonderful!
I love your site! Keep up the great work!
Peter Ingle
Thank you for the compliments! More info on Tommy Nash is always welcome.
I don't know how much a copy of Home on the Radar Range would cost
(see the Discography for more information), but
a copy of Thank Heavens for Dale Evans recently went for over $50
at eBay...
-rb
Jump through time:
Page 1:
1989 and before -
1990
Page 2:
1991 -
1992 -
1993 -
1994
Page 3:
1995 -
1996 -
1997
Page 4:
1998 -
1999 and after -
Tommy Nash!
For the newest stories, search for "added 6/16/1999"
|