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Post by Bingo on Jun 28, 2011 8:25:40 GMT -8
Speaking personally, I don't mind whether they go back to Mainstream Country radio or not (My own preference tends to lean much more to the Roots Country scene - which I think would suit them more, both stylistically, and in terms of accepting their general attitude. But another shot at Mainstream Country would be interesting!).
As I've said before, their main reservoir of potential support seems to lie among younger female fans - who often see their legacy as a ground breaking milestone. This is also the fan base least likely to be hostile because of their perceived political symbolism. It's not insignificant - either numerically, or in terms of its spending on music, concerts and merchandise. The main problem would be that it's chart dominated, and tends not to be aware of Roots Country alternatives - if the Chicks aren't on Mainstream radio, many of these fans simply won't hear them (though I wouldn't rule out clever use of the Internet as a possible way of getting support rolling)
Would Mainstream Country play them? CMT and Sirius certainly would. Terrestrial radio depends on the market - it was estimated in 2006 that they could get between a third and a half of their former radio support (but it's not clear if that still would be the case - snubbing even friendly stations and making remarks that seem hostile to the whole format haven't helped).
A few key points that occurred to me:
1) They shouldn't see their radio problems as exclusively a Country format issue. In 2006, they had no more radio support in the US from any major format (reaching the 30s in both Country and Adult Contemporary). The problem is that the radio stations are mainly owned by the same corporations, and Conservative attitudes on themes like patriotism are pretty widespread as an undercurrent in US popular feeling generally.
2) The Roots sector was much kinder to them (the album did well on the AMA airtime chart, and a station in New Braunfels, TX was the only one that actually gave them the number one slot in airtime spins.). However, this sector is too small to fulfil fan expectations (it accounts for 15% of Country fans at most - and the two groups rarely mix, and are often mutually hostile. ) I'm afraid it's probably too small to make a full Dixie Chick reunion tempting. It's more suitable for the Hounds - but I fear it's likely to leave the Chicks uncertain about whether a full album and tour is attractive, unless a major format shows signs of wanting to pick them up.
3) If they do decide to try Mainstream Country, I think they must commit to it fully. We know from a letter from Simon Renshaw published in a trade paper that he had orders to release the 2006 album only to four Country radio markets. (These included Chicago and Minneapolis - but the full list was not given). That policy of limited release is no good - you either promote hard to the format, or you don't - but half-heartedly putting a toe in the water just ends up with inconclusive results.
I've no idea whether they will try it again - but, frankly, I doubt it. Although it's not what fans want, I think the most likely possibility is occasional reunions, for limited "legend status" appearances, without any major radio push.
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Post by dixiechicksfan on Jun 28, 2011 9:18:19 GMT -8
They shouldn't have to plot out where their music will be played. Barely any of the music I listen to is played on any format except maybe online radio. There is nothing wrong with that. The major radio stations are pretty fixed. It is no accident what songs chart where. Of course there are exceptions. But think about it: a song charts for getting spins. They will argue against playing a song because it's not charting. Well how can it chart if no one plays it. They don't have to cater to or label their music as a certain format. They should make whatever they want and let the critics label it. It shouldn't be minimized like that. Also, banjo and violin are hardly exclusive to "country" music. They are both included in a wide array of music. I just went to a show last week. An indie band that featured a violin and cello. A banjo can surprise you in many kinds of music. If their thought process is "okay so lets first pick a format where we think this will be played then make the music based off of that" then they shouldn't be making music. It defeats the purpose and art.
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Post by Bingo on Jun 28, 2011 11:00:31 GMT -8
I don't disagree with that - but I see a couple of issues that complicate matters.
Firstly. many fans do want the Chicks to be award winners and chart toppers - and often don't seem keen to see the Chicks as primarily an Alternative band. OK, fan attitudes don't in themselves determine the band's direction - but I see signs that the Chicks too still think of themselves as a headline act, with entitlement to high profile recognition,The Alternative path may suit the Hounds, and they may become more used to it (again). But would Natalie now be tempted back by the prospect of a club and festival career?
Secondly, although "violin" and banjo are played in other contexts, what we tend to get in group ensembles is the "Rubin syndrome" - using those instruments for speciality breaks in the quieter sections when the rhythm session players tone down. That short changes their skills - to have banjo, fiddle or steel leading the instrumental drive (as on Ain't No Son), the Chicks probably need a Country or Roots Rock format.
