21. The Chicks Are All Punk

The B-Sides

Did you know that the act formerly known as the Dixie Chicks is the most punk band of all time? If you're not convinced already, you should be by the end of this episode...

While on tour in 2003 for their third smash album, frontwoman Natalie Maines spoke out against President Bush's decision to invade Iraq - all while much of America was subsumed in a post-9/11 fog of blind patriotism. In short order, The Chicks went from the top of the country music charts to public enemy no. 1, and never turned back. What ensued was the most pervasive, violent backlash to a pop artist in decades followed by a spiritually punk, sonically country-pop comeback album so immaculate we almost didn't deserve it. And then 14 years later, we got another one.

As we now move through this dangerous little post-2020 election moment, with a sociopathic autocrat still in the White House and a harm-reducing but still imperialist administration on the way, Mimi, Hannah, and Becky take a beat to appreciate the forever unwavering moral intuition and otherworldly harmonizing of The Chicks. Some artists truly do have it all, and punk's not dead.

To everyone who contributed thoughts to this episode and walked with us through several inflection points in The Chicks' career - thank you so much! Let the conversation continue...

Thank you for subscribing and leaving a review! Make sure to follow us on insta: instagram.com/listentothebsides and join the facebook group: bit.ly/bsidesfbgroup

You can now leave us a voicemail! Click here to record a voicemail for us.

Join our Patreon!

And find us everywhere you find your podcasts! Including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.