I'm not a fan of the Dixie Chicks, and don't like Country Music in general. But, I'm aware of the controversy surrounding them of course. And for the most part, all of this has been meaningless as far as any impact on my life.
Also, where I work, my boss is a devout Southern Baptist. Although I'm completely not religious, we tend to get along fairly well and have for a number of years. Sometimes we debate things, but it's never really personal. Today that changed however.
I mentioned that Howard Stern was interviewing the Dixie Chicks this morning, and he went on a hate filled rant saying things like, "They don't deserve to be on the air anywhere," and, "They shouldn't be allowed to speak in public". Now, these statements when written don't sound that bad, but they were said with the most venomous tone I've ever heard come out of this guys' mouth. He's one of these people that won't curse, has to pray before every meal, calls his dad "Sir", you get the picture. But he has this extreme vile hate he apparently reserves just for the Dixie Chicks. I of course couldn't resist telling him that because of his reaction, they are now my new heroes.
But, this event really got me to thinking. Why do people get so irrationally angry over what a few girls in a Country Music band said? Why does expressing disagreement with our government cause some people to become so filled with anger that they think the expression of controversial opinions deserves extreme punishment?
I can understand not playing them on certain radio stations, or not buying their albums if one disagrees with their positions on issues. But what drives some people to want to burn their albums, issue death threats, and yell obscenities at these women and their kids? Why is this kind of intolerance not only tolerated, but considered appropriate in certain groups in this country?
Is civilized discourse even possible in this country anymore?

i'm SB... didn't like 'em before their comments, still don't like 'em after. their music just plain sucks, IMO, they make me want to shoot my radio.

and FWIW, i like some country music.

Loved them before, loved them after. Their music kicks ass.

i'm SB... didn't like 'em before their comments, still don't like 'em after. their music just plain sucks, IMO, they make me want to shoot my radio.

and FWIW, i like some country music.

I like them better after Howard got one of them (Emily I think) to admit to a threesome and Natalie admitted she doesn't wear underwear. I won't listen to their music, but that information makes them more likeable in my opinion.
But I find your comment reasonable, which is not the norm at least here in the Bible Belt if you mention the name "Dixie Chicks" to the average Southern Baptist.
Mentioning "Dixie Chicks" here doesn't get a comment like, "I don't care for their music". It gets such a strong emotional reaction that you find yourself wondering if you're going to have to resort to violence to get out of the conversation.

I don't care about the Dixie Chicks, like you, but I ALSO don't give a crap about the opinions of YOUR boss.

I don't care about the Dixie Chicks, like you, but I ALSO don't give a crap about the opinions of YOUR boss.

I don't really care about his opinions either to be honest. I care about the fact that his opinions are shared by several thousand people though. That's what bothers me and why I considered it worth posting. What is it that makes people able to get spitting mad over what some girls in some country band say? How is this possible even?

Why did some people care because one guy once said his band was "more popular than Jesus now"?

Music is a very personal thing with all of us one way or the other,in the cases of The Dixie Chicks and The Beatles they were both going for a mass appeal that crossed all musical and social boundaries and both groups found out the hard way that when you cross that line,even slightly,you will polarize some people,it can't be avoided and if you polarize people who thought you were something you weren't [even if it was the fault of the other person,not your fault ] some will take it as a personal attack.

Another person had had such mass appeal and did not express himself on anything controversial was Elvis Presley ,as such he lost no record sales or box office ,but I think we saw what having to spend every waking hour living up to an image[or images] did to him too and it wasn't pretty.

The Beatles weren't hurt by Lennon's statement though. The band ceased to exist long before the public stopped buying their records.
And in the case of Elvis, his career definitely had its ups and downs. By the time he died, he was a fat nasty band doing shows in Vegas. Now that he's dead, people have the luxury of picking and choosing what images of him they care to keep in circulation.
But, your point is definitely valid. I just think there is something fundamentally different between the world the Beatles and Elvis lived in and the world we live in now. That somehow public displays of hatred are more acceptable now.

if i had to guess, i'd say that those who liked the dixie chicks feel betrayed by them. most counrty fans are generally politically conservative, support the military, etc. if they identified with the chicks, thought the chicks were like them, a representation of the "country" lfestyle, and opinion, and all that that entails. if they bought into that crap, then for the chicks to say the things they have, its a huge betrayel. rock stars and hollywood types are supposed to have those opinions, but not good ol fashioned country girls like the dixie chicks. again, this is just my speculation, as i've never been a fan. i always thought they worked too hard to try and sell the "down home girls" image, and they always seemed disingenuous (sp?).

I think jwreck has some good points.

The fact is most alt-country fans [like me]are liberals [as I am]and it seems that most mainstream country fans are very conservative [and I don't like much mainstream modern country,some I do, but I love alt-country,which to me is closer to the real country music I grew up with in a rural area,modern country is not rural music but is suburban music].


The Dixie Chicks [who took their name from the song "Dixie Chicken" by the then alt-rock band Little Feet]appealed to both alt-country and mainstream country fans [plus pop] alike.