I'd guess that with many of the bands you're thinking of, all the players are members of the band, without session players, or they bring in occasional guests - either way, it's the band predominating. But I didn't get the feeling that that's how TTLW was made. On much of it the prevailing feeling I got was Natalie's "new" voice backed by session players (albeit talented ones). but with the other Chicks too often treated more as speciality instrumentalists for shorter featured passages. That gave it, for me, too much of the feel of a one-off studio production, not Roots Rock, as I understand it. I know the album was very popular with fans - but, speaking personally, I don't feel the style suited the Chicks, and I'd rather not see it again.
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Post by thinwhitechick on Jun 29, 2011 7:21:38 GMT -8
I know the album was very popular with fans - but, speaking personally, I don't feel the style suited the Chicks, and I'd rather not see it again. Ditto.
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Post by jwaldorf on Jun 30, 2011 9:28:18 GMT -8
I like about half the songs on TTLW, but what I didn't like about the whole album was the over emphasis on the drums and screeching rock guitars. Don't get me wrong here, I like screeching rock guitars and loud drum solo's, but not on a country (sic) album. I agree that Em and Martie seemed nearly totally ignored in most of the songs.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jun 30, 2011 13:42:44 GMT -8
If I were successful..... I would put out what my audience wanted to hear... not necessarily what I wanted.... If you do that... then.... you aren't a true entertainer... you aren't in the business to entertain yourself. If so, play in your bedroom and don't ask people to buy your records or come see you on tour. They started out with fiddle and banjo.... they gained an audience because they liked it. Not because of "Favorite Year" from Taking The Long Way" which is possibly the worst song they have ever recorded.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jun 30, 2011 13:46:04 GMT -8
I know the album was very popular with fans - but, speaking personally, I don't feel the style suited the Chicks, and I'd rather not see it again. Ditto. Totally agree. A mix of Home and Fly would be my choice for the next album. I listen basically for Emily and Martie.... I am more of a instrument person... That said.... Taking The Long Way was good... but, let that type of music be a one time thing. Don't want stuff like that to dominate future music. (If there is any)
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Post by erik on Jun 30, 2011 17:14:16 GMT -8
Quote by shdvs2012:
But if you're going to entertain, be sincere and be real about it. I don't care for anybody who tries to pander to an audience's sensibilities, least of all my own. I'm someone who prefers that the artist/entertainer be who they are and let the chips fall where they may, and not be, for lack of a more PC term, an a** kisser.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jun 30, 2011 17:17:58 GMT -8
If I am in the audience and I like banjo... I'm not going to buy an album full of electric guitars and pianos. Nor is someone who likes electric guitars.... buying a banjo album....... Just because the artist wants to put one out. If the Dixie Chicks decided they wanted to make a African/Tribal album because they felt they should.... I can tell you now.... I would not buy it. Maybe download it from mediafire.... judge it... and delete it... that is all.
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Post by erik on Jun 30, 2011 17:32:15 GMT -8
Quote by sthdvs2012:
There's nothing wrong with any of that. However, I would really hesitate to say that someone who likes electric guitars on an album isn't going to like something that has a lot of banjo on it. If that were really true, then I doubt very much that the California country-rock movement of the late 1960s, which has some of its roots and its musicians in bluegrass, would have ever gotten off the ground, at least not the way it did.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jun 30, 2011 17:52:42 GMT -8
Well... that isn't what I am saying. Remember LeAnn Rimes? She started as country and then released that pop album and it sold poorly and her fans bitched and complained about it because that is not what they wanted to hear. Which... I don't think that is quite the same as the Dixie Chicks because they are kind of expected to have fiddle and banjo... LeAnn Rimes isn't. (Even tho... EVERYONE has stolen banjo from the Chicks.) I never heard a banjo on a country song before them.
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Post by erik on Jun 30, 2011 18:56:41 GMT -8
Quote by sthdvs2012:
Yes, LeAnn took a lot of heat for that, though the reaction wasn't such that it stopped her pure pop version of 'How Do I Live" from getting into the Top 10 on the pop singles chart in 1997.
And yes, I think everyone expects the Dixie Chicks' sound to have fiddle and banjo. Quite frankly, they utilize such traditional instrumentation better than anyone else currently; most times, you hear it slapped on over a wall of Southern rock electric guitar, which is so utterly asinine (IMHO). It has to be said, however, that Emily and Martie can play a lot of other instruments too, and that their musical influences range far and wide. There is a way to mix a lot of these disparate styles of theirs while still maintaining the bluegrass-based sound, and I think they have done that consistently.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jun 30, 2011 19:37:36 GMT -8
I have to agree with everything you just said. I'm not saying that every song needs banjo and fiddle because.... it doesn't go with the song. However, I am just saying that they need to include a few that do. And... it makes me sick to hear all of these contemporary country songs begin with some redneck banjo melody. Just because you have a banjo... it doesn't make you cool. lol. If you can play like Emily... tho... it does.. haha
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bozar
Baby Chick
Posts: 157
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Post by bozar on Jul 1, 2011 2:30:33 GMT -8
sorry yall ... i cant do this with the news about natkins..... not a dig....
