CMT Blog: Dixie Chicks

If a song is packed with fiddle, banjo and mandolin, does that automatically make it a country song? That’s what I used to think. But my 9-year-old daughter is slowly but surely teaching me otherwise. She plays the fiddle, but it’s not even the slightest bit country. At all. It’s not even bluegrass or Americana fiddle. It’s 100 percent Irish.

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I’ve never been a big fan of Howard Stern’s radio show. But now, I’m obsessed with getting an invitation to his wedding. If that’s the only way I can hear Natalie Maines sing, then I fully intend on going. I mean, if he’d hired Kenny Chesney, I wouldn’t be that determined. Because Chesney is touring. But now that the Dixie Chicks are off the radio and off the road, I’d do anything to hear Maines’ distinctive voice. I can’t imagine she’ll belt her way through the tired old reception set list: “Celebration,” “Twist and Shout,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” So maybe she’ll do some songs of her own. (Although I hope for Stern’s sake that the Chicks “White Trash Wedding” doesn’t make the cut.)

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines will sing at Howard Stern’s upcoming — and still top secret — wedding.

Wanna be Miley Cyrus’ date on the red carpet? Bidding is underway to benefit a new charity named in honor of her grandfather.

Of all her singles, Miranda Lambert is surprised by the one that’s shooting up the country chart right now.

In case you can’t wait for the commercials to air, here’s your chance to hear Sara Evans’ rendition of the timeless jingle for Libby’s food products.

Dear Jessica Simpson,

Welcome to Nashville. And now that you’re here, let me share some advice that I once received as a young reporter — everybody that you pass on the way up will be there to greet you on the way down. In other words, be nice to every person you meet in the country music business. And that includes Carrie Underwood. Why would you wear that “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt when you know full-well that your boyfriend Tony Romo used to date the famous vegetarian?

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No girl fights here. Taylor Swift defends Miley Cyrus to a reporter, and Carrie Underwood talks about how hard female artists have it. You go, girls.

The Huffington Post re-hashes the Dixie Chicks “incident” — and claims that we should all be ashamed that George W. Bush is our President.

During one of his shows, Kenny Chesney lured The Lost Trailers from a photo shoot and pulled them onstage.

Is it a Western, a comedy, a crime story … or a Westcrimedy? The 9513 tries to get to the bottom of Brooks & Dunn’s new novel, The Adventures of Slim & Howdy.

While she’s trying to stay in the limelight, Julianne Hough advises her brother to stay way out of it.

Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks are making nice and teaming up for a public service announcement about the changing climate. Does that mean hell has frozen over?

OMG. Guess how CU and CC brk up? W/ a txt. So ttly not 4eva. Was it like c u l8tr, sry? Gtg. IDK, it just seems so sad IMO.

Before the Britneys and the Fergies, there was Bob Dylan. His influence on pop music and American culture has earned a special music citation Pulitzer Prize.

Although she wasn’t at a Nashville casting call for the Hannah Montana movie, Miley Cyrus was recently seen signing a fan’s arm so it could be tattooed. 

With a new album hitting stores tomorrow, James Otto is pitching for the Atlanta Braves, sort of. He can now be heard singing “The Braves Play Here.”

Country’s favorite songs are almost ready for bed. A new CD with lullaby instrumentals of some of country’s biggest hits will be available April 22.

“I kind of always had a romantic notion about what Nashville was like,” says Katy Kattleman, better known as the fashion designer Katy K. “It’s funny, I thought Nashville people were going to be dressed in Western all the time and I’d find Nudie suits in thrift stores.”

Beginning in the early ’80s and after attending fashion school, Kattelman began making and selling her own designs at a trendy hotspot in New York. When stylish petty coats became all the rage, she found herself dressing the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston. She quickly found herself moving up the fashion chain and continued to hold onto her love for Western wear and ’50s style. By the time the mid ’90s rolled around, Tower Records was taking over her building and she began feeling the crunch of high-priced New York rent. So, she packed her bags and fashion expertise and made the big move to Music City.

From the time she opened, she’s helped dress the likes of Dixie Chicks, Alan Jackson, Emmylou Harris, Nicole Kidman, Montgomery Gentry and Jack White, to name a few. “When Porter Wagoner came in last summer, I was so excited,” she said. “He was just so nice and just to see somebody like that. I meet so many different people in the store and it still is a thrill for me.”

