Superstars, renegades, innovators, heroes, villains, and moms: That’s how the Chicks describe themselves, though there are many ways that you might. Maybe you know the Chicks as the band F.K.A. as the Dixie Chicks — the trio from Dallas comprising Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer, and Martie McGuire, before they changed their name in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Maybe you know them as the band that spoke out in London against the Iraq War in 2003 and saw themselves become one of the first victims of “cancel culture” (or, more accurately, undemocratic censorship). Maybe you know them as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s collaborators, or perhaps you just know them as one of the most successful all-women bands of all time, who crafted some of the most potent, defiant, and catchy country music ever made.
However you know the Chicks, their impact and legacy is undeniable.
But when the Chicks released their 2006 album Taking the Long Way, they changed their relationship with their primary association: country music. After the now infamous incident where Maines declared that she was “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” Nashville dropped them in what seemed like (and really was) an instant. While the Music Row machine distanced itself, a new fanbase appeared, drawn first to what the trio stood for, and then to their songs. The Chicks became something almost post-genre, regardless of what their music sounded like. They went on to represent so many facets of American life — sexism, politics, authenticity, censorship — and fighting for what you believe in, no matter the cost.
They still do. Twenty years after the release of 2006’s Grammy-winning Taking the Long Way, which was just reissued as a new, expanded edition, the Chicks’ haven’t wavered. They have continued to rally for justice through their songs (Gaslighter’s “March March”) and even their humorous stage banter, with Maines cracking jokes about Mitch McConnell on tour. And while Taking the Long Way (20th Anniversary Edition) will always be deeply connected to the story that made it, and the song, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” that still serves as one of the fiercest musical go-to-hells of all time, it also is a reminder that the Chicks are a country band making their version of country music. They never deserted the genre they loved, even if it deserted them.
Taking the Long Way is the proof. Produced by Rick Rubin, it comes out of the gate delicately, and with the distinctly country “The Long Way Around.” The song, written with Dan Wilson, isn’t just a story of the turmoil that befell the band post-2003. Rather, it starts at their beginning, with artists that were always determined to push against expectations, and grows from there. While “Not Ready to Make Nice” is no doubt the crown jewel, there are twang-propelled heartbreak songs (“Silent House”), fiery country rockers (“Lubbock or Leave It”), and the wailing fiddle of “Bitter End.” On the expanded version, there’s the previously unreleased “Thin Line” and “Live Wire,” which show two completely different sides of the trio — soft introspection and shit-kicking, respectively.
Taking the Long Way was never going to be country enough for some, but that was something the Chicks were always plagued with, even in their early busking days on the streets of Dallas. And while they did play with sonic boundaries, the Chicks didn’t punish the music they loved for the way Nashville treated them. Instead, they harnessed the power of what a banjo, a fiddle, and harmonies can do in a way that worked for them and felt like reverence. No one would have blamed the Chicks if any of those things felt too painful. Somehow, Taking the Long Way manages to be as much an album about defiance as it is an album of love — not for the people that deserted them, but the songs and traditions that never failed.
