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All Music Guide:
Three years after 2006s Taking the Long Way, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire were ready to cut a new Dixie Chicks album but Natalie Maines wasnt prepared to participate, so the siblings struck out on their own as the duo Court Yard Hounds. Robison stepped into the role as frontwoman for the group, and the pair retained the service of much of the Dixie Chicks extended family -- including Maines father Lloyd as a guitars -- during the recording of their eponymous debut. Given this pedigree, it follows that Court Yard Hounds sounds similar to Dixie Chicks far-reaching country-pop -- perhaps a little softer and sweeter due to the absence of Maines, but recognizably within the same family, and Robison winds up giving the group its own introspective identity. The Court Yard Hounds' first showcase was at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX in March of 2010 and their eponymous album appeared in early May 2010 on Open Wide/Columbia Records. In addition to releasing their debut, Robison and Maguire reunited with Maines in the summer of 2010 as the Dixie Chicks opened for the Eagles on an American tour.
Wikipedia:
Court Yard Hounds is an American country music and folk duo founded by sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. They, along with Natalie Maines, make up the Dixie Chicks. The sisters decided to record a side project under a different name. Court Yard Hounds, featuring Robison for the first time as lead vocalist released a debut album for Columbia Records, the same label for which the Dixie Chicks has recorded, on May 4, 2010. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, initially selling 61,000 copies. It has sold approximately 825,000 copies in the United States.
Career [edit]
Dixie Chicks [edit]
Emily and Martie Erwin, now Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, founded the Dixie Chicks in 1989 with Robin Lynn Macy (lead vocals) and Laura Lynch. They released two independent albums before Macy left, and their third album was released with Lynch on lead vocals. In 1995, Lynch left and was replaced by Natalie Maines. The group was then signed to Monument Records and released two hit albums, before departing in 2000 and founding their own label, Open Wide Records, in association with Columbia Records They then released another album, and during a London concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas" (the Dixie Chicks' home state). The statement offended some people who thought it rude and unpatriotic, and the ensuing controversy cost the group half of their concert audience attendance in the United States and led to accusations of the three women being "un-American", as well as hate mail, a death threat, and the public destruction of their albums in protest. A live album was released in 2003, and a double platinum Grammy Award-winning studio album Taking the Long Way followed in 2006 before they went on hiatus in 2008.
Formation of Court Yard Hounds [edit]
Court Yard Hounds was formed in 2009 when Maguire and Robison wanted to return to the studio.
The duo's project was announced in January 2010 and the album features Emily Robison on lead vocals. Robison has said that the album is "very personal" and that she will be joined by Jakob Dylan on a track called "See You in the Spring". They are signed to Columbia Records and released their self-titled debut album on May 4, 2010. Their first public appearance as Court Yard Hounds was on March 18, 2010 at the Americana Music Association's SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas. Lead singer Emily Robison has also confirmed there will be songs based on her divorce from Charlie Robison in 2008. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, while Robison is on lead vocals backed up by her sister Martie, the band consists of Natalie Maines' father, Lloyd Maines, on guitar, and other members are members from the Dixie Chicks' backing band; the album was also recorded in Maguire's home studio. According to Maguire and Robison, the Dixie Chicks have not parted ways. Along with plans from The Dixie Chicks to tour with the Eagles and Keith Urban, starting in 2010. The duo plans to release a follow-up album in July of 2013.