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Post by erik on Jul 1, 2011 5:54:37 GMT -8
Quote by sthdvs2012:
I think they do a fairly good job of integrating the right amount of banjo and fiddle in there when they feel it's appropriate. And as I think we seem to agree on, throwing in a banjo in there like a lot of others to do prove a point is just plain silly.
Emily, of course, can get away with it because she is indeed far better than most, and because, apart from Alison Brown and maybe a couple of others, there aren't too many women out there who know how to do that style of banjo playing.
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Post by Kallie on Jul 5, 2011 12:26:31 GMT -8
What do you mean the news about Natkins?
And no the Chicks should not be like Shania and put out crap that the fans want to hear. She does that and has admitted to it. She makes music she and her fans both like.
The Chicks are more along the lines of Patty Griffin, make music you like and hope others like it as well.
Damn...I'm good
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jul 5, 2011 13:03:42 GMT -8
^ They have can do whatever they like.... but... I won't be buying it if I don't like it... and if enough people do that.... their careers will be over and nobody will ever hear any music whether they like it or not because Sony will drop their asses. Right now... they can't afford to lose them.... but I'm not a fan that will buy anything they put out. They've already lost a chunk of fans due to that mess of an album called "Taking The Long Way"
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Post by DCXMMXVI on Jul 5, 2011 14:57:37 GMT -8
why do you think 'taking the long way' made them lose fans? is it because it sold a fraction of their previous albums? because you know, 2006 was a bad year for all albums, not just for the dcx. other than NRTMN creating new fans (i would know, since it was what made me a fan), i doubt 'taking the long way' did anything to help them GAIN more fans. after all, i havent heard anybody on the internet say "'the long way around' and 'silent house' made me a fan!!!" but i surely dont think it caused people to stop being fans.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jul 5, 2011 17:09:15 GMT -8
why do you think 'taking the long way' made them lose fans? is it because it sold a fraction of their previous albums? because you know, 2006 was a bad year for all albums, not just for the dcx. other than NRTMN creating new fans (i would know, since it was what made me a fan), i doubt 'taking the long way' did anything to help them GAIN more fans. after all, i havent heard anybody on the internet say "'the long way around' and 'silent house' made me a fan!!!" but i surely dont think it caused people to stop being fans. I read a lot of comments saying they would not buy their next album if it was remotely like Taking The Long Way. I agree that NRTMN is a great song.... but the sound as a whole on that album turned a lot of people off. It just wasn't the same. It wasn't what made them popular in the first place.
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Post by erik on Jul 5, 2011 20:02:43 GMT -8
Quote by sthdvs2012:
Well there are always going to be dissenters, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But while I do listen to what they have to say, I don't let them or anyone else influence my choices or my way of thinking, which is how it should be.
Personally, I liked the album tremendously. I put it in a tie for favorite album of 2006 with the Linda Ronstadt/Ann Savoy project Adieu False Heart.
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Post by sthdvs2012 on Jul 5, 2011 20:20:51 GMT -8
I don't think it was completely awful... but, It wasn't their best.
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Post by Kent67b on Jul 5, 2011 22:06:02 GMT -8
I love this album. I already love the new album too.
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Post by eaglemaster on Jul 5, 2011 23:00:17 GMT -8
I already love the new album too. Go Kent go!
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Post by Bingo on Jul 6, 2011 6:40:18 GMT -8
I don't think it was completely awful... but, It wasn't their best. I agree - I've said enough about it in other posts, but I don't see it as a stylistic disaster - it had some good songwriting and some interesting experiments. But much of the studio production didn't suit the Chicks' talents, IMO Personally, I think the Ronstadt/Savoy album was musically superior, and stylistically more adventurous - but comparing is difficult, because that was conceived as a homage to musical styles, and a labour of love, rather than as a mass market come-back after high profile personal traumas. My favourite album of those years was Chip Taylor's and Carrie Rodriguez' "Live From the Ruhr Trienniale" (I can't actually name it for 2006, though, since it was recorded in 2005, but had its release held over till 2007). AllMusic said "If you're a fan of roots rock and Texas country music, then this disc will kind of take your breath away before you even hear a note." I'm still waiting to get my breath back, LOL
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Post by thinwhitechick on Jul 6, 2011 8:56:44 GMT -8
Personally, I liked the album tremendously. I put it in a tie for favorite album of 2006 with the Linda Ronstadt/Ann Savoy project Adieu False Heart. I have it tied with David Bowies Reality (2004) for worst album of the decade.
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