dixie chicks win album of the year, four other grammy awards

NTL congratulates the Dixie Chicks on winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for their 2006 release Taking the Long Way. Lead singer Natalie Maines noted in her acceptance speech, "I think people are expressing their freedom of speech tonight." Their colleagues made a strong statement indeed by awarding the Texas band, notorious for speaking out against President Bush, with multiple Grammy Awards tonight. In another acceptance speech, Maines laughed, "I, for the first time in my life, am speechless!" After five wins, though, Maines said she was "ready to make nice."

taking the long way

The brand new album from the Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way, hits stores today. I bought the CD this morning at Target for only $9.98 and it included an early access coupon for Dixie Chicks concert tickets for the North American tour.

These Texas girls are ready to make a stir with their newest CD. In the song "Not Ready to Make Nice," the Dixie Chicks take a jab at the fiasco that ensued when lead singer Natalie Maines made anti-Bush remarks at a London concert on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. Another song that fights back is "Lubbock Or Leave It," a catchy tune that exposes the hypocrisy of small towns in the Bible Belt.

For more on the Dixie Chicks and their politics, see our previous post about them back in March. The Chicks are back in full-swing... all they need now is our support. Get out there and buy the album today to show the conservative country music establishment that they haven't won a war against free-thinking. You may enjoy the music even if you aren't a fan of country... the Chicks collaborated on this album with John Mayer, Pete Yorn, Keb' Mo', Sheryl Crow, and many others to create a new sound for a new era. Let's help them usher it in! As Texas liberals, we should give them a warm reception.

the rick and carole show

With the news that Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman will join the other candidates (challenging Democrat Chris Bell, incumbent Republican Rick Perry, and potential Libertarian James Werner) on the ballot, it looks like 2006 will be an interesting election year. (According to the Secretary of State, Green Party candidate Jerry Larson has not obtained access to the ballot but he may choose to run as an independent backed by the Green Party.) Five people vying for the same gubernatorial position... four of them traditionally conservative? This can only mean good things for Democrat Chris Bell. Right?

Chris Bell has called for an end to "the Rick and Carole show." We all understand what he means... the antics are getting a little old. The fact that Strayhorn and Friedman are even challenging Rick Perry show that there is some discontentment within the Republican establishment. Instead of wasting time on the independents, though, voters really need to focus on researching their Democratic candidate. The only way to really affect change in Texas would be to elect a Democrat. In the end, voting for one of the independents in this race would be a vote for the status quo. Friedman and Strayhorn are still conservative: Friedman's just a different kind of conservative and Strayhorn feels Perry's not conservative enough.

Something Bell really needs to court is the college vote. Unfortunately for the Democrats, Friedman has fired up young people in Texas. Friedman's MySpace account has been "friended" by nearly 15,000 MySpace users and boasts that Kinky Friedman is different from the establishment Republicans and Democrats. He has collected signatures for his ballot petition at college campuses across the state. To add to the confusion, the Dixie Chicks, a country music group from Texas that has spoken out against President Bush and Iraq, endorsed Friedman for governor. Of course, the diehard college-age Democrats will vote for Chris Bell, but as it stands many young voters have been duped by the Friedman campaign. Bell needs to work like mad to win them back.

Bell also needs to continue his constant criticism of Governor Perry. Currently, those voters that have become disenfranchised with a governor they likely voted for will be won over by the fiery Strayhorn. As PinkDome reported a while back, Bell's remarks go unnoticed when they are coupled with the same criticisms from Strayhorn. Bell needs to distance himself from both Perry and Strayhorn while maintaining a stream of attacks against the sitting governor that inform the public of the wrongdoings of the Perry administration.

Three conservative candidates (two reformed Republicans and a Libertarian) should spell success for Bell's campaign if he plays his cards right; however, he cannot sit back and hope that the conservative vote is split in three parts. He must actively campaign and court all Texas voters or we'll end up with another four years of "the Rick and Carole show."

dixie chicks "not ready to make nice"

In March 2003, just days before the first bombs were dropped over Baghdad, the Dixie Chicks (a country music group consisting of lead singer Natalie Maines, guitarist, banjo player, and backing vocalist Emily Robison, and violinist and backing vocalist Martie Maguire) sparked controversy at a concert in London. In between songs, Maines, a Lubbock native, said that as a group the Dixie Chicks were ashamed to be from the same state as President Bush.

A firestorm of angry phone calls and letters to radio stations caused country radio to boycott the Dixie Chicks' music, despite its previous popularity. Conservative activists staged burnings and bulldozings of former fans' unwanted CDs. The members of the bluegrass trio received numerous death threats. They had really caused a ruckus.

However, when the Dixie Chicks came back to the United States to promote their Home album that featured a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" and a song about the Vietnam era entitled "Travelin' Soldier," they played to sold out crowds. Their first show was in Greenville, South Carolina, where 15,000 fans cheered them on. When Natalie gave time for detractors to jeer, none were heard over the screams and cheers.

The Dixie Chicks still had a problem with country radio. Their hits weren't played on many stations. Natalie made the comment that after being snubbed at the Country Music Awards, but still winning three Grammys against tougher competition, they knew that country wasn't their home anymore.

In 2004, the Dixie Chicks toured with James Taylor on behalf of the MoveOn PAC's Vote for Change Tour. In late 2005, they recorded "I Hope," a song dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. All profits from the single were donated to charity to help New Orleans residents affected by the disaster.

Now, the Dixie Chicks are gearing up to release their first new album since the controversy, Taking the Long Way. It is anticipated to have a different sound than the other albums, aimed at a wider audience. The first single is "Not Ready to Make Nice," a song co-written by all three of the group members. They admit that the song is a statement about the comments Natalie made and the reactions that ensued. Some lyrics include "I’m not ready to make nice/I’m not ready to back down/I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time to go round and round and round/It’s too late to make it right/I probably wouldn’t if I could/‘Cause I’m mad as hell/Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should" and, in reaction to the death threats the group received, "It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger/And how in the world can the words that I said/Send somebody so over the edge that they’d write me a letter sayin’ that I better shut up and sing or my life will be over."

Robison released a statement about the single.

"The stakes were definitely higher on that song. We knew it was special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right. And once we had that song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden."

The Associated Press reports that many country music stations are adopting a "wait-and-see" attitude toward the single. Some are slipping the song into rotation without making any fuss and just seeing if the listeners notice and how they respond. Others are waiting to see how the single fares in other markets. The song has received airplay in some of the major markets for country music, such as Dallas, Austin, and Nashville.

The full song and the lyrics can be found at the band's official website. To try and get the song played on country radio in North Texas, you can request it online from country stations like 96.3 KSCS, 96.7 The Twister, and 99.5 The Wolf.