Dixie Chicks Cowgirl Band
Chick Chat
"Nightingales O' The Prairie" -- Autumn 1992
Before they hit the big time -- and one time after -- the Dixie Chicks sent a newsletter to their loyal fans. The irregularly published Chick Chat was a facinating stream-of-conciousness look into the lives of a group of talented young ladies (and gentlemen) struggling with life on the road.
A big "thank you" to Jay Rury for letting me borrow his old copies of the Chick Chat to add to this archive! I can't believe I didn't save this edition -- the one with Robin's farewell note. It's at the very end... and very classy, just like Robin Lynn Macy herself.
Critics' Comments"The Dixie Chicks come across as the most exciting female threesome since Dolly Parton joined Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt for the Trio album"
Robert Adels
"They wrote the book on how to win friends and influence cowgirls."
Byron Schultz
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Fellow two steppers...We thought we were the corniest people around but we've been out done! The world is full of close comedians. In our last letter we asked you to name our Newsletter. Here are some names we received: Chicken Wire, Chicken droppings, Dixie Tattler, The Poop from the Coop, Dixie Diary, Dixie Gram, Chick Chronicles, Chixclamations, Chick Tickler, and Nightingale News.Many people wrote that they liked Chick Chat so we kept it. We've been busy birdies. Our trip to Fiesta Texas yielded a new regulator, alternator, accelerater, percolater, knockalater and exhilerater for our van. We coasted into an Austin Texaco with curlers and all. Those mechanics figured they'd fix our van for a minimum of $859.00. While we waited for repairs, we discovered that Cracker Jacks have an average of 13 peanuts in each box, the yokes of pickled eggs are not yellow, and time flies when you're reading tabloids. While at Fiesta Texas, Emily, dare devil on wheels, forced us all to ride "The Rattler" -- the world's largest wooden roller coaster. We screamed bloody murder all the way. Well they said Californy is the place we oughta be so we loaded on the plane with 19 pieces of luggage and headed west with our new fearless guitarist Matt Benjamin. First stop was Venice Beach, oh my, what we saw there would curl your toes! There was a man who juggled chain saws; bikinis so small you couldn't see them and not one cowboy hat! Then we played the Station Inn Nashville, and of all the groovy people -- one of our favorite performers Suzy Boguss came to the show! What a sweetheart. Did y'all see American Music Shop on TNN on Aug 15?! There's rare footage of Emily Dancing. See Emmy boogie. Boogie, boogie, boogie.. . We forgot to tell you to watch because we were too busy informing you of important events such as Martie's poodle bite. Martie got to play twin fiddle with her hero MARK O'CONNER Recently we had a tour of the F.B.I. Headquarters in Ft. Worth. Martie had to go incognito because of outstanding tickets. We all pondered our most serious crimes to date: Emily picking bluebonnets, Laura hunting house cats out of season, Martie not eating beef. Our new Scrabble word is... Zilax. We are so proud to be the ornery chairwomen of Montage '92 on September 12 &13th. There will be Mimes, Jugglers, Magicians and Cowgirls at this family festival for the performing arts. We get to play on the Pop Stage. Are we pop? Scuse me there's a news flash... No takers as of yet on the big blue van. We're gonna start slashing the price just like on T.V.! If you're the first caller, you can have dibs on the 4 captain chairs and Emily will throw in her Ronco fruit dryer! As we mentioned in our last newsletter -- Nancy, our new office administrator chose Door #3 on the Monty Hall Show and won a prize that would change her life.. assistant to the Dixie Chicks! Behind Door #1: Ed MacMahon and 1 million dollars. Door #2: Dream date with Billy Ray Cyrus. |
| "Y'all, call your radio stations (like Young Country, 787-1053) and request us! You really can make a difference." |
Dixie Chicks Concert Update
- Dallas Cowboys Halftime Show
- Montage '92 (the premiere annual arts festival in Dallas)
- New Mexico State Fair, Albuquerque
- Plano Balloon Festival (I was there!)
- Texas Rangers Game, Star Spangled Banner
- State Fair of Texas, Dallas
The Dixie Boutique
[Same as the previous issue, except that the 45 rpm single containing "Christmas Swing" is no longer available... even though the heading still says "CDs, Cassettes, and Singles". This was the first issue of Chick Chat that my family received, so I never even knew what the single was!][After the order form was an egg-shaped pie chart entitled, Anatomy of the Music Bidness]
- 10%: Booking the gig
- 10%: Setting up for the gig
- 16%: Primping for the gig
- 9%: Eating between the sets at the gig
- 30%: Traveling to the gig
- 2%: ?
- 10%: Eating before the gig
- 4%: Actually playing the gig
| We're going to miss our singin' and songwritin', guitar pickin' pal Robin,
ans we hope all her dreams come true:
[Picture: Robin in 1940's (?) elegant travelling clothes, with her bags and her guitar packed.] (A true story.) By Robin Macy.On July 28, 1992, after three years, my official Dixie Chicks wristwatch suddenly quit ticking. "This must be a sign," I gasped.It was then I knew it was time to move on and take a road less travelled. So, to all my friends, thanks for the many memories. And for now, I bid a fond farewell. |
Ripley's Believe It Or Not![The 6/28/1992 edition of the syndicated comic feature is reproduced here.]
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Editor's Notes:
According to the concert dates in the previous issue of Chick Chat, the Dixie Chicks played Fiesta Texas on July 22-26 and "screamed bloody murder" on the roller coaster. On July 28, Robin Macy left the group. An interesting coincidence!Robin stayed busy after leaving the Dixie Chicks. She was a disc jockey for Dallas public radio station KERA 90.1 (before they quit playing music during the day), and was one third of a group called the Domestic Science Club, whose music was closer to Robin's traditional roots. See the Discography page for more details.
For a picture of Laura and her Cactus Bass, see the liner notes of Little Ol' Cowgirl. And remember -- the girl on the cover is not Laura's little darling Asia. Her picture can be found, though, in the notes for Thank Heavens For Dale Evans.
Chick Chat Navigation
- Previous transcribed Chick Chat: Summer 1992
- Next transcribed Chick Chat: Winter 1992
- Return to The Chick Chat Archive.
Transcribed by Robert Brooks. Grammar and structure are from the original, but typos and misspellings are probably my own fault.
This mailing had no explicit copyright notice, but should be considered (c) 1992 Dixie Chicks
Last update: 01/11/1999
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