Listen Up! This time on episode 527, Marty Shannon joins us, Rick Steves and his travel agency are doing big things, the crew plays an interesting game of Oobat, and also, have you ever experienced a blackout? …enjoy. The Brett Davern Show is streamed LIVE daily at 10am (eastern) 7am (pacific) on idobi Radio at https://idobi.com Follow Brett on social media @BDavv, Katie : @KatieLeclerc, the show @BrettDavernShow
Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week stands up in the defense of the Dixie Chicks.
LOS ANGELES – In the weeks leading up to the 49th Grammy Awards, many miles of verbiage were unspooled by slick-suited TV pundits and somewhat bitter music journalists to dissect, predict and pick apart music’s biggest night. But as the awards themselves actually unfolded, live from the Staples Center, it was the moments in which very little – if anything at all – was said that carried the most weight. Whether it was the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines simply – and somewhat fittingly – quoting “The Simpsons” in a kiss-off to the group’s many critics; Chris Brown’s footstep-perfect rendition of… Read more »
Ticket sales from the Dixie Chicks’ current Top Of The World tour are nearing the $60-million mark, setting the trio up to be the top-grossing country tour of the year. With 56 shows under their belt so far, the Dixie Chicks’ average attendance is upwards of 16,000 fans per show. The group’s manager, Simon Renshaw, told Billboard, “The bottom line is, for all the so-called controversy…the Dixie Chicks’ fans remained totally loyal throughout the tour,” referring to lead singer Natalie Maine’s much-publicized anti-Bush comment. The Dixie Chicks will wrap up the North America leg of their tour on August 13… Read more »
Dixie Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines says she spoke against President Bush and war with Iraq last month out of frustration and regrets her choice of words, but she makes no apologies for thinking critically. “I’m not truly embarrassed that, you know, President Bush is from my state, that’s not really what I care about,” Maines says in an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer for “Primetime Thursday,” airing 10 p.m. EDT Thursday. “It was the wrong wording with genuine emotion and questions and concern behind it…. Am I sorry that I asked questions and that I just don’t follow? No.”… Read more »
After 10 months of legal wrangling, the Dixie Chicks are expected to sign a new deal soon with Sony Music Entertainment, according to Billboard magazine. Sony has been home for the Texas trio for the past five years, but recent rumors had the Chicks heading to Capitol Records. Last July, the group’s attorneys served Sony with notice that its contract was terminated “by reason of Sony’s material misconduct and material breaches.” The Chicks still owed five albums, so Sony responded with a lawsuit to keep the group from leaving. The cross-complaint called the Dixie Chicks’ charges “trumped up and baseless,”… Read more »
Though the annual South by Southwest Music Conference is known as a place for up-and-coming bands to get noticed, there’ll be several artists at next year’s 16th annual festival who already have hits under their belts. Hanson, who were discovered at 1994’s SXSW and played at last year’s fest as well, will return again to the music industry schmooze extravaganza in Austin, Texas. They’ll join such other airwave veterans as Marcy Playground (“Sex and Candy”), Girls Against Boys (“Kill the Sexplayer”) and Jesus Jones (“Right Here, Right Now”). Of course, the underground is still represented in full-force, as the lineup… Read more »
The Dixie Chicks have earned their spot in the 2002 edition of Guinness World Records for having the all-time best-selling country album by a group with their debut effort, Wide Open Spaces. “When I read all the outrageous things people have done to make it into the book, I feel guilty that we did it by selling records,” says lead singer Natalie Maines. “No one else had 11 million people help them like we did.” The trio’s combined sales of their two albums, Wide Open Spaces and Fly, total more than 20 million copies worldwide. Published since 1955, Guinness World… Read more »
Country pop trio the Dixie Chicks are suing Sony Music Entertainment, seeking to terminate their contract and accusing the Japanese recording giant of cheating the singers out of more than $4 million. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York and made public Tuesday, charges that Sony engaged in “systematic thievery” to underpay royalties owed the Grammy-winning act since 1998 for two multiplatinum albums released by Sony’s Monument imprint. The Dixie Chicks – Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Robison – are the latest in a growing list of recording stars to rebel against the… Read more »
After brandishing an iron fist Tuesday by suing the Dixie Chicks for breach of contract, Sony Music extended a velvet glove on Wednesday through a statement that practically caresses the top-selling trio. “We filed this complaint to confirm that the Dixie Chicks remain signed to an exclusive recording contract with Sony Music,” the statement read. “We take great pride in the work we have done in establishing the Dixie Chicks as the most popular and biggest selling female country group of all time. We have tremendous respect for all of the Dixie Chicks, as well as for their extraordinary music.”… Read more »
