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Article published Mar 20, 2003
Resolution asks Dixie Chicks to perform for state's
troops
Jose Franco
Staff
Writer
The Dixie Chicks' latest CD is called "Home," and some in
South Carolina may want them to stay there.
The Grammy award-winning trio
angered some when singer Natalie Maines told a London audience last week that
she was ashamed President Bush was from Texas. Maines, a native of Lubbock,
Texas, later said, "I apologize to President Bush because my remark was
disrespectful. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American
sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a
viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative
exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost."
The Chicks'
Top of the World Tour will kick off with a sold-out concert at the Bi-Lo Center
in Greenville on May 1. A few fans have asked for refunds, but the venue has a
no-refund policy, spokesperson Jill Weninger said.
Not everyone is satisfied
with the Chicks' apology.
State Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, introduced
a resolution Wednesday asking the band to perform a free concert for South
Carolina military troops and their families. Her district includes the U.S.
Naval Hospital, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island and the Marine
Corps Air Station in Beaufort.
"I am absolutely a fan of the Dixie Chicks,
but I am a bigger fan of the military," Ceips said. "They apologized, but they
need to put some action to that apology and make it up to the military families
and troops.
"This is an olive branch I am extending to the Dixie Chicks. We
make Marines in Beaufort and our skies are quiet now because our troops are all
over the globe protecting us."
Ceips, who said she owns a couple of Dixie
Chicks CDs, said she has faxed a copy of the resolution to the band's
management.
"I have seen their tour schedule and they have some open dates,"
she said. "I know they will do the right thing."
A spokesperson for the Dixie
Chicks was unavailable for comment.
The legislator said she was surprised by
the group's remarks.
"There are a lot of my constituents who don't want them
to come to South Carolina, but we are a gracious state. We just want them to
make amends," she said.
Not everyone agreed with Ceips' way of welcoming the
Chicks to the state.
"But only after they apologize first for exercising
their free speech, is that correct?" asked House Minority Leader James Smith,
D-Columbia.
The measure passed the House on a 50-35 vote.
"Nowhere in the
world except in the United States could three women achieve as much as they
have," Ceips said. "That freedom they have was paid for by the blood of others.
The ball is in their court."
Many country radio stations across the country
also are boycotting the Chicks music, according to entertainment news
reports.
The trio's latest album, "Home," isn't in a "Landslide" but is still
sitting at No. 6 on the Billboard Album Charts after 28 weeks. Their single
"Landslide" is at No. 7. The trio's Vietnam-themed release "Travelin' Soldier"
is No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles chart.
On March 1, 51 Dixie Chicks
concerts and 867,000 tickets sold out almost immediately when their tour went on
sale across the country, according to Entertainment Weekly. The Bi-Lo Center
concert sold out in 45 minutes.
The Associated Press contributed to this
article.
Jose Franco can be reached at 562-7212 or
jose.franco@shj.com.