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Pistol Annies ~ Interstate Gospel era

Farawayhills

Well-known member
Well, I'm a big fan of both groups - and I certainly wouldn't say either one is way better than the other. The main reason is that their strengths are different - making it unrealistic for me to make a sweeping, overall comparison.

The main strength of the Dixie Chicks, for me, lies in their skill as instrumentalists. This is due to Martie and Emily's background in Texas Bluegrass since childhood. Martie plays fiddle and mandolin, and Emily banjo, lap steel and resophonic metal cone guitar - the latter is almost always called a dobro, for convenience - but that is technically a brand name, and Emily actually uses an individually hand made Scheerhorn resophone. (Interestingly, although Chad Jeffers, who plays dobro in Carrie's concerts when needed, uses a company manufactured instrument, it does include an aluminium cone designed by Tim Scheerhorn, and when he uses an amplifier pick up - which is usually necessary in a concert ensemble - I think that is also a Scheerhorn design)

There is nothing comparable to this level of instrumentation from the Pistol Annies themselves - all three are mainly voice and acoustic guitar specialists, with the group's overall musical sound coming from Miranda's stage band (which is currently a mix of long term members, and newer instrumentalists, with some important additions in the last few years, and is often acknowledged as one of the best touring concert bands in Progressive Roots and Country Rock. But again, that indicates points of difference - I wouldn't associate them with the strong Bluegrass influence in the Chicks' "Home" album, for example.

Another area in which the Chicks (in their main career phase, before the "incident", 15 years ago ) excelled was in choosing songs that had substantial Mainstream appeal - they were major "hit" artists of those years between the late '90s and 2003 (they were, for example, artists that Carrie covered most often on her pre-Idol recordings, with, if I remember rightly, four cuts). By contrast, the Pistol Annies have never appeared to target the Mainstream market, with all three of their albums concentrating on material that appeals to critics and Roots fans.

One important difference between the groups is that the Annies have always been a more fully collaborative project. Whereas the Chicks have always been a group fronted by two lead instrumentalists and one lead singer, the Annies have mixed lead vocals, not only on different tracks, but often on trading verses within the same song. In harmony singing (which was virtually the only singing that Martie and Emily did, before the Court Yard Hounds project), I would say both groups have about equal honours - their close harmonies are one of the things I like about them, and reflect the fact that there has been a strong rapport and natural affinity between the members.

Where I would say the Annies have a marked edge over the Chicks is in songwriting. All three Annies are critically acclaimed songwriters, individually, and they have adopted the collaborative approach in this area too. All three of their albums have been self written, in different combinations of the three members. The Chicks, it would probably be admitted, have not been primarily noted as songwriters - even though they did write a number of their tracks, often with co-writers, in the usual Nashville tradition. (Their last album to date, "Taking the Long Way" was the one where they had most writing credits - but this also depended significantly on two strong co-writers, Dan Wilson and Gary Louris)

I think that has led to another significant difference. As the Pistol Annies are mainly an off-Mainstream singer/songwriter project, they have often tended to have more "quirky" or "alternative" themes, some of which show elements of social criticism, in areas like drug use, people feeling trapped in conventional life styles, the darker and more stultifying aspects of small town life. The present album includes drug references in tracks like "Stop, Drop and Roll One" and "The Best Years of My Life"; the generational gap and the limited horizons of the life of the mother in "Milkman"; the contrast between the heartbreaking disillusion of a loveless marriage in "The Best Years Of My Life", and the determination to make a marriage work in "This Too Shall Pass". I don't really see the same type of incisive, small scale, story song in the Chicks' best known material, which was often more traditionally themed, or focused on larger issues.

So, given the different areas in which they draw their main strengths, I, for one, am going to be glad to have both groups, and not try to pitch one against the other overall.


I will say that all three Annies do appear to admire the Chicks. Ashley's been photographed with them, Angaleena has spoken highly of them - and Miranda is well known as one of their biggest long term supporters. For example, as a teenager, appearing on Nashville Star, she told reporters that she wanted to follow Natalie Maines, in attitude, as well as music (this was in the year after the "incident", when feeling was still running high, and it's arguable that it may have damaged her placing - she appeared to be the judges' choice, but finished third in the public vote). She covers their songs quite regularly as concert extras, and in the "Automatic" video, one of the objects she gets out of her box of memories is the feather boa that was a Chicks fan symbol in the early concert days. I would say they have definitely been an enduring influence - but that is not the same as imitating them in either song type or performance style.

(One interesting point fro me is that the abrupt change in vocal style towards the end of "Got My Name Changed Back" reminds me, not of the Mainstream Chicks, but rather of their pre-Nashville days in Texas, with Laura Lynch as lead singer. I wasn't expecting that - but it's only in that song that it struck me!)
 

lizcarlo

Well-known member
Love this



Something I really like about Pistol Annie's is how they show the different flavors country has to offer on all 3 of there cds. The songs are so relatable. Its such pleasant cd listen to. Like how they continue to tackle themes adult women relate to.
 

Farawayhills

Well-known member
Another video, for "Interstate Gospel"


They're having a lot of fun there!
(I think Miranda is still putting a lot of her own money into this project - some videos seem to be filmed at the studio on her own country property. In this one, Delta Dawn, her Pug-Chihuahua cross, puts in an appearance)
 

adam1995

Well-known member
Does anyone else think that the Pistol Annies music would be exactly what Loretta Lynn would sound like if she were in her heyday today?
 

adam1995

Well-known member
A little bit! I could totally seen her and Crystal putting together a group back in the day! 

I especially hear it on songs like "Beige", "Housewife's Prayer", "The Hunter's Wife", and "Family Feud". Seem like Loretta lyrics for the modern day.
 
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