Freedom of speech is gone in this country. There is a file on everyone somewhere with all the surveillance done on everyone and besides that, you can’t even express your self publicly without being banned by someone somewhere. Look at what happened to the Dixie Chicks? They have vanished coincidentally right after one of those pretty girls said something negative about Bush in Texas. I guess that is just too much for some.

 

I love the sound of those three girls singing in perfect harmony to a southern country beat. I loved that they could play other instruments too. One is on the banjo, the other on the violin and another on the guitar while singing. That is my idea of a woman multi-tasking. Pretty, smart and lots of talent. I loved their spunk when they sang their 2006 Grammy Award winning hit, “I’m Not Ready To Make Nice” like every woman who makes her man wait and then makes it really nice and worth the wait.

 

The trio is still the best selling female group in the country. They are two sisters Emily Erwin Robinson and Martie Erwin Maguire and lead singer Natalie Maines. They felt like they were winning the lottery 10 years in a row because they were so popular. Then it happened that bumped them off that cool fun ride of success. It was at a concert in London in 2003 when Natalie decided to speak her mind about the decision of then President Bush to invade Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction that never existed.

She simply said, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” Those three sentences changed everything. Gone is the protesters who even publicly burned the American flag because they were angry about something and survived. Now, if you say 3 sentences against your government you are pretty much ruined financially.

They went from the top of the charts to the basement in a matter of weeks. People yelled at them, “Shut Up And Sing.” Although the girls did release one album after that , the now 38 year old Natalie Maines pretty much stays home raising her child in Los Angeles tending to her desert garden. Recently she released her newest and solo album called Mother. It is popular music and less country. She was singing since she was 4 years old having a father who was a professional steel guitarist. Natalie was accepted to the Berkley School of Music at age 16 with a scholarship.

There was a year when they won a Grammy in every category in which they were nominated including Best Country Album of the year called Taking The Long Way. Who knows maybe the girls will get back together again but for sure Natalie is not quiet. Her new album tells us where she is now. A new Mom tending to her desert garden.