Looking for Rockzilla?

Rockzilla, the alter ego of one of independent Texas Music's strongest advocates for the past several years, has retired from the online scene. All-Inclusive is honored to have been chosen to host an authorized mirror of the site's voluminous content. Click Here to enter Rockzillaworld!

In other news...

• It's here!

  The first single from the Chicks' next album, Taking the Long Way, has been released on iTunes! Promoted on the front page, the track immediately jumped into the top 20. Samples from the rest of the album are available at ChicksRockChicksRule.com.

• The Latest

  The Chicks' new album, Taking the Long Way, is slated for a May 2006 release. The first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice", doesn't bear much resemblance to the Chicks' original bluegrass/Western sound, but it fits right in with today's pop-country scene -- though its direct approach to the last three years' troubles has kept it from breaking out of the lower quarter of the Country Top 40 charts.  For the latest news on the release and its impact on the music scene, listen to the buzz at Nici's DixieChicksFans.net forum.

  Meanwhile, this site is woefully out of date. I'm hoping to get things back together before the album is released! Messages of encouragement may be sent to dc at dixie dash chicks dot com. Messages equating certain outspoken singers with terrorists may be sent to /dev/null (that's geekspeak for the trash bin).

  "I'm not ready to make nice; I'm not ready to back down..."

• A few details...
  The Chicks have been very busy over the past couple of years... and so has this site's webmaster! Here are just a few of the important events that haven't been covered here, as of September 2004:
• You may be familiar with a little falling-out the Chicks have had with the Country Music establishment? A good overview of the situation (with a neutral point of view) can be found at Wikipedia.
• Meanwhile, the group has cut their seventh full-length CD. Top Of The World Tour Live is their first "Live" CD, and it may be their last "Nashville" release. Whatever they do in the future, expect the Chicks to have some surprises waiting for us! (And if you think I can't count, check out the Discography.)
• The Groobees (featuring Susan Gibson, the songwriter behind Wide Open Spaces) released Buy One Get Eleven Free... and then broke up! Their web site died in January, 2003, but don't worry -- you can visit the mirror site right here!
• Of course, Susan Gibson been staying busy. Her first solo release, Chin Up, is available at Texas Music Express. More info at her web site, SusanSongs.com.
• The male lead of The Groobees, Scott Melott, has also been on the go. His new group, Dead End Angels, continues the Groobee tradition of great songwriting with just a touch more edginess. Texas Music Express also carries their CDs.
• It's a tough business. Robin Macy's new group, Big Twang, released Pastures of Plenty. It's great -- check it out if you can! But it might be hard to find... Big Twang broke up, too. BigTwang.com soon followed, but it's also mirrored here.
• The Dixie Chicks responded to the tragedy of September 11, 2001 by singing "I Believe in Love" on the America: A Tribute To Heroes TV special and soundtrack album. They also recorded a stirring rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", and made it available on their site as a downloadable .exe file. For Mac users and the rest of us who do not download .exe's, the Flash version is available here on this site (635k .swf file).
  No I don't have permission, so don't tell the Lawyers!
• Sara Hickman re-released the full ten-track edition of the self-titled Domestic Science Club CD, including the standout song "Windmill and the Wind" that perfectly captures the essence of the original Dixie Chicks -- even though Robin Macy was the only former Chick on the disc. See the Discography for details, and visit Sara Hickman's site to buy it!
• Introduction to the Dixie Chicks
  The Dixie Chicks are red hot and on a roll... but did you know that they've been around for over a decade? This quick introduction will get you started with the basics of who they were... and how they've evolved into the divas of Country Music.
• The Complete Dixie Chicks Timeline
  Original content you won't find anyplace else! Now you can trace the facinating history of the Dixie Chicks from their 1980s roots, through their 1990s struggles, and on to their late 1990s triumphs.
  