When all this shit hit the fan the DCs had a great single out called "Travelin' Soldier" about a young man killed in Veitnam that is so impartial it can be taken as the ultimate anti-war song [which I do indeed see it as] but many manistream country listeners saw it as a pro-war song and that probabaly did play a big part in the subconcious of many of the formerly pro-Chick people who became anti-Chick people.


But we are talking country fans in Red State America,there are Blue State country fans too [and I'm not talking alt]and Blue State country stations [for the most part] did not partake in the anti-Chick hysteria.

I think some right-wing people in Red States [who have never heard of Little Feet] interperted The name Dixie Chicks as having right-wing connotations that such interperters agreed with[if they studied the Chicks' history they'd found that Natalie Manies was an anti-racism activist at her high school in Texas].

Check out Music Row Democrats website : www.musicrowdemocrats.comwhere Natalie Maines says "Every day a soldier dies I am proud that I spoke out",I agree with her on that,but I can see where to Red Staters that's like waving a red cape in front of a bull.

And part of this goes back to Toby Ketih's ultra-jingoistic record "The Angry American ",where Keith tells Arbabic nations "We'll put a boot up your ass,it's the American way",Natalie Manies said that song made country music look "ignorant " and many Keith fans/Red Staters etc. were upset with that,well I agree with her [and alt-country people like Steve Earle and his wife Allison Mooere] ,that those are indeed the most ignorant lyrics in popular music history in my view,yet the song was a big pop and country hit,lots people disagree with that [including some conservatvies like Ronnie Dunn of Brooks And Dunn] but lots of peple agree with it too.

I suggest you read the book Rednecks And Bluenecks:The Politics Of Country Music ,it shows how this society has gotten so polarized as it has [Ronald Reagan's abolition of the Fairness Doctrine and Bill Clinton's making it easier for monopolies like Clear Channel to exist are major reasons].

I should add that most alt-country fans [incuding myself] love Ricky Skaggs' music and he is a very conservative Bush-backer.

Yet,I love his music and will continue to buy it,so do virtually all alt-country fans,and he knows that too,in the book Rednecks And Bluenecks he says he knows most of his fans are liberals,yet fans like me buy his records anyway and say he has the right to have his viewpoint even if we don't agree with it.

In other words ,I think this shows a major difference in how many liberals and many conservatives look at viewpoints other than theirs.

I should add that most alt-country fans [incuding myself] love Ricky Skaggs' music and he is a very conservative Bush-backer.

Yet,I love his music and will continue to buy it,so do virtually all alt-country fans,and he knows that too,in the book Rednecks And Bluenecks he says he knows most of his fans are liberals,yet fans like me buy his records anyway and say he has the right to have his viewpoint even if we don't agree with it.

In other words ,I think this shows a major difference in how many liberals and many conservatives look at viewpoints other than theirs.
is it ever possible for to say something without the sweeping generaliztions? i mean really, you think you speak for alt-country fans?

As I don't listen to Country Music at all, this has been very educational. I didn't realize there were divisions within the genre itself.
I hope the Dixie Chicks continue to do well then, though I don't like their music of course.

is it ever possible for to say something without the sweeping generaliztions? i mean really, you think you speak for alt-country fans?

I don't speak for anybody but myself,but facts are facts : The overwhelming majority of readers of No Depression [the alt-country Bible] are liberal.

Polls,surveys,demographics ,people who work in alt-country all show that the overwhelming majority of alt-country fans are liberal.

Anyway,I don't know why you take this so personally because you obviously haven't heard this joke: alt-Country [or Americana] is the only genre that has more musicans than fans.:rofl:

Hell,the only big name in current country music who has outed himself as a liberal is Tim Mc Graw,even then he doesn't take hard stands ,look at Music Row Democrats [which is pretty much alt] www.musicrowdemocrats.com everybody in it [Nanci Griffith ,Rodney Crowell,Pam Tillis,The Mavericks' Raul Malo] are people who can't be hurt by modern country radio boycotting them ,because modern country radio doesn't play them anymore in the first place[the same can also be said of Steve Earle,Allison Mooere,Shelby Lynne ,Lyle Lovett,kd lang and Roseanne Cash,except Cash ,Earle and Moore have left Nashville for New York City,Lynne and lang left Nashville for L.A. -not to mention lang coming out of the closet-and Lovett left Nashville and went back to Texas].

There are some alt-counry fans who are conservative [ I can think of one who works with William F. Buckely's National Review] but even he says he's in the vast minority of alt-country fans.

If you had a problem with what I said about Ricky Skagss[though Skaggs himself says that most of his fans are liberals,"The NPR crowd" he calls them ],bluegrass has the most diverse demographics of any genre.

Bluegrass fans are mostly alt-country liberals,but there are also many bluegrass fans who are Appalachian [as I partly am] who regard it as their heritage and some of the more manistream country fans who like many of the traditional and religious values in the history of the genere.

I don't know why you are upset,everything I said was factual,if I said all alt-country fans were liberals you would have reason to be critical,I didn't say that.

I don't speak for anybody but myself,but facts are facts : The overwhelming majority of readers of No Depression [the alt-country Bible] are liberal.

Polls,surveys,demographics ,people who work in alt-country all show that the overwhelming majority of alt-country fans are liberal.

