THE LONG WAY AROUND - DIXIE CHICKS
The third single from Dixie Chicks’ Grammy Award-nominated “Taking the Long Way” will be a fascinating study in the trio’s future on country radio. Previous singles were shunned by the format because of the trio’s anti-Bush views and instead embraced by adult top 40. But “The Long Way Around” is unadulterated twang and a litmus test to see if programmers will, at last, forgive the act, amid falling national support of the president’s agenda. The Rick Rubin-produced track possesses all the strength of the Chicks’ best work — Natalie Maines’ so-good-it’s-surreal vocal potency, driving tempo and a hook that is intimate and immediate — with production that makes clear that the group is driving this one home. Dixie Chicks are obviously reaching out. The outcome will be telling. Billboard
