Court Yard Hounds

Court Yard Hounds
Maguire, left, and Robison, right, performing at Antone's, SXSW, Austin, Texas, March 17, 2010
Background information
Origin	San Antonio, Texas, USA
Genres	Country, Folk
Years active	2010—present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	Dixie Chicks
Website	Official site
Members
Martie Maguire Emily Robison

Court Yard Hounds is an American country music and folk duo founded by sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. They, along with Natalie Maines, make up the Dixie Chicks, which went on hiatus in 2008. Maguire and Robison became eager to record again in 2009, but Maines said she didn't feel "inspired" to record yet. The sisters decided to record a side project under a different name. Court Yard Hounds, featuring Robison for the first time as lead vocalist released a debut album for Columbia Records, the same label for which the Dixie Chicks has recorded, on May 4, 2010. The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, initially selling 61,000 copies. It has sold approximately 250,000 copies in the United States.

Career

Dixie Chicks

Main article: Dixie Chicks

Emily and Martie Erwin, now Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, founded the Dixie Chicks in 1989 with Robin Lynn Macy (lead vocals) and Laura Lynch. They released two independent albums before Macy left, and their third album was released with Lynch on lead vocals. In 1995, Lynch left and was replaced by Natalie Maines. The group was then signed to Monument Records and released two hit albums, before departing in 2000 and founding their own label, Open Wide Records, in association with Columbia Records They then released another album, and during a London concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas" (the Dixie Chicks' home state). The statement offended some people who thought it rude and unpatriotic, and the ensuing controversy cost the group half of their concert audience attendance in the United States and led to accusations of the three women being "un-American", as well as hate mail, a death threat, and the public destruction of their albums in protest.^[1] A live album was released in 2003, and a double platinum Grammy Award-winning studio album Taking the Long Way followed in 2006 before they went on hiatus in 2008.

Formation of Court Yard Hounds

Maguire, left, and Robison, right, performing live in concert as the Dixie Chicks in 2003 Photo: David Brown

Court Yard Hounds was formed in 2009 when Maguire and Robison wanted to return to the studio, to begin the Dixie Chicks' eighth album; because Natalie Maines felt she was not yet ready to return to another musical project, the sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire formed a side project to continue with their careers, and called it Court Yard Hounds.

The duo's project was announced in January 2010 and the album features Emily Robison on lead vocals.^[2] Robison has said that the album is "very personal" and that she will be joined by Jakob Dylan on a track called "See You in the Spring".^[3] They are signed to Columbia Records and released their self-titled debut album on May 4, 2010.^[4] Their first public appearance as Court Yard Hounds was on March 18, 2010 at the Americana Music Association's SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas.^[3] Lead singer Emily Robison has also confirmed there will be songs based on her divorce from Charlie Robison in 2008.^[5] According to Rolling Stone Magazine, while Robison is on lead vocals backed up by her sister Martie, the band consists of Natalie Maines' father, Lloyd Maines, on guitar, and other members are members from the Dixie Chicks' backing band; the album was also recorded in Maguire's home studio. According to Maguire and Robison, the Dixie Chicks have not parted ways.^[6] Along with plans from The Dixie Chicks to tour with the Eagles and Keith Urban, starting in 2010,^[7] the duo plans to release a follow-up album sometime in 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US [8]	US Rock [9]	AUS [10]	CAN [11]	NZ [12]	SWE [13]	SWI [14]	UK [15]
2010	Court Yard Hounds Release date: May 4, 2010 Label: Open Wide/Columbia	7	3	42	6	30	58	47	79

Singles

Year	Single	Album
2010	"The Coast"	Court Yard Hounds
	"It Didn't Make a Sound"
	"See You in the Spring"

Music videos

Year	Song title
2010	"It Didn't Make a Sound"[16]

References

1. ^ "Dixie Chicks ‘Shut Up and Sing’ in Toronto". MSNBC. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14822593/. Retrieved 2006-10-08. 
2. ^ Edward Morris (2010-01-11). "News : Two Members of Dixie Chicks Releasing Album Without Natalie Maines". CMT. http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1629456/two-members-of-dixie-chicks-releasing-album-without-natalie-maines.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b} David Browne. "Pair of Dixie Chicks Plan Album, Tour as New Band Court Yard Hounds : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/01/15/dixie-chicks-plan-album-tour-with-court-yard-hounds-side-project/. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
4. ^ "The Official Court Yard Hounds Site". Court Yard Hounds. 2010-01-15. http://www.courtyardhounds.com. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
5. ^ "Dixie Chicks Sisters Return as Court Yard Hounds". The Boot. 2010-01-15. http://www.theboot.com/2010/01/19/court-yard-hounds/. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
6. ^ "Two Dixie Chicks Rename Themselves as Court Yard Hounds". CMT. January 15, 2010. http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1629856/two-dixie-chicks-rename-themselves-as-court-yard-hounds.jhtml. Retrieved February 19, 2010. 
7. ^ "Dixie Chicks Team With Eagles for First Tour in Four Years". rollingstone.com. 17 March 2010. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/17/dixie-chicks-team-with-eagles-for-first-tour-in-four-years/. Retrieved 3 April 2010. 
8. ^ "Court Yard Hounds Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/court-yard-hounds/chart-history/1393697. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
9. ^ "Court Yard Hounds Album & Song Chart History - Rock Albums". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/court-yard-hounds/chart-history/1393697?f=408&g=Albums. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
10. ^ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?cat=a&search=Court+Yard+Hounds. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
11. ^ "Court Yard Hounds Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Albums". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/court-yard-hounds/chart-history/1393697?f=309&g=Albums. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
12. ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?cat=a&search=Court+Yard+Hounds. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
13. ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&search=Court+Yard+Hounds. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
14. ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=Court+Yard+Hounds&cat=a. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
15. ^ "Chart Stats - Court Yard Hounds". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=12596. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
16. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CJ4DTA

External links

• Official Website
• Court Yard Hounds Facebook
• Court Yard Hounds twitter
• Court Yard Hounds Myspace