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Martie Maguire

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Martie Maguire

Martie Maguire (born October 12, 1969) is an American country music songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning female country rock band the Dixie Chicks.

Biography

Early years

Martha Elenor Erwin was born in York, Pennsylvania, but was raised in Addison, a northern suburban town on the edge of Dallas Texas, with an older sister, Julia, and younger sister, Emily, to parents Paul Erwin and Barbara Trask. Martha was later in