The Dixie Chicks are back with new name and album
‘Gaslighter’ was recorded and co-writen with Jack Antonoff, a Grammy-winning producer-artist known for recording with Taylor Swit, Lana Del Rey and Lorde
The Dixie Chicks are no more. Breaking their ties to the South, The Chicks are stepping into a new chapter in their storied career with their first new music in 14 years. The Texas trio of Emily Robison, Martie Maguire and Natalie Maines have been teasing new music for a year, and “Gaslighter” finally drops on July 17 when the nation is embroiled in divisive politics, cancel culture and a racial reckoning.
“It just seemed like a good reflection on our times,” said Maines. “In 20 years, we’ll look back at that album cover and title and remember exactly what was going on in the country right then.”
“Gaslighter” is a term that describes a psychological abuser who manipulates the truth to make a person feel crazy. In recent years, it’s been used to describe powerful men like Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump.
“I think most everybody has a gaslighter in their lives somewhere,” said Strayer. “But, yeah, it was so weird how it echoes our current administration.”
As the best-selling female group in RIAA history, The Chicks appealed to a generation of country fans who saw themselves in the band’s stories, whether it was “Wide Open Spaces” or “Cowboy Take Me Away.” Their first major label record in 1998 has sold 13 million copies in the US alone.
With Maguire on fiddle and Strayer on banjo, they were all steeped in bluegrass and classic country, but relished in fun country pop on crossover songs like “Goodbye Earl.” They were country music’s next big thing until suddenly the door was slammed on them.
In 2003, as then-president George Bush was preparing to invade Iraq, the trio were playing a show in London when Maines announced they were ashamed that the president was from Texas.
The fallout became country music lore, a warning to stay away from political talk, especially of the liberal kind. Jack Antonoff pushed them to use their core strength, the three-part harmonies backed by fiddle and banjo, in new ways.
Their last album, 2006’s “Taking The Long Way,” earned five Grammys, including album of the year, and won over masses of fans who never listened to them before. But it’s unlikely the fans who turned their back on The Chicks 17 years ago are going to feel any different about their return.
When The Chicks and Beyoncé performed at the Country Music Association Awards in 2016, a vocal minority unleashed their anger on social media at the idea that both artists would be invited to perform.
Although their fallout occurred before Twiter or Facebook, The Chicks have a unique viewpoint on the rise of cancel culture, when prominent people are atacked online in an almost mob mentality.
“On one hand, you know, it’s freeing now. People just are way more vocal,” said Maines. “But then the downside is one slip up, one major slip up, and no publicist can make that go away.”