I don’t know what took them so long. After the simple-minded kneejerk cries of treason and the ridiculous record burning shindigs, I was disappointed a while ago when the Dixie Chicks went to the media to apologize for their statement expressing “shame” at George W Bush’s unstoppable lust for war. I was hoping they would denounce all those turncoat fans. Good riddance, they should’ve said. We prefer an audience that has a clue. Just because you live near cattle doesn’t mean you have to act like them. Unfortunately their publicity machine forced them into a tentative mea culpa, even though their attack on Bush was simply stating the obvious.It took a while, but realization has finally hit them. Fiddlist Martie Maguire today, in Germany’s Der Spiegel [link to Austin Business Journal article, link to Men’s News Daily article], has finally admitted the band has received a warmer welcome from the rock/pop crowd than their homegrown country throng, and as a result they are seriously considering leaving country music. I really doubt this will change the Chicks’ sound too much — their version of folk and bluegrass doesn’t conform to country radio anyway. And I doubt it will change their name. But as a humble representative of the pop/rock audience I welcome them to the fold, and I look forward to what they have planned. Country music doesn’t deserve you anyway.
