Dixie Chicks Change Name To The Chicks, Share New Song “March March”
When pop-country stars Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A earlier this month — recognizing the word “antebellum” as a racially insensitive reference to the pre-Civil War era when slavery remained legal in the United States — two immediate questions arose. One was: What about the Black singer who was already using the name Lady A? The other: Will the Dixie Chicks follow suit?
They have. The trio, which will release its first album in 14 years next month, changed its social media accounts today indicating a name change to the Chicks. A concise statement atop thechicks.com reads, “We want to meet this moment,” along with the signatures of all three members. When Dixie Chicks formed as a bluegrass band in 1989, the name was a reference to Little Feat’s song “Dixie Chicken.” In light of the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests, the term Dixie, which alludes to the antebellum South, has come under increased scrutiny. So Gaslighter, the band’s new Jack Antonoff-produced album, will be coming out under a different name.
Along with the name change, the Chicks are sharing a third Gaslighter single today to go along with the title track and “Julianna Calm Down.” Like those songs, the protest song “March March” is infused with pop and electronic elements, but it ends in a fiddle-powered country smolder. The song is matched with a music video directed by Seanne Farmer featuring footage from current and historical protest marches for various progressive causes, Black Lives Matter among them. It’s branded with another brief quote: “If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.”
Watch the “March March” video below.
Gaslighter is out 7/17 on Columbia.