The Chicks
American country band from Dallas, Texas.
The Chicks, originally known as the Dixie Chicks, are an American country music band formed in Dallas, Texas. The group consists of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. They are the best-selling all-woman band and best-selling country group in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Dixie Chicks
- Origin
- Dallas, Texas, U.S.
- Genre
- Country
- bluegrass
- country pop
- Years active
- 1989–present
- Label
- Crystal Clear Sound
- Monument Nashville
- Columbia Nashville
- Spinoffs
- Court Yard Hounds
- Current members
- Emily Strayer
- Martie Maguire
- Natalie Maines
- Past members
- Robin Lynn Macy; Laura Lynch
Facts from the source article.
History
The Dixie Chicks were founded in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, by Laura Lynch, Robin Lynn Macy, and sisters Martie and Emily Erwin. The Erwin sisters had previously performed with the bluegrass group Blue Night Express. The band name came from the album Dixie Chicken by Lowell George of Little Feat. They initially played bluegrass and country standards, with all four women singing and playing instruments; Martie focused on fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Emily played five-stringed banjo and resonator guitar.
Martie placed second in 1987 and third in 1989 at the national fiddle championships at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. In 1990, Penny Cook, daughter of former Texas senator John Tower, provided $10,000 for the group to record an album. That year, the Dixie Chicks released their self-produced debut studio album Thank Heavens for Dale Evans on the independent label Crystal Clear Sound. The album, named after actress and singer-songwriter Dale Evans, cost $5,000 to produce and included cover songs by Patsy Montana, Jon Ims, and Sam Cooke, along with original tracks co-written by Macy and Martie.
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