The phrase is "the real deal," and you'll hear it whenever Nashville's famous
entertainment district encounters a talent with extraordinary integrity and vision. Enter Dixie Chicks, a front line
of three young women singing flawless three-part harmony and tearing it up on the fiddle, dobro, mandolin, banjo
and guitar; straight-down-the-road country packaged into a contemporary style rich with dauntless spirit, heartfelt
emotion and daring enthusiasm. These three ladies collectively embody all of the qualities necessary to earn
"the real deal" distinction.
Natalie Maines is the real deal. That's not some studio trickery you hear -- She really does sing with that much
passion and fire. Martie Seidel is the real deal. That isn't some slick session-musician "ringer" -- She really
does play championship-level fiddle and mandolin. Emily Erwin is the real deal, too. This band doesn't need
"hired guns" to do its dobro or banjo work.
You don't need to fine-tune these gals, for there are few finer three-part harmony vocalists on the country scene
today. Although these ladies are still in their 20s, they've been paying their dues as entertainers for nine years
and have the rave reviews from the likes of The Dallas Morning News, Ft. Worth Star Telegram, The Dallas
Observer, The Daily Oklahoman and others to prove it.
Music City has seldom launched an act with more built-in charisma, ready-made showmanship and
born-for-stardom appeal. The groundwork for Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks' major-label debut, has already
been laid. Their resume includes three independently-produced and released CDs, a fan base of 6000+
members, a full coast-to-coast touring schedule, an active Internet site, endorsements, national radio programs,
a Dallas Cowboys halftime show plus such high-profile gigs as The Grand Ole Opry and several national TV
shows.
This trio has all the moxie, pluck and determination it could possibly need for its march to the Big Time: "We
were prepared to pay our dues for as long as it took; we were committed to longevity," says Emily. "We know
we will always be playing music together, so we wanted to find someone who is just as determined and
energetic as we are."
That "someone" is Sony's revived imprint Monument Records, a logo previously known for launching legends
such as Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Larry Gatlin and others. Dixie Chicks have been selected
as the flagship act of the new label. The reason, says Sony Nashville President Allen Butler is, "These women
are 'the real deal.'"
There's that phrase again. But what other one would you use for a band that has such deep and powerful roots in
country music?
Martie and Emily were playing acoustic instruments before their teens. Natalie is the daughter of legendary
Lubbock steel guitarist Lloyd Maines, whose Maines Brothers Band scored a half-dozen country hits in the
1980s while she was growing up.
The origin of Dixie Chicks came one summer day in 1989 when 19-year-old Martie, 16-year-old Emily and two
other original members took their instruments to a downtown Dallas street corner to play for tips. Passers-by
were so enthusiastic that the group never had to get summer jobs that year. In fact, people immediately started
asking to hire the "band."
"We didn't have a name at all for a couple of weeks," Emily recalls; "and people started asking us who we were
and wanting to hire us. We were going, 'Who are we? We don't know.'"
"At the time, we didn't realize it was going to grow," adds Martie. "Anyway, we were on our way to the street
corner one day and the Little Feat song 'Dixie Chicken' came on the radio. So we decided to call ourselves
Dixie Chicken, with a logo that had a chicken with long eyelashes. Then we shortened it to Chix, and we finally
decided on Dixie Chicks."
By then the sisters were both veterans of the bluegrass festival circuit. The five years they'd spent in the teen
bluegrass band Blue Night Express had honed their skills and lined their pocketbooks. Looking back, the step
into full-time country professionalism was inevitable. As it turned out, fellow Texan Natalie was thinking that way,
too.
"Country music was so prevalent in our family that I was fortunate to be exposed to it at a very early age. I always
knew this is what I wanted to do," says Natalie. "In grade school I remember thinking, 'I don't have to learn this
because I'm going to be a singer!'"
Dixie Chicks were a Lone Star State sensation from the get-go. Between 1990 and 1994 they recorded three
independently marketed CDs to sell at shows. Virtually overnight, the group was opening for Garth Brooks,
George Jones, Alan Jackson, George Strait and Emmylou Harris; winning the Dallas Observer's Best Country
Band award four straight times and appearing everywhere from the Opry to the Presidential Inaugural Gala.
A lot of the attention had to do with the fact that they were an "all-girl band" dressed in western outfits. "That was
a marketing tool for us," Martie admits. "We knew it was a little different. But we grew to the point where we
really wanted the music to speak for itself." By mid-decade the sisters were ready to head toward the country
mainstream.
By then, the surviving Chicks had been through a couple of member changes, hired male sidemen and added
drums. The musical mix had broadened from bluegrass and western swing to encompass all the styles of
modern country. All the act needed was a charismatic lead singer. In 1995 they went looking for one.
Aware of Natalie's musical talents as an entertainer in and around the Dallas area, Emily and Martie felt her
vocal power and personality is what the Dixie Chicks needed.
"I loved watching them play," Natalie recalls. "Martie and Emily had always been the best part of Dixie Chicks. I
had been waiting for my shot. I didn't know what I was going to do -- I was in college, but I'd changed my major
four times."
Within a week of their initial meeting, Natalie was out of college and on the road with Dixie Chicks.
"With Natalie, that's when the wheels started rolling around," Martie says. "You could tell there was excitement
there. There was energy."
Monument Records hears it and sees it. "It's important to emphasize the fact that Dixie Chicks are world-class
entertainers and that they aren't new to this," said Sony Music Nashville President Allen Butler. "When they
brought in songs for the project they said, 'this is us, this is who we are, this is Dixie Chicks.' They put their
thumbprint on this album."
From the soaring ballad "Once You've Loved Somebody" to the rollicking romp "Let Her Rip," Dixie Chicks
have served notice that they're the band to watch in 1998. From the tenderness of the chestnut "Loving Arms" to
the rolling country-rock of "Till I See You," Dixie Chicks have recorded their Wide Open Spaces CD with all the
confidence of the veterans they are. From the honky-tonk stomper "Tonite the Heartache" to the gently wistful "I'll
Take Care of You" and the loping groove of the kickoff single "I Can Love You Better," Dixie Chicks have staked
out a musical territory that is broad and fertile.
"I love being able to play a straight-ahead country tune and then rip into a bluegrass number, then a blues song,"
says Martie. "To me, that's what's fun about this group."
"All of us care so much," says Emily. "Everybody in this band is so passionate about this music."
"We want people to like us," says Natalie, "and I feel like they will. Because we put our hearts into the music we
make."
One listen, one show, is all it takes -- there's no mistaking the real deal.