Anyway,I don't know why you take this so personally because you obviously haven't heard this joke: alt-Country [or Americana] is the only genre that has more musicans than fans.:rofl:

Hell,the only big name in current country music who has outed himself as a liberal is Tim Mc Graw,even then he doesn't take hard stands ,look at Music Row Democrats [which is pretty much alt] www.musicrowdemocrats.com everybody in it [Nanci Griffith ,Rodney Crowell,Pam Tillis,The Mavericks' Raul Malo] are people who can't be hurt by modern country radio boycotting them ,because modern country radio doesn't play them anymore in the first place[the same can also be said of Steve Earle,Allison Mooere,Shelby Lynne ,Lyle Lovett,kd lang and Roseanne Cash,except Cash ,Earle and Moore have left Nashville for New York City,Lynne and lang left Nashville for L.A. -not to mention lang coming out of the closet-and Lovett left Nashville and went back to Texas].

There are some alt-counry fans who are conservative [ I can think of one who works with William F. Buckely's National Review] but even he says he's in the vast minority of alt-country fans.

If you had a problem with what I said about Ricky Skagss[though Skaggs himself says that most of his fans are liberals,"The NPR crowd" he calls them ],bluegrass has the most diverse demographics of any genre.

Bluegrass fans are mostly alt-country liberals,but there are also many bluegrass fans who are Appalachian [as I partly am] who regard it as their heritage and some of the more manistream country fans who like many of the traditional and religious values in the history of the genere.

I don't know why you are upset,everything I said was factual,if I said all alt-country fans were liberals you would have reason to be critical,I didn't say that.
i'm not upset, and i don't take it personally, i just think you should take off the political glasses every now and then and look around at the world. everything is not about right and left. i don't know the political leanings of most fans or artists of any musical genre. why? because i don't really care. what any musician thinks about politics really doesn't affect my life. they're musicians, and i listen to music for musics sake. politics don't ever enter my mind, until they decide to make it an issue, and honestly, it usually turns me off about a performer for them to try and get very political. i just think life would be more fun for you if you everything you did didn't revolve around being left vs right. :shrug:

Well ,it is a left v. right world,especially since 9/11.

The point I was making is that I [and I think many others] trust the art more than the artist.

People on the anti-Chicks bandwagon [and they are conservative,though they obviously don't represent all conservatives]don't seem to feel that way.

I repect what you say about art v. politics,and I have no doubt many feel the same way you do,but many do not as well.

The Beatles weren't hurt by Lennon's statement though. The band ceased to exist long before the public stopped buying their records.
And in the case of Elvis, his career definitely had its ups and downs. By the time he died, he was a fat nasty band doing shows in Vegas. Now that he's dead, people have the luxury of picking and choosing what images of him they care to keep in circulation.
But, your point is definitely valid. I just think there is something fundamentally different between the world the Beatles and Elvis lived in and the world we live in now. That somehow public displays of hatred are more acceptable now.

It didn't cost The Beatles like it did the Chicks ,but it was never the same again for The Beatles either.

While The Beatles were the top tour of '66 [the tour when that shit hit the fan],not every show sold out [unlike the previous two years],their music and image changed,and while they kept most of their original fans and devleoped new fans,they did indeed lose some of their old fans.

I've always maintained that if Mick Jagger had said 'The Rolling Stones are more popular than Jesus now',there would have been no controversy because The Stones have never tried to appeal to everybody,The Beatles [like The Dixie Chicks] did try to appeal to everyone and [like The Chicks]found out the hard way that you really can't do that.


And while The Beatles continued to have high record sales in 1967 [the year of "Strawberry Fields" and Sgt. Pepper] The Monkees were the biggest selling act of that year by a country mile[beleive it or not for awhile The Monkees were outselling Elvis and The Beatles at the same point in their careers].

As for Elvis Presley,I was a all-around /music junkie/ teenager in the early and the fact is that Elvis in the early '70's had the strongest record sales from the most diverse walks of life than any other artist [the solo Beatles and maybe Elton John came the closest and it wasn't that close].

In the early 70s people who bought Elvis records ranged form lefties who followed the Weather Underground,to ultra-conservative Republicans ,from 80 year-old grannies to long-haired teenagers.

From people who also listened to Led Zepplin to people who also listened to Merle Haggard.

There was a press conference in 1972 where Elvis was asked about Veitnam [which it turned out he had hawkish feelings about] and he refused to give an opinion saying "I'm just an entertainer".

The real reason was that Elvis [and I don't think even Tom Parker played a big role in this] knew that if he said what he felt he would loose fans and loose money.

Now,in being able to have that many walks of life admiring him,they all had to have different [and even contradictory] images of him and it takes a major toll on a person to have live up to one image someone has of them ,let alone several different ones and I think all of that strain did play a major part in his demise.


I think both The Beatles and The Dixie Chicks show you can't be all things to all people and remain true to yourself,I thiink Elvis Presley shows that sucessfully being all things to all people comes at a major price that most of us wouldn't want to pay.

i just think you should take off the political glasses every now and then and look around at the world. everything is not about right and left.
:werd:

more ppl need to realize this.