Barry,

Number one, you are quite misinformed on the chain of events.It was the DIXIE CHICKS that called NASHVILLE a bunch of hicks, rednecks and stupid, EVEN BEFORE COUNTRY RADIO DID ANYTHING. They said they would "Never want anyone to have their CD in the same CD changer as anyone who had a Reba McEntire CD." which is why Reba, who hosted the CMA awards that year, said "The Dixie Chick's couldn't be here tonight because they couldn't get their feet out of their mouths."

Natalie Maines had been dismissive and had a bad attitude for many years before that. Talking bad about people in interviews, mouthing off long before any of that George Bush stuff came up.A friend of mine was asked by her for Madolin lessons which he did as a favor and the entire time she was complaining about everything, even the way he was teaching her. She had been an arrogant person long before they even got their deal.

90% of writers and artists wounds are self inflicted, and the Chicks had a long record of shooting both feet off before that stuff even came up. You can do that when you are selling a lot of records and everyone's wonderkid. It is different when you become insufferable. They were unsufferable for a long time. The whole Toby Keith/George Bush thing was just the final straw. And they had started that battle long before anyone else fired a shot.

This has happened throughout history. It is called 'Biting the hand that feeds you." When you insult your fans, you are biting the hand that feeds you. They did and now they can't get arrested. They were at the end of their ride anyway. That whole episode probably gave them a little longer life,but the result was the same. You made your money, moved to Austin. Enjoy what you got.

MAB