Dixie Chicks: 'Taking the Long Road'

ByABC News via logo
May 25, 2006, 10:57 AM

May 25, 2006 — -- The Dixie Chicks have come a long way from their 1990s style.

They've been singing together since their teens, and proudly say they haven't strayed too far from their musical roots.

"We were definitely bluegrass -- cowgirl -- when we started out," Emily Robison said.

She said they were influenced by many styles of music.

"I am a country fan, but a lot of people just think of Top 40 country when they think of country [music] and that's not really my favorite music," Robison said. "That's what's in my blood. It's always going to make its way into our music, I think. We also listen to a lot of other different types of music that I feel passionate about and I like to play."

Listening to "Taking the Long Way," the group's new studio album, you can hear some of those other sounds.

"Some of the sentiments don't lend themselves to a hoedown," Robison said. "The sound of the album will tend to match what we're talking about."

Besides addressing the Chicks' new CD, lead singer Natalie Maines explained why her middle fingers were tied up with a black band.

Some fans had speculated online that she wanted to form a "W" -- in reference to her infamous 2003 comments about President Bush -- because she had been brainwashed, she said.

Maines said she was actually nursing an injury.

"But I actually fell. I fell down icy steps in my house in Texas and strained four ligaments," she said. "It just takes a long time to heal."