Kattleman’s clothing isn’t simply limited to Western wear. She designs and/or sells burlesque garments, 50s and 70s influenced attire, rockabilly wear, Manuel-inspired suits, vintage apparel, children’s clothing, unique boots, hats, belt buckles and custom-designed clothing. “I adapted a lot when I came down here,” she said. “It wasn’t what I thought Nashville was going to be but I really like it. I like the way things have turned out.”

Heard an interesting experiment on local radio this morning. Gerry House, the morning man at WSIX-Nashville, played some Spanish language country songs and announced that station management had decided to broaden their listener base by embracing all elements of the local community. And Nashville does have a sizable and growing Mexican and Latino populace. Then - oh boy, then House opened his phone lines and listeners started calling in. Did they ever. And most of them were angry. Angry that another culture was being “forced” on them. Vowed to leave the station and never return. Forget the fact that Spanish-language singers and writers are a big part of country music history. I guess House waited too long to remind his listeners that it was April Fool’s Day. Oh - and then he played the new single by Gone Country winner Julio Iglesias Jr. and invited listeners to vote on that song. It’s a good thing he wasn’t playing any Dixie Chicks music. God knows what would have happened.

The singer Maura O’Connell once said that what country music and Irish music have in common is a passion for sentimentality. In other words, you can’t have country music without a sense of loss and a lyric that will tear your heart in two. One listen to George Jones singing “My Wild Irish Rose” should leave you suitably teary. Every so often the classic sounds of Ireland will make it on a country record, though admittedly it is rare. The Dixie Chicks tipped their hats to the Emerald Isle on “Ready to Run,” as well as “More Love,” which was written by Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien has made two fantastic records that explored his Irish roots: Two Journeys and The Crossing. Using a combination of Irish and American musicians, he finds a common ground that honors both American roots music and the change that Irish music would undergo once it came to the new World. A perfect example is “Cumberland Gap,” as Irish fiddler Kevin Burke plays alongside banjo legend Earl Scruggs while Tim chops away on his mandolin. It sounds like a journey back in time.

Ireland also has its own array of country stars, such as T.R. Dallas, Big Tom, Philomena Begley and the enormously successful Daniel O’Donnell. Special mention should be made of Ray Lynam, a truly fantastic singer who also recorded in Nashville. While on a radio performance in Nashville, he sang a cover of “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and as soon as he went off air, the station phone rang — it was George Jones himself calling in to say how much he loved Ray’s singing and encouraging him to stay in Nashville. Due to prior commitments, Ray had to return home, but I often wander what might have happened had he stayed…

Come Monday morning, we should proudly wear the greenest item of clothing we can find, and celebrate the warm and welcoming qualities that Ireland embodies – and of course the great music! I suppose the Guinness and Irish whiskey is optional, but I can assure you it’s an option I’ll be exercising gladly. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Approximately 2,000 broadcasters were in Nashville last week for the 39th annual Country Radio Seminar. The event is extremely useful on a lot of fronts — good for networking, good for picking up new business ideas and good for record companies trying to expose their artists to an industry that’s vital to creating stars.Ironically, this year’s gathering came just days before the fifth anniversary of Natalie Maines’ career-deflating statement in London in which she said the Dixie Chicks were “ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” Lots of radio stations immediately pulled Chicks songs off the air, saying they were reacting to listeners who threatened to tune them out permanently. That’s a major fear for radio, which is a particularly conservative medium: Stations with no listeners get no ad dollars.

The Chicks pulled a symbolic move just two years ago when they released “Not Ready to Make Nice,” their angry reaction to the public’s kiss-off, on March 10, 2006. Quite ironically, just two days prior (on March 8, 2006), Tim McGraw and Faith Hill had slammed the same president for his administration’s inadequate reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

“If you don’t know what to do,” McGraw said to several radio syndicators, “you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Fans were apparently not outraged, they didn’t threaten to stop listening, and McGraw and Hill went unscathed.

You can parse the two situations a bit: The Chicks made their statement on foreign soil about a war that hadn’t yet started, and their opinion contrasted with that of many Americans. McGraw and Hill were commenting on a disaster that was months in the past, and their views were seemingly shared by a majority.

No punishment was in order for the McGraws.

But none was in order for the Chicks either. Maines’ comment was made to set up their song “Travelin’ Soldier,” a very poignant piece about the tragedy that surrounds war — every war. Take a look at the documentary Shut Up and Sing, and it’s hard to see her statement as anything but an informed opinion that was weirdly turned into a rallying cry.

Radio took a monetarily motivated stance in the aftermath, and it’s still impossible to hear the Chicks in many — if not most — markets. You can’t really blame the broadcasters for protecting their business. But they did play a part in a storyline that is one of the most embarrassing developments in pop culture’s history.