Post by lolly on May 1, 2010 13:06:39 GMT -8
Unleash the Hounds, before Chicks returnIn infamous words’ aftermath, two-thirds of band makes new plans and strong new record
It would be too easy to assume, as almost everyone in the country music business has, that the Court Yard Hounds — sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, founding members of the multi-award-winning, mega-selling country-pop crossover sensation, the Dixie Chicks — are hedging their bets by recording an album and going on the road as a duo.
After all, the Chicks’ lead singer, Natalie Maines, has kept an inordinately low profile during the past four years, after the 2003 furor — prompted by her deprecating remarks to a British audience about president George W. Bush and his Iraq war policy — pushed the apparently unstoppable trio over a very steep cliff, off America’s music charts and into a sort of cultural Guantanamo Bay. For a while, they were reviled by many Americans as unpatriotic at best, traitors at worst.
Their 2007 multi-Grammy-winning response to all that rage, Taking the Long Way, was a defiant-sounding album that only obliquely addressed the political and ideological issues that swirled about them. Despite having sold two million copies, it did nothing to soothe the furious members of the band’s former core audience. Since then, we’ve heard barely a cheep from the Chicks.
A solid Plan B — an new act in the same genre, using many of the Dixie Chicks’ band and crew members, but sans Maines — makes cold and cynical business sense, but that’s not what the Court Yard Hounds are about, Maguire and Robison insisted Friday during a round of Toronto interviews to promote the release on Tuesday of their self-titled debut CD.
“I get curious from time to time, and check out blogs and Twitter, and it’s sad to see the off-the-fringe redneck rants are still around,” said the dark-maned, recently divorced Robison, as she curled up on a couch in knee-high stiletto boots alongside her blond sister.
The two women say they still share the anti-war sentiments Maines expressed, and show the same kind of stoic support for her that they exhibited in Shut Up and Sing, Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s 2006 documentary about the band’s fall from grace and their efforts to cope with the fallout.
“We pay those people no attention,” Robison continued. “They have made up their minds. They’re never going to come back. We prefer to stay with the people who’ve been our friends through all this.”
The Dixie Chicks are not finished, Maguire said, though the trio hasn’t made an appearance nor recorded a single song since November, 2007. And Maines’ move to Los Angeles — a long way from Austin, where Maguire lives, and San Antonio, where Robison presides over a spectacular ranch — shouldn’t be construed as evidence of a rift.
“The Dixie Chicks are doing a lot of dates this summer with the Eagles (including Toronto’s Rogers Centre June 8),” Robison said. “We’re all really looking forward to it.”
The Court Yard Hounds, named in reference to an insatiable muse in David Benioff’s 2008 novel City of Thieves, make their official concert debut at the Telluride Festival June 15, and will continue on a 50-date tour through the summer, scheduled around the Chicks’ commitments.
Maines, a Texas native, is married to actor Adrian Pasdar (Nathan on NBC’s Heroes). They have two sons, aged 9 and 6. She’s just not ready to throw herself back into the Chicks’ heady routing full-time, Robison added.
“She’s happy being a mom, raising her kids, taking care of her home, and we have to respect that.”
But after a couple of years of inactivity, Robison, who plays banjo, dobro and guitar in both bands, got bored. She began writing again.
“I needed to do something creative. I was coming out of a divorce. I had so many things I needed to say, so I started sending the songs to Martie. We agreed they were too personal for the Dixie Chicks, but good enough to work on in Martie’s studio.”
They enlisted players from the Dixie Chicks’ band, the assistance of co-producer Jim Scott, and even multi-instrumentalist Lloyd Maines, Natalie’s father.
The duo’s debut is, not surprisingly, remarkably strong, ranging from acoustic folk-based music to driving, guitar-heavy country rock. Lyrics, mostly by Robison, are about love, loss, revenge and emotional healing. One, “Ain’t No Son,” is a hard-rocking re-creation of an angry altercation between a father and his son, who is gay. It’s the only song on the album that approaches anything resembling an issue.
“It was a big secret, but we didn’t keep any of this from Natalie,” Maguire said. “She has been in the picture almost from the start. She heard the finished album just after New Year’s. She loved it. The Court Yard Hounds aren’t a threat to the Dixie Chicks.
