Dixie Chicks.. Taking the Long way

The Dixie Chicks' career started long before 2003, when lead singer Natalie Maines' onstage quip redefined the band. It started before 1998, when a song about personal independence called "Wide Open Spaces" redefined Country Music. Long before then, the Dixie Chicks were local favorites in their home base of Dallas, Texas, working the honky tonk and high school cafeteria circuit. This site is dedicated to that early phase of their career, when the Dixie Chicks were a band with a lot of promise... and a long road ahead.

2003 - present: "The Incident" takes the focus off the music entirely. The Dixie Chicks become a strawman in a fight over a nation's foreign policy. Not willing to capitulate to their opponents, the Chicks jump into the fray... with mixed results. After a successful tour and live album, the members turn inward, growing their families and writing songs about the experience. Three years later, they release an album whose lead single says "I'm not ready to make nice... I'm not ready to back down."

dixiechicks.com.