FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2006
Dixie Chicks stay afloat
in tempest caused by
anti-Bush remark
BY CHRISTY LEMIRE
Associated Press
The Dixie Chicks would probably think of themselves as
mothers first, then musicians.
They became accidental
political figures - then they
had to figure out how to reinvent themselves.
"Shut Up & Sing, a documentary from directors Barbara
Kopple and Cecilia Peck, follows
the country trio after lead singer
Natalie Maines' offhanded onstage comment that the group
was ashamed that President
Bush was a fellow Texan.
It's not that the remark itself was
shocking or even terribly provocative. But the backlash from the
country music industry, from the
South, from the core of the Chicks'
fan base was just stunning in its
vitriol and hypocrisy The same
people who are so proud to live in
a country where freedom of
speech is an inalienable right
wanted to silence these women-
and worse.
Many complained that Maines
shouldn't have said such a thing
on foreign soil (a 2003 concert in
London) as the United States was
about to go to war in Iraq. And as
fiddler Martie Maguire so astutely
points out, it's the source of the
comment that made it seem
offensive: These were America's
sweethearts from the heartland,
the top-selling female act of all
time. At the film's start, they're
singing the national anthem at
the Super Bowl You can't get
much more patriotic than that
"Shut Up & Sing" teeters on the
edge of deifying Maines, Maguire
and her sister, banjo and guitar
player Emily Robison, for their
perseverance. They manage to
maintain their family lives (Robison, who already had a son, gives
birth to twins during fllming) and,
as importantly, they stick by each
other throughout When they
finally come up with a response to
post on their Web site, it's always
"we" and "us," not "I,", or "me."
But the film also focuses on the
shrewd, almost cynical strategies
they adopt (with the help of
manager Simon Renshaw, who
thinks the hubbub will die down
in "three days, tops ) in trying to
keep their career afloat. As country radio stations stop playing the
Chicks' music, and even provide
trash cans for angry fans to toss
out their CDs, they learn to find
new places to play, newways to
attract listeners. The now-famous
Entertainment Weekly cover, in
which the three appeared naked
and covered in black writing with
words like "boycott and "traitors, was the slickest, most
striking move of all.
Robison acknowledges that
maybe the anti-Bush remark was
the best thing that ever could have
happened to the Dixie Chicks, an
incredibly insightful point. They
were at the top of their game-
literally on their "Top of the
World tour" at the time - and the
upheaval they endured forced
them to become hungry again, to
feel a creative spark
For their defiant next album,
"Taking the Long Way, featuring
the single "Not Ready to Make
Nice, they sat down with producer Rick Rubin (who's worked
with such diverse acts as Neil Diamond and the Beastie Boys) and
took their sound, and their lyrics,
in an entirely new direction.
Kopple, the two-time Academy
Award-winning documentarian,
and Peck were there for all of this
- and they had the benefit of
countless hours of footage the
Chicks were already shooting for
use on their Web site. They've
gotten so used to having cameras
around that they're completely
uninhibited in what they say and
do. There are plenty of candid
conversations to savor and enjoy
especially as the women battle
uber-patriot and fellow country
star Toby Keith.
And whether you love or hate
the outspoken Maines, you've
got to give her this much: She's
never boring.
For fans, and new convertsas
well, there is plenty of music -
on stage, in recording sessions, in
rehearsals, just messing around.
Maines' piercingly clear voice
and the Chicks' smooth harmonies and beautiful blending of
sounds ultimately cut through
everything: the rhetoric, the
noise, the hatred.
"ShutUp & Sing"
* * *
out of four
Opens today
A documentary produced by David
Cassidy, Claude Davies, Barbara Kopple
and Cecilia Peck. Directed by Barbara
Kopple and Cecilia Peck. A Weinstein
Company release. Rated R (language).
Running time: 93 minutes.