** Dixie Chicks news, old and new
** From the All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page
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In this issue: The Chicks hit the road in hostile territory, while the past
provides a stark contrast with the present.


** The Chicks get back to playing music **

Today's the big day... the day that the Dixie Chicks face their US fans in
person for the first time since Natalie Maines' pre-war off-the-cuff remark
to a British audience landed them in hot water back home. They're big news
on CNN:

Dixie Chicks begin tour amid controversy
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/01/dixie.chicks.tour/


But in Greenville, South Carolina, the first stop on the "Top Of The World"
tour, nobody knows what's going to happen. Dozens have signed up to
protest the group, exercising the same First Amendment rights that pushed
the Chicks into the national spotlight. A local talk radio jock is
organizing a counter-concert, exchanging Chicks tickets for admission to
the Marshall Tucker Band's show. But fans are undeterred -- some even
buying their tickets after the controversy erupted.

As the national media converges on Greenville, the local paper has put
together a special section. Check it out:

GreenvilleOnline - Dixie Chicks
http://greenvilleonline.com/news/specialreport/dixiechicks/


** But is anyone listening? **

The Chicks' music has become so overshadowed by the controversy that
they've become a symbol. People who have never heard their music (much
less their original sound!) see their situation in larger terms. On the
other side of the world from South Carolina, a feature column in the
English-language daily "Arab News" points out that verbal attacks and death
threats against the Chicks would have been expected in a dictatorship like
Iraq -- but the columnist expected better from a country where "free
speech" and "democracy" are such lauded ideals.

ArabNews: The Dixie Chicks & Civility
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=25739

In the same newspaper, the Chicks are held up on a pedestal with arms
inspector Hans Blix and US congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). Does
anyone remember the Sesame Street rhyme: "One of these things is not like
the others..."

Media Nix, From Blix to Dixie Chicks
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=25744


** It wasn't so long ago... **

Some of us remember when the Dixie Chicks were a group of aspiring
musicians, struggling to get even local media coverage.

December 1993: Ten years ago, the Chicks were received by the governor of
Texas -- George W. Bush. Their third album was being released -- not
"Home", but "Shouldn't A Told You That". The group's big TV moment wasn't
on CNN, but TNN -- the Ralph Emory show, back when TNN stood for "The
Nashville Network". And the group was preparing to tour Europe -- but not
with Natalie Maines, whose arrival was still two years away.

Chick Chat, December 1993
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/cchat93a.html

Look back to when it was still all about the music... and the long bus
rides... and the small paychecks...

Dixie Chicks: The Chick Chat Archive
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/cchat.html


** One final note **

I'm sure anyone who's visited dixie-chicks.com lately has noticed the
extreme lack of recent updates! One change that needs to be made is to the
CDNow affiliate links -- CDNow no longer exists. They got swallowed up in
a deal with Amazon.com, and I no longer get a cut of purchases made when
someone clicks a link.

I haven't decided what to do about the situation. I'll probably wait until
the current situation blows over, and then decide how to provide links to
additional information about the Chicks and related artists -- and whether
those links should be sponsored.

Until then, if you'd like your online CD purchases to benefit someone with
a passion for the Dixie Chicks, you could always check out Nici's site --
the first-ever Dixie Chicks fan site:

Site Stuff for DixieChicksFans.com
http://www.dixiechicksfans.com/sitestuff.html

However, if you'd prefer your CD purchases benefit someone with another
agenda... well, you could always do a Google search for Toby Keith fansites. :)
--
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Robert Brooks / robertb@...
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/ -- the complete unauthorized history
Nashville's days are numbered: listen to http://www.khyi.com/

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