Initially regarded as a glammed-up and safe trio of country chanteuses ticking all the right boxes in a homogenised 21st Century Nashville, Dixie Chicks risked career suicide not once, but twice in the space of a few short years. Natalie Maines’ 2003 declaration from a London stage that she was “ashamed” to come from the same state as George Bush triggered a backlash among their conservative fanbase, who were then further appalled when the band went “pop” on their next album.
As it transpired, the Bush incident endeared them to an altogether different kind of listener, elevating them to darlings of the protest movement. Then the “pop” album, 2006’s Taking The Long Way, won five Grammy awards, spearheaded by the defiance of its lead track Not Ready To Make Nice. There’s been little band activity since, so this collection is the perfect story-sofar précis for newcomers.
It reveals a group who have constantly subverted the preconceived notions of their cutesy public persona, be it darkly comedic spousal abuse revenge (Goodbye Earl), the candour of sexual lust (Sin Wagon) or the fuck-you dismissal of self-pitying men (There’s Your Trouble). They sing like nightingales, but they’re as hard as nails; modern-day torch-bearers in the mould of Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn.
