Court Yard Hounds’ Emily Robison & Martie Maguire – HuffPost 5.4.10

[Note: This is an excerpt from my interview with Court Yard Hounds, two-thirds of Dixie Chicks, and though it doesn’t contain new artist advice, the information can be inspirational.]

Mike Ragogna: I think that comes with being honest with your music, your personalities, and your beliefs. I personally want to thank you as Dixie Chicks for being practically the only voices of reason out there when this country wasn’t allowed to speak. Seriously, you were national heroes for giving a voice to what a very timid and bullied majority was feeling. You truly were patriots.

Martie Maguire: Thanks, we liked that time in our careers. So many people, often times, felt sorry for us. But you know? That was like the best time because you felt so great, you just felt so full of fire. Number one, to just be standing by your best friend with something so innocuous that they said that was creating such a firestorm, it felt really good to support her. But also just sticking by what you believe in and watching all the craziness. You know, one day we’re going to teach our kids, though our kids our pretty young still. I want them to watch the documentary, I want to teach them about what was going on in the world at that time. I think that’s a big part of our history.

MR: Yeah, it’s a big part of this country’s history. Now, on the new project, the songs’ topics do seem to be more about challenged relationships than on any of your previous albums. Still, there’s a subtext or alternate interpretation to many of the compositions, especially when you look at a song like “Skyline.” That also seems to reinforce just how NOT alone any of us really are.

Emily Robison: You’re very right. And it’s kind of like I wasn’t the only one to ever go through a divorce, it does kind of represent this. I don’t know, it’s just that other people have done the same thing. That gave me peace. It helped me not feel so sorry for myself.