  Sony Nashville has a timeline, but you'll have to come here to find out when founding Dixie Chicks Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy left the group.
• The Complete Discography
  The Dixie Chicks breakout album, Wide Open Spaces, is not the first release by the group... and I Can Love You Better isn't even their first single! This page includes information about past and future releases and compilations that include the Dixie Chicks -- from the 45 rpm single release Home On The Radar Range to their second major-label release, tentatively titled Sin Wagon but now tamed to Fly.


Read how Ready To Run, the first single from the new album, bridges the gap between the "Old Chicks" sound and the "New Chicks" attitude!
• The Chick Chat Archive
  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.
• Dixie Chicks Stories
  The Dixie Chicks have always been loyal to their fans, new and old. In fact, you can read several stories by new fans who have met the sweetest ladies in Country Music on any of the sites in the Dixie Chicks WebRing... but visit this page to read stories from before the Chicks hit big, when they played in school cafeterias, at private parties, and yes, on street corners in Dallas.
• Suzanne's Dixie Chicks Scrapbook
  The Dixie Chicks, old and new, have always been surrounded by appreciative and devoted fans. One of the "Old Chicks'" biggest fans was Suzanne Lamb, and she has very graciously given me her permission to tell her Dixie Chicks story in pictures! She started following the Chicks in late 1992 and stayed around all the way through the album release party for 1998's Wide Open Spaces.
• Dixie Chicks Pictures
  This page features images of the original Dixie Chicks, including Robin and Laura. It includes old publicity photos, scans of the CD liner notes from the first three albums, old concert photos and pictures of the original Dixie Chicks posing with their fans. And if you're surfing with images off, don't worry... this page is completely text-friendly, unlike far too many other Chicks Pix sites.
• Original Dixie Chicks MP3 Files
  Did you know that the Dixie Chicks released three independent albums before their six-million-selling Wide Open Spaces? Listen to these samples for echoes of something completely unique -- something Nashville had been missing for a long time.
  
  Samples Only! Full-length bootleg .mp3 filez are not available and I will not send you one by e-mail -- don't ask!
• History of this Site
  More than just the story behind this web site, learn here the story behind the Dixie Chicks' own forays into the World Wide Web. From the Chicks' first steps onto the 'net, through the rollercoaster ride of dixiechicks.com, and more! Includes an exclusive, fully functional mirror of the Chicks' first-ever web page, long since lost in 'net oblivion.
• Site Index (under construction)
  Direct links to every page on the site. If you're looking for something in particular, but don't need to go through the Timeline or Discography, you can find your way there from here. You'll find even more information on the Dixie Chicks' history, including Sound Files (and the corresponding Cease And Desist letter!), information on related groups like Domestic Science Club, Liner Notes, and my selections for the Greatest Hits of the Dixie Chicks. Now includes links to stories about the All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page -- and much more.
• Dixie Chicks Links (under construction)
  Among the dozens of web sites and news articles with information about the "new" Dixie Chicks are a handful of sites that discuss the full history of the group. Also includes links to other useful tidbits of info on the New Chicks, the Old Chicks, and even to other groups like The Groobees, who originally recorded the 4-week #1 smash-hit title cut to Wide Open Spaces.
• Update Announcements!
  If you'd like to be informed of updates to this site, then please subscribe to my announcement-only mailing list, hosted by eGroups. I'll be sending a short message once or twice a month detailing the latest additions. Click Here for complete details, or just sign up now:
  
  
  
  You can also sign up by email: just send a blank note to originalchicks-subscribe@egroups.com.
• Buy music by the Dixie Chicks (and friends)
  By late 1998, Dallas' Crystal Clear Sound lost the rights to publish the Dixie Chicks' independent releases. But check this page for hints on how to find these rarities on eBay -- and if you don't have $200 for a copy of Dale Evans, find out where to find some still-available gems by related artists.
• Hear the Dixie Chicks

  Dallas' KHYI 95.3 The Range has all the Chicks' CDs. (But can we get them played?)

