The Chicks

The Dixie Chicks are a popular trio of women country-and-western musicians who hail from Texas. Their public comments have increasingly made them controversial, even among their own fans. The group began in 1989 singing on a Dallas street corner. Their music initially stayed largely within the bounds of traditional bluegrass. Their major success occurred after 1995 when they changed their line-up, hired Natalie Maines as their lead singer and broadened their musical focus. The group's sound still bears the mark of bluegrass, since they often play songs that are up-tempo and that emphasize the fiddle and the banjo. The other members of the trio are sisters Martie Maguire, known as a virtuoso on the fiddle and the mandolin, and Emily Robison, who is a master of the banjo, the Dobro, the guitar and the accordion. They are recognized as being among the best musicians in country music. The group's songs are often about freedom from a woman's point of view. In 1998 the Dixie Chicks sold m