“It’s just nice to have something new to work on. We’re not Dumb Doras . . . we love performing, we love touring. We’ve played music all our lives. We can’t stop now.”
www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/803334--unleash-the-hounds-before-chicks-return
It would be too easy to assume, as almost everyone in the country music business has, that the Court Yard Hounds — sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, founding members of the multi-award-winning, mega-selling country-pop crossover sensation, the Dixie Chicks — are hedging their bets by recording an album and going on the road as a duo.
After all, the Chicks’ lead singer, Natalie Maines, has kept an inordinately low profile during the past four years, after the 2003 furor — prompted by her deprecating remarks to a British audience about president George W. Bush and his Iraq war policy — pushed the apparently unstoppable trio over a very steep cliff, off America’s music charts and into a sort of cultural Guantanamo Bay. For a while, they were reviled by many Americans as unpatriotic at best, traitors at worst.
Their 2007 multi-Grammy-winning response to all that rage, Taking the Long Way, was a defiant-sounding album that only obliquely addressed the political and ideological issues that swirled about them. Despite having sold two million copies, it did nothing to soothe the furious members of the band’s former core audience. Since then, we’ve heard barely a cheep from the Chicks.
A solid Plan B — an new act in the same genre, using many of the Dixie Chicks’ band and crew members, but sans Maines — makes cold and cynical business sense, but that’s not what the Court Yard Hounds are about, Maguire and Robison insisted Friday during a round of Toronto interviews to promote the release on Tuesday of their self-titled debut CD.
“I get curious from time to time, and check out blogs and Twitter, and it’s sad to see the off-the-fringe redneck rants are still around,” said the dark-maned, recently divorced Robison, as she curled up on a couch in knee-high stiletto boots alongside her blond sister.
The two women say they still share the anti-war sentiments Maines expressed, and show the same kind of stoic support for her that they exhibited in Shut Up and Sing, Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s 2006 documentary about the band’s fall from grace and their efforts to cope with the fallout.
“We pay those people no attention,” Robison continued. “They have made up their minds. They’re never going to come back. We prefer to stay with the people who’ve been our friends through all this.”
The Dixie Chicks are not finished, Maguire said, though the trio hasn’t made an appearance nor recorded a single song since November, 2007. And Maines’ move to Los Angeles — a long way from Austin, where Maguire lives, and San Antonio, where Robison presides over a spectacular ranch — shouldn’t be construed as evidence of a rift.
“The Dixie Chicks are doing a lot of dates this summer with the Eagles (including Toronto’s Rogers Centre June 8),” Robison said. “We’re all really looking forward to it.”
The Court Yard Hounds, named in reference to an insatiable muse in David Benioff’s 2008 novel City of Thieves, make their official concert debut at the Telluride Festival June 15, and will continue on a 50-date tour through the summer, scheduled around the Chicks’ commitments.
Maines, a Texas native, is married to actor Adrian Pasdar (Nathan on NBC’s Heroes). They have two sons, aged 9 and 6. She’s just not ready to throw herself back into the Chicks’ heady routing full-time, Robison added.
“She’s happy being a mom, raising her kids, taking care of her home, and we have to respect that.”
But after a couple of years of inactivity, Robison, who plays banjo, dobro and guitar in both bands, got bored. She began writing again.
“I needed to do something creative. I was coming out of a divorce. I had so many things I needed to say, so I started sending the songs to Martie. We agreed they were too personal for the Dixie Chicks, but good enough to work on in Martie’s studio.”
They enlisted players from the Dixie Chicks’ band, the assistance of co-producer Jim Scott, and even multi-instrumentalist Lloyd Maines, Natalie’s father.
The duo’s debut is, not surprisingly, remarkably strong, ranging from acoustic folk-based music to driving, guitar-heavy country rock. Lyrics, mostly by Robison, are about love, loss, revenge and emotional healing. One, “Ain’t No Son,” is a hard-rocking re-creation of an angry altercation between a father and his son, who is gay. It’s the only song on the album that approaches anything resembling an issue.
“It was a big secret, but we didn’t keep any of this from Natalie,” Maguire said. “She has been in the picture almost from the start. She heard the finished album just after New Year’s. She loved it. The Court Yard Hounds aren’t a threat to the Dixie Chicks.
“It’s just nice to have something new to work on. We’re not Dumb Doras . . . we love performing, we love touring. We’ve played music all our lives. We can’t stop now.”
www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/803334--unleash-the-hounds-before-chicks-return