Dixie Chicks Move to Canada
Beset by slow album and ticket sales in the South and Midwest, the Dixie Chicks have canceled 14 shows in the United States and rescheduled them in Canada.
Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks’ “Accidents & Accusations” tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick’s Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.
The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest. Group spokeswoman Kathy Allmand said Monday that the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows.
The trio released a statement last week attributing the changes to attempts to “accommodate demand” and said more dates might be added next year. The group also said the adjustments will allow them to promote the documentary “Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing,” for the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
The Canadian, lesbian singer k.d. lang said years ago that when she told people she was a country singer, they asked “What country.” Apparently, for the Dixie Chicks, the answer is “Canada.”
In fairness, it should be reiterated that, by any reasonable standard, the Chicks are still wildly successful despite backlash over their political statements about the president and the war. Indeed, their views are probably closely aligned with the American public’s at this point. Not so much with the core country music audience, though.
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As a casual note;
This doesn’t seem to bode well for the Democrats, who have been singing exactly the same tune as the Ditzy Twits.
Awww James, I was getting ready to post about this and came over here to find some choice comments from prior debates about the Chicks and you already post the news. Oh well, can I still do some taunting of those whom thought that the >500k in sales during the opening release of the Chicks’ album was legit and a slap at the President?
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why so sensitive….
the Dixie Chicks ARE NOT moving to Canada now are they?
I was never a Dixie Chicks fan, and I think they have probably learned one thing-while they are free to comment how they want on the president, war whatever, they are not free from the consequences.
They forgot who their audience was-and unlike other genres of music country tends to be far more conservative-very God and Country focused. Johnny Cash had some relatively liberal leaning songs, Willie Nelson has some liberal leaning opinions, but both understood how to not tick off their fans-unlike these girls, they understood their audience.
In the end I think the Chicks are salvagable-while I don’t care for them myself, they are talented and capable musicians/singers-I suspect within a few years they will have made the transition to pop/rock and will still be making plenty of money to keep them happy, even if it doesn’t reach the sales they were experiencing before the big blunder.
Just me:
There is a HUGE difference between liberal ideals in a song and running one’s mouth off spouting anti-Americanism. I would contend that many of Johnny Cash’s (big fan) and Willie Nelson’s (fan) songs are populist as opposed to being liberal. The same could be said about Alan Jackson, George Strait and a few other contemporay country artists. I wasn’t much of a fan of the Dixie Chicks but would not turn the dial when they came on the radio.
When they started spouting off with their anti-American comments and playing it up to the anti-war crowd they crossed a line. They practiced their free speech and country music fans practiced their free speech by not buying their albums, attending their concerts and by calling their radio stations and demanding their songs not be played. I am pretty sure they could have salvaged their careers (God knows they got a lot of help from non-traditional fans (ie the anti-war crowd)) but they played the victim.
Fersboo sez…..”When they started spouting off with their anti-American comments……..”
I thought they just criticized President Bush and his policies on Iraq
when I criticize Ohio Senator Mike DeWine for using a doctored photo of the World Trade Center Towers in a campaign ad, am I being critical of Senator DeWine’s honesty or am I being anti-American?
of course like I should care about the Dixie Chicks……according to the tagline they are Canadians now…..
It all still comes back to narrow-minded people…
Folks, if you give a damn about this country, your personal political views are irrelevant in this case.
I don’t care that she slammed Bush, Clinton or anyone else for that matter.
Her actions were unAmerican because she spouted those statements IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY!!!!
You can call your sister a Bitc*, but if an “outsider” does, hopefully you’ll clock ’em.
Same concept. Americans do not go to a foreign country and bad mouth the President of the United States in a public setting. It’s called Honor and Patriotism.
Another example of a “celebrity” thinking they are somehow free to cram thier opinions down people’s throats because there’s a camera nearby.
“It all still comes back to narrow-minded people…”
Ironic.
The greatest idea in world history, America, was founded on the very basis of questioning authority. Sadly, many Americans have forgotten that.
I have a feeling “Jeff” would have jumped in the harbor to rescue the tea.
And the Dixie Chicks sold more than 500,000 albums in its first week with pretty much zero radio play (in the United States, there was a time when you couldn’t go three minutes without hearing them on Canadian radio). They are doing just fine.