After around 30 years known as The Dixie Chicks as a play on the Little Feat song title “Dixie Chicken,” The Dixie Chicks have today dropped “Dixie” from their moniker. The band behind “Wide Open Spaces” has long lent their voice to the powerless and social causes so this is a natural step for them to take after all of the Black Lives Matter protests nationwide and a whole nation revisiting what terms aligned with pre-war and post-war Southeastern United States mean in 2020. While technically a word, “Dixie” does evoke some memories of uneasy times in the past 100 years (if not more).
“We want to meet this moment,” the band said in a statement on their website.
In another statement, the band added that a New Zealand band also known as “The Chicks” has given them permission to share the name.
“A sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to ‘The Chicks’ of NZ for their gracious gesture in allowing us to share their name. We are honored to co-exist together in the world with these exceptionally talented sisters. Chicks Rock!” the band said.
Finally, when you go to their website, you're greeted with their new protest song video and this quote, attributed to "Author unknown": "IF YOUR VOICE HELD NO POWER, THEY WOULDN’T TRY TO SILENCE YOU.” It's a powerful statement and exactly the kind of statement needed to be heard in these times. The Chicks have been warriors for freedom of speech and peacefully assembling and also simultaneously showcasing what happens when you are told to "Shut up and sing." Their commercial country music career was largely over because of their comments about President Bush while on foreign soil (though they'd have faced the same ramifications if it was stateside). We have the power to choose, speak our mind and more but the culture and businesses (but not the Government) have a right to choose to work or not work with you based on what you say. The Chicks took a step today to make their statement of purpose known. They are forever known as The Chicks and don't want to be associated with "Dixie" in any way.
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