** Dixie Chicks news, old and new
** From the All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page
** http://www.dixie-chicks.com/

In this issue: Chicks announce new album in the can, trouble on the road,
and just a touch of politics!


** Dixie Chicks new album in the can **

This news item, originally from RollingStone.com, was sent to the Dixie
Chicks Fan Discussion List (www.dixiechicksfans.com) over the weekend.

The new album looks interesting, especially for fans of their Bluegrass and
Western roots. But there are hints of problems... why didn't the Chicks
play more of these outside-the-mainstream cuts at their recent RodeoHouston
appearance? After you read the news article, scroll down for a somewhat
unflattering review by Rob Davis (www.dixiechicksfaq.com) from the February
show in Houston.

>To: "Dixie Chicks" <DixieChicks@yahoogroups.com>
>From: "Nikki H"
>Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 10:31:53 -0800
>Subject: [DixieChicks] Dixies Finish New Album
>X-postini-filters: (S:0.0436691 )
>
>Dixies Finish New Album
>March 8, 8 p.m. ET, RollingStone.com
>by COLIN DEVENISH

While waiting for the dust to settle from the legal battle with their
label, Sony, the Dixie Chicks have completed a new album, tentatively
titled "Home," which they expect to release this fall. On the new album,
the Texas trio blend originals with covers of a Radney Foster song, a pair
of Patty Griffin tunes and a version of "Travelin' Soldier," written by
Bruce Robison, banjo player Emily Robison's brother-in-law.

"We went into the studio originally just wanting to do some demos, but we
should have known, the three of us musically never do anything unless it's
full on and we wound up with an album," says singer Natalie Maines. The
Dixies co-produced the album with Maines' father Lloyd (Richard Buckner,
Jerry Jeff Walker). "There's definitely some bluegrass songs on there, some
acoustic things, an instrumental," she says. "It's a mellow record. I think
you can hear our vocals a lot clearer, and Martie [Seidel] and Emily's
instruments never sounded better.

"I don't think it's that much of a departure," continues Maines. "It's a
little more credible with the song selection. There's not really a ditty on
it. When we made it, it wasn't, 'How long is this?' or 'Will radio play
it?' Actually I think all the songs are too long for radio. That wasn't in
our minds when we were recording. We didn't have that pressure. I love it.
It's my favorite album to date. I think it's an important step musically
and we want it out there. We're kind of waiting right now."

Sony filed suit against the Chicks last summer, claiming breach of contract
and insisting that the group owed the label as many as four more albums.
The Chicks responded with a lawsuit of their own, also alleging breach of
contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and claiming that Sony has
withheld millions in royalties.

The trio is hoping to find a new label to release the completed album.
"There's daily communication with other labels and probably Sony as well,"
says Maines. "It's not part of our lives. We have left [Sony] and we can
put out the album on another label, if another label feels confident enough
that Sony won't sue them for releasing it."

- - - - -

Here are some CDNow links to artists mentioned above:

Bruce Robison
Emily's husband, Charlie's brother
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y2343648

Patty Griffin
A long-time Dixie Chicks influence
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I1443548

Radney Foster
Also wrote "Whistles And Bells" from "Shouldn't A Told You That"
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K3542548

Lloyd Maines
Natalie's father, possibly the biggest independent record producer in Texas
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1844348
(Click on "Other Credits")

Richard Buckner
One of the Lubbock-area Country Music rebels
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2A42148

Jerry Jeff Walker
Dallas' KHYI 95.3 FM (www.khyi.com) calls him "The Godfather of Texas Music"
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2B43248



** Trouble on the road? A concert review by Rob Davis **

Thank you to Rob Davis for giving me permission to reprint his review of
the RodeoHouston show, also originally posted to the Dixie Chicks fan list.

>To: DixieChicks@yahoogroups.com
>From: Rob Davis
>Date: 15 Feb 2002 17:16:24 -0800
>Subject: [DixieChicks] More Rodeo Houston Review

Alright, it's been three days now and I've managed to recover enough to
comment on the Chicks' concert at the Houston Rodeo. I hesitated to do so
at all because I don't care to get hate mail for what I am about to
say. But here goes...

My personal take on the event, musically speaking, was that it was less
than impressive. In fact, it was quite bad. The house sound was bad. The
monitors were bad. The musicianship was bad. As always, Natalies voice
had some truly great moments, but mostly it was flat. And then there was
the whole thing about repeatedly forgetting lyrics and coming in at the
wrong time. The sisters' harmonies were very rough, but possibly as a
result of the sound problems. All three of them kept missing notes on
their instruments, as did some of the backup musicians. The girls' stage
presence was the worst that I have seen from them in years. There was no
interaction or banter between the girls. They appeared as if they were
school-aged siblings who were ignoring each other after a big fight. There
was no interaction with the audience, and very little said to the audience
at all. What was said was not entertaining or particularly
informative. Natalie actually introduced the entire band as being "from
Nashville". What on earth was she thinking? That is a hanging offense in
Texas! To put it simply, the girls acted as if they were either bored or
disgusted, or both. Either way, they had best snap out of it.