  
  The Dixie Chicks' early releases (1990's Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, 1992's Little Ol' Cowgirl, and 1993's Shouldn't A Told You That) are running from $50 to $200 a piece on eBay, but if that's too rich for your blood, don't worry! There are a few radical country stations whose jocks knew the Chicks before they hit big. As the Internet gives small-signal and internet-only stations worldwide reach, the sweet sounds of the original Dixie Chicks are on the air again.

An Introduction to the Dixie Chicks
(all of them)

The Dixie Chicks are without a doubt the hottest "new" group to hit mainstream country music in years. In a genre dominated by Suburban Cowboys like Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus, they stand alone. The first all-female band to score a #1 hit, with There's Your Trouble, these ladies can actually play music, even if Martie and Emily's virtuoso string performances are sometimes hidden behind thick layers of generic studio music.

But they're not a new group -- these Chicks have paid their dues. And they've gone through some changes. Haven't we all?

What the Nashville marketing machine has chosen to ignore -- not surprisingly -- is the true history of the Dixie Chicks. By their own admission, the group is concerned about "confusion." But the current Dixie Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Emily Erwin, and Martie Seidel -- would not exist now if it were not for the Dixie Chicks of the past. It was Laura Lynch and Robin Macy, along with sisters Emily and Martie Erwin, who created the Dixie Chicks on a street corner in Dallas in 1989.

Return to the top to learn more...

They do remember!

That was then:

[Emily] Erwin and [Martie] Seidel are hardly rookies, though; the two recorded three albums on an indie label with another singer, a collection Erwin hopes "never surfaces," since "they don't have the pure Dixie Chicks sound." Which is? "Old-time country played with a new sensibility by three blonds is the best I can figure it."

- Entertainment Weekly, December 1998

This is now:

Says [Natalie] Maines: "There's three blondes who like hair and makeup and clothes, and unless you know the history -- that the band started 10 years ago and this configuration's been together for 4 years and all that -- it looks like it's just Nashville trying to make a country Spice Girls."

- Entertainment Weekly, July 1999

Way to go, Chicks!

The Dixie Chicks Webring, as well as the Dixie Chicks eGroups discussion list, is owned by Nici Larson. Her site, established in Spring 1998, is the first and the best of the "New Chicks" web sites -- be sure to visit dixiechicksfans.net (formerly .com) for the latest news and gossip.

Disclaimers

This page is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the Dixie Chicks, or by any of their present or past members. It is the original creation of Robert Brooks (dc at dixie dash chicks dot com), who is solely responsible for its content. The official Dixie Chicks web site can be found at dixiechicks.com.

All original material is (c) 1998-2006 by Robert Brooks. Original images (c) 1998-2000 by Cryptic Productions. Unless otherwise noted, all other images have been lifted from various company and fan sites, with attribution in the img tag.

Site Created: 08/19/1998
Last tiny Update: 03/23/2006 (Welcome, Rockzillians!)
Last notable Update: 09/27/2004 (Big CSS Facelift!)
Previous Updates: 09/19/2004, 12/23/2003, 11/14/2003, and 01/18/2003 was the first since 10/04/2001! Ouch!
http://www.dixie-chicks.com/
Even more outdated Mirror Site: http://rbrooks.tripod.com/

Original Site (now dead): http://www.dallas.net/~totoro/dixiechicks/

Links to this page appreciated, and here's a banner you can use if you like.

Banner design by Cryptic Productions
Other banners available: Small (310x40) and Small Animated (27k)

Hits since 10/15/1999: 9/7/00: 100,000 hits Thank you!

Layout and content by Robert Brooks, Little Cutie Consulting
Original graphics by Cryptic Productions
Hosted by Dryline Hosting, home of StormTrack.org. Got Tornado?
Free, reliable counter by Web-Counter
Domain registration services by Domain Direct