QUOTES

We didn't like the idea of Dixie Chick action figures. I mean that's just the kiss of death for a group. How could a hip teenager enjoy the Dixie Chicks while their little sister is playing with a Martie doll in the other room?

I want our fans to get their money's worth. If they are going to spend $40 to come to a show, it has to be good, from beginning to end. I like razzle-dazzle; we all do.

I grew up going to bluegrass festivals, and there were performers who got on stage and didn't say much. They would stand there, stone-faced, picking. I could appreciate that, but it taught me that a little showmanship and some personality adds so much to a performance.

When you get a record deal, you got to be pretty headstrong, know your direction.

We've never minded working hard.

We came out of bluegrass, so we could play.

We don't mind if people think we've come from nowhere. Because once they've become fans, they'll delve deeper in and will be surprised to find we've been around awhile and that we've had a lot of experience doing this.

We are a little out of the box.

We want to embrace the younger crowds and get them to embrace instruments.

We used to be called the Dixie Chickens. Then we played at a barbecue place, and they had a sign saying, 'Featured Tonight: The Dixie Chickens,' and everybody started ordering it for dinner! So we shortened it.

We were the ones that from the beginning said that 'Wide Open Spaces' was a hit. 'This is a hit, people are going to relate to it.'

While we were promoting 'Wide Open Spaces,' we set aside time to write. We went on several writing retreats where nobody could get hold of us. It was the only way we could take a step back and reflect and write and be living a semi-normal life for a while.

You can't just keep bottling the same thing over and over again and think the audience isn't going to catch on.

Fifteen-year-old LeAnn Rimes singing about commitment? You want to go, 'Yeah, right.'

We do appreciate that we have a very conservative audience and we do try to walk the fine line of that and not offend anybody.

You get your time in the limelight but you don't know how long it's going to last. It's great, but you have to put up with a lot.

We're just trying to make good music.

So many young kids are fickle when it comes to music. There comes a time when you're not cool again.

I was just oblivious to the fact that the country scene was socially backward and politically opposite of everything I am.

We grew up in the South, but in a very liberal household - both our parents are from the Northeast.

I didn't realize how polarized an industry like music can be.

I would never go on 'Dancing With the Stars,' because I'm not the greatest dancer in the world. But when I watch 'The Apprentice' sometimes I'm like, 'I could do that task.' The only reason I would not do that is that I could never call people for money and on that show you have to be willing to call people for money.

We love performing, we love touring.

The Court Yard Hounds aren't a threat to the Dixie Chicks.

We've played music all our lives.

Especially after the Chicks' success, it's hard to think of starting over.

SXSW is all about the music and the collaboration.

We have to make a living and you can't do that playing bluegrass.

It's not like we were setting out to make a political statement - we're just a band with opinions.

In the beginning, if you look at those early label albums of the Chicks, we didn't write all that much. We had an A&R person and they were getting songs from publishers, listening to hours and hours of cassette tapes.