As longhorn11chick mentioned in her review, many people did leave after the
rodeo before the Chicks began their show. That is to be expected. What
was not so expected was how many more people left DURING the
concert. There was a constant flow of people leaving throughout the
concert. Some VIP's whom I will not name publicly were even seen leaving
from their stage-side seats before the show was even half over. When the
show ended, the Chicks left the stage slowly and paused at the escort van
for a few moments as if they were ready to re-emerge for an
encore. Unfortunately, there was no fan enthusiasm for an encore. The
crowd fell silent almost immediately after the last note of "Goodbye Earl"
and slowly walked away. No screaming. No cheering. Very little
applause. The Chicks and everybody associated with them left with very
somber faces that night. I felt very bad for them and for everything that
went wrong.

What did go wrong? Have the Chicks lost their edge? Are they over? Is
the chemistry gone to where they no longer have that magic? Were they
simply rusty from being away for so long? Did they not practice for this
gig sufficiently? And what about the fans? Have the majority moved on to
"the next big thing"? Is everyone simply "chicked out"? Has the
anticipation that we thought would come from the extended tour break turned
to apathy? These are all questions that the girls had better spend some
serious time pondering before they do anymore shows.

There is an old cliche' in the music business about "new music". "Now
we're going to play something off our NEW CD" is generally considered to be
a signal for the fans to slip off to the restrooms or to get another
beer. It frequently kills the enthusiasm for a short while, necessitating
the artist to pull out the big guns to fire the crowd back up. Many fans
were expecting the Chicks to do a lot of new songs at this show. In fact,
they only did two "new" songs. And, the ones they did were only new to
them. Both are beautiful songs that the girls do a wonderful job on and
are destined to become fan favorites. But since they did not introduce a
significant amount of new material or new "style" at this show, we can
safely say that was not the reason for a lack of crowd enthusiasm. And it
certainly was not an excuse to play songs as if you had never practiced
them before.

Now, for the best part of the whole evening, there was the social scene
taking place in the audience. Many fans from this eGroup and from the
dixiechicks.com Bulletin Board converged upon Houston for this rare
opportunity to see our girls perform. I think I speak for the great
majority of them when I say that us all meeting each other was better than
the concert itself. I met fellow Chicks' fans from Arkansas, Texas,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Georgia at this show and it
was the most enjoyable evening I can recall in years. A handful of us
partied together until nearly 3am, and were sorry to see it end that
early. Should you ever get the opportunity to meet up with a group (group
is the key word!) of your online friends at a Chicks concert, I highly
recommend it! Many of the group who met up were able to meet the Chicks'
husbands and family, including little Slade Pasdar. Some were able to get
down to the floor and photograph the show from up front. And a lucky few
were able to spend some time backstage. If anyone would like to read more
about the social festivities, there is plenty posted about it at the
dixiechicks.com Bulletin Board. There should even be some incriminating
photographic evidence of this party posted soon.

Some other group members asked about the people who were allowed on the
floor of the arena. Those people were simply random fans who were accosted
by "Event Staff" people and given wristbands and told they could go onto
the floor. They didn't win any contest, have VIP connections, or pay off
security. They simply got lucky.

The Chicks did have a Meet & Greet where they accommodated what looked to
be about two-hundred fans. While some of those people were VIP's, or other
"connected" people, most were again just random lucky fans who showed up at
the right place at the right time. It was great that the Chicks were so
accommodating about it.

Another thing that longhorn11chick commented on was the band that was
backing up the Chicks. As she correctly stated, it was the same group from
the Fly tour, but with Lloyd Maines on pedal steel and Greg Morrow on
drums. However, the ZZ Top comment was actually just Natalie's attempt at
humor that fell flat. Greg Morrow is indeed an awesome drummer, and he is
featured on both "Fly" and WOS, as well as a good percentage of the other
country CD's you probably have in your collection. However Greg was not
with ZZ Top.

CDNOW: Discography : Greg Morrow : other credits
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z1042548

Thanks to everybody involved in turning what was a lackluster concert into
an unforgettably fun event for me. I wish that more of you could have made
it. See y'all next time!

Rob Davis
The Dixie Chicks Frequently Asked Questions Page
http://www.DixieChicksFAQ.com

- - - - -

Interestingly, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal quoted Rob Davis' review...
but included a link to my web site by mistake! So for your reference:

Dixie Chicks FAQ
by Rob Davis
http://www.dixiechicksfaq.com/

The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page
by Robert Brooks
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/

Any questions? :)


** Just a bit of politics... **

One final note to Texas residents: Tomorrow (3/12/2002) is the Primary
Election Day for the Democratic and Republican parties, but it's also
Precinct Convention Day for the Green Party and the Libertarians. Exercise
your right as an American and a Texan -- participate in the primary or
convention of the party of your choice!

Information on the Dallas and Tarrant county Precinct Conventions can be
found on my campaign's web site, www.green9.org.

--
Robert Brooks / robertb@...
Green Party nominee for Texas Senate, District 9
http://www.green9.org/ -- We have a choice!

"I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness,
but you are already doing that..." - 2 Cor 11:1