Dixie Chicks - No Longer Sorry
The Dixie Chicks are back - and they are not sorry anymore. You may remember the last time the Dixie Chicks made screaming headlines admid a severe backlash after lead singer, Natalie Maines, said this to a London crowd: “”Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”
They later apologized for the comment.
Now - they’ve taken back the apology and are launching a new attack on President Bush.
Natalie Maines is one of those people born middle finger first. As a high school senior in Lubbock, Texas, she’d skip a class a day in an attempt to prove that because she never got caught and some Mexican students did, the system was racist … Now that she’s truly notorious, having told a London audience in 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” Maines has one regret: the apology she offered George W. Bush at the onset of her infamy. “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President,” says Maines. “But I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.” A sizable chunk of their once adoring audience feels the same way about the Dixie Chicks. After Maines’ pronouncement, which was vigorously seconded by bandmates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, the group received death threats and was banned by thousands of country radio stations, many of which still have informal bans in place. The Dixie Chicks have mass appeal–you can’t sell 10 million copies of two of your three albums without engaging lots of different people–but country radio is an indispensable part of how they reach people. Programmers say that even now a heartfelt apology could help set things right with listeners, but it’s not happening. “If people are going to ask me to apologize based on who I am,” says Maines, “I don’t know what to do about that. I can’t change who I am.”
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I gotta say - - it takes guts in the country music scene to be this outspoken against the Good Ol’ Boy from Texas. It will be interesting to see how their new album sells… and what kind of airplay their new music gets on country music stations.
Andrew Said:
While I’m not a big fan of the Chicks’ musical style, I agree with your assessment that they do have guts.
AC
carmen Said:
I can’t believe that radio stations won’t play a band because of their politics. I’ve got to say, one of the Chick’s new songs played on the Medium finale Monday night, and even before I knew it was the Chicks, I was like “I’ve got to get that song!”
Planet Moron Said:
One reason you won’t be hearing the new album much on country stations is because it isn’t a country album. I listened to the whole thing for “research purposes,” lol, and they’ve completely revamped their musical style.
Another reason you won’t hear it on country stations has less to do with politics and more to do with culture, broadly speaking. The songs are really angry and lash out at a lot of country music totems.
Let’s just say none of us should be looking for a team up with Gretchen Wilson any time soon.