Tom Roland
07/21/2003
SANTA MONTICA, Calif. -- Since the Dixie Chicks first
emerged on a national level nearly six years ago, they
have benefited from numerous votes for music industry
awards. Now, just months after an off-the-cuff remark
about the president drew them into national debates
about free speech and patriotism, the Texas-based trio
hopes to impact a more significant ballot.
The Chicks have aligned themselves with non-partisan
Rock the Vote in an effort to register 100,000 young
female voters before the 2004 presidential election.
They have also donated $100,000 -- more than any other
artist has ever given to Rock the Vote -- to create a
forum section on the agency's Web site, in which voters
can learn where presidential candidates stand on
specific issues that affect their lives.
"I think everything that has happened in the last few
months happened for a reason," lead singer Natalie
Maines said during a press conference Monday (July 21)
in Santa Monica, Calif. "A lot of positive things have
come from that, and this is just one of them. We're
very dedicated and motivated about all of this now."
For anyone who may have been living in a remote jungle
during 2003, the Chicks were lambasted in the U.S.
after Maines made a caustic remark about President
George W. Bush just days before war broke out in Iraq.
During a concert in London, she introduced "Travelin'
Soldier" by telling the audience she was "ashamed the
president of the United States is from Texas." The
crowd cheered wildly, but many Americans were not
amused. Despite apologizing for the "disrespectful"
tone of the comment, the group was branded in some
quarters as unpatriotic. Many radio stations banned
them from the airwaves, CD burnings were organized and
the group claims their personal property was vandalized.
Still, the American concerts were sold out before the
controversy ever erupted. Their fans have almost
unanimously gone ahead and attended the concerts, even
buying T-shirts that encourage the Chicks' critics to
"Free Natalie." Instead of being beaten down by the
experience, the Chicks are apparently inspired by the
idea that Americans not only have the right to speak
their minds but also have an imperative to exercise
that right.
"From our personal experience," Emily Robison admitted,
"sometimes that's difficult to do."
But not every citizen is challenged at the same level
as the Dixie Chicks, particularly at election time.
"The voting booth is anonymous," Robison observed. "You
close the curtain, and you don't have to answer press
questions."
The "incident," as the group likes to call Maines'
infamous British statement, has literally forced the
Chicks to become more aware of the democratic process.
They insist, as Martie Maguire said, that they "don't
have any agenda" outside of empowering young women to
exercise their voice.
Each of the Chicks has voted in recent presidential
elections and at least some Texas gubernatorial votes,
although Maguire says she regrets the years that she
passed up the privilege.
In fact, many members of the Chicks' fan base routinely
ignore their right to participate. Only 36 percent of
Americans aged 18-24 voted in November 2000, according
to Rock the Vote, which is part of the reason they have
enlisted the band as "spokesChicks."
"If you wanna know why we're focusing on young women,"
Jehmu Greene, executive director of Rock the Vote,
said, "you should've been at the concert on Saturday
night."
The Chicks played to a sold-out Staples Center, one of
three dates this week in Southern California. With the
audience tilting heavily toward young women, many of
them were parroting the words of all the Chicks' songs
-- including the non-hits -- back to the artists.
Several of their trademark songs, including "Wide Open
Spaces" and (in a darkly humorous manner) "Goodbye
Earl," encourage women specifically to actively change
their own future. If that female demographic gets
behind the Chicks' Rock the Vote initiative, they may
contribute to a change in a much greater manner.
Rock the Vote press materials emphasized that the last
presidential election was decided by a margin of just
450 votes in Florida. More than 170,000 young people,
eligible to cast a ballot, did not.
In its 13 years of existence, Rock the Vote has
registered 3 million new voters with the assistance of
artists from every musical field, including R&B veteran
Stevie Wonder, rock activists Rage Against the Machine,
rapper Kid Rock, soft-rocker Elton John and country
stalwarts Reba McEntire, Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam.
Voting, Maines emphasized in a prepared statement,
"gives us all equal opportunity, when it really counts,
to affect so many things that influence what our lives,
our children's lives, our country [and] our world will
be like."
"Contrary to what has been portrayed in the media," she
added, "we never had intentions of becoming a political
band, but like it or not, we've been placed on a unique
political platform in the past months, and we feel it
would be irresponsible not to try to make something
positive come of that."