Natalie Maines, original member of the Dixie Chicks and probably best remembered for her 2003 slamming of then President George W. Bush, is going solo. But at this year's SXSW festival, the 38-year-old singer seems to have changed her tune musically.
No longer joined by Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of Dixie Chick's fame -- though she assures fans that they are all on amiable terms -- Maines has moved past her bluegrassy roots to explore a statement all her own.
Her new album, "Mother," is described as "darker and more pensive than her sassy public image would have foretold." Maines recorded it with the band led by Ben Harper, who is described as "a bluesy, socially conscious songwriter and slide guitarist."
Despite the support, Maines was in no hurry to produce a solo album.
"I caught up on a lot of just domestic normal everyday stuff," she said, "and grew up a lot, and went to therapy, and did a lot of contemplating and figuring things out. I needed to just strip everything away and figure out who I am and get to know myself, as cheesy as that sounds."
Yet Harper, who lives a few blocks from her in west Los Angeles, cites that it was his coaxing her into his home studio for open-ended recording with his band that really sparked the idea in Maines.
"I tempted her with songs," he said.
Maines wouldn't admit to herself that she was making an album until it was nearly done, but Harper urged her to keep going throughout the process.
"We knew that at any moment everything could stop," Harper said. But he also kept pushing her: "Let's just keep having fun, and if it's a record it's a record, if it's not it's not. In the meantime, I have a studio, so it wasn't like there was a clock ticking or the price tag lingering. And it's my band, and they're there for me, I'm there for them. And they were there for the thrill of playing with one of the greatest vocalists alive."
But will the public feel the same?
It was a Friday in mid-March at SXSW when Maines took the stage at Central Presbyterian Church for a midnight show. She played ten songs in the expected song list order for her new album, which comes out today. Many of these songs are covers, with some co-written with other musicians, and the set included "Without You," an Americana take on a song off Eddie Vedder's own solo Album of Ukelele tunes. She also sang "let's fall in love again with music as out guide" on the song "Free Life", written by Dan Wilson of Semisonic, who also was the writer of the Dixie Chick's Grammy-Winning song "Not Ready to Make Nice."
Performing a faithful rendition of Pink Floyd's "Mother," Maines received no opposition or admonishment from the crowd, something that she was relieved and hoping for in the wake of her 2003 anti-Bush comments. The bluesy "Vein in Vain" was co-written by Harper, while another song, "Come Cryin' to Me," was by the Jayhawks' Gary Louris and fellow Chick Emily Robison, which was the only reference to her past group.
Other memorable performances from this evening included a spirited cover of "I'd Run Away," a lively song from Louris' band, as well as the jam band-style "Take It On Faith," which she was joined by her father Lloyd as the closing piece.
Her performance was met with admiration and praise from the crowd, which has gone a long way for Maines as she enters a new stage of her career.
The album, as previously stated, is a departure from the Dixie Chick's bluegrass, exhibiting a "polished but rootsy rock," a new quality to Maines and her music that fans have never seen before. The singer even admits that this departure is new to her, but that she is also "up for it."
"Maybe it's post-traumatic stress disorder from the controversy, but I know I'm quieter up there, a little bit shyer," she said. "I'm still finding my legs, performance-wise, being up there by myself. I think I have a bit of proving myself ahead of me."
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