Of all the towns in Texas that might have decided to impose a Lloyd Maines
ban, I would have never expected his home town of Lubbock to be the
one. Maybe a big town like Dallas, Houston or San Antonio -- some
country-pop station for whom Pat Green would be a stretch. But Lubbock?

The first hint was when a regular contributor to Dallas' Buddy Magazine
(info at http://www.lonestarwebstation.com/buddymagazine.html) tried to
track down the rumor that Lubbock station KRBL 105.7 (www.krbl.net) was
involved. All he was able to get was a "Probably so" from a staffer... and
a distinct impression that this was a from-the-top decision, not some DJ's
publicity stunt.

Soon after, an advance copy of an article to be published this week (I
don't know where!) seemed to give confirmation. In fact, it quoted KRBL's
owner, Paul Beane, as saying, "My radio stations will no longer have any
association with a
Lloyd Maines project of any type." This would be a serious statement, as
Beane's other stations are KLVT, Levelland (105.3 FM, no web site), and
KZZN, Littlefield (1490 AM, no web site) -- together covering a large area
of the Texas Panhandle.

But the real kicker came from Beane's response to a query from a
Dallas-area concert promoter with deep roots in the Texas Music
community. He's given me permission to include the full text in this
message -- my only change has been to fix paragraph breaks and remove some
language which would be inappropriate for me to repeat. Warning: it's
still pretty harsh.

> From: KRBL Traffic
> To: [removed]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 10:49 AM
> Subject: re: e-mail on Lloyd Maines

My name is Paul Beane. I am a 46 year veteran of broadcasting and have
worked in the Lubbock market for some 35 years. I manage KRBL-FM Radio and
own KLVT AM/FM in Levelland and KZZN-AM in Littlefield. I have lived in
West Texas since 1958 except for a brief 2 years in the mid 60's when I
worked for legendary radio broadcaster Gordon McLendon at KILT in
Houston. I am not a rookie and have no axes to grind.

For 3 generations West Texans have supported the music of the Maines
family. Lloyd's father and uncles, Lloyd and his brothers, and now Lloyd's
daughter Natalie. A few years back the Maines Bros. Band (Lloyd and his
brothers) re-released some of their early vinyl on CD. Lloyd's brother
Steve brought copies of the CDs by the studio....We gladly played
them...and promoted the fact (free of charge) that the CDs were on sale at
a local record store. We were THE ONLY STATION in Lubbock to play the
music, and were proud to promote the music...and hundreds of CDs were
sold. Steve or Kenny Maines will tell you, along with Ralph's Records and
Tapes that it was our free promotion of this great music that was
responsible for the sales.

Fast forward to early 2003...and Natalile makes her remark in London. Our
calls and E-Mails were 30 to 1 against Natalie with all responders asking
us NOT to play the Chicks.

Shortly after the incident, Lloyd Maines gave a newspaper interview with
the Lubbock Avalanche Journal Entertainment Editor Bill Kerns. In the
article Lloyd stated he was "furious" with the media. In a Hillary Clinton
swipe, he blamed the phone calls and e-mails on a "hard line right wing
group (that) organize attacks of this type." What Lloyd does not know is
that all of our phone calls protesting the Chicks were local...and 95% of
our e-mails were from familiar people.

I owe the Chicks nothing. I owe Lloyd Maines nothing. I owe or audience
the music they want to hear. I will provide that...and I don't give a damn
what a bunch of out-of-town freekin' morons think. Lloyd Maines owes the
media an apology...and until I get it, he and his music can kiss my a**!

My home phone number and address is listed in the Lubbock phone book, if
anyone wants to discuss this issue...and I might add that I don't hide
behind some silly-a** chicken s*** anonymous e-mail moniker.

Paul R. Beane
GM, KRBL-FM, Lubbock, Texas

PS-------I recently made an offer over the air....If Natalie Maines will
provide me with a photocopy of her Texas Voter Registration Certificate,
stamped with the mark where she voted in the last presidential election, I
will play their music 24 hour straight on this station.

I know very few musicians who vote...or even make themselves aware of
political issues.

[end of message]


Frankly, I don't know how fans should respond to Mr. Beane's note. He
clearly is not interested in the opinion of us "out-of-town freekin'
morons", and he (like Dallas' KSCS) has those lopsided phone call stats on
his side. But if anyone did have an urge to let him know how they feel,
they could use the contact info from the "Requests" page of the krbl.net site:

> Request your favorite song on the Rebel:
> 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. call [806] 770-5020 or fax your request to [806]
749-1177.
> Other times, call 888-581-4487.

I've also been asked how concerned country fans can support Kevin Deal --
the artist whose new CD was returned unopened by KRBL's Paul Beane. I'd
suggest visiting his site and checking out the sound samples -- "Honky
Tonks and Churches", the title track of his second CD, is a particular
favorite of mine:

"Honky-tonks and churches, they're both filled with sinners
Lonely hurting people just trying to find their way..."

While you're there, sign up for the mailing list, and send Kevin and his
wife Kim a note of encouragement. Hint: check out the address under
"Booking". :)

Kevin Deal
http://www.kevindeal.com/index2.htm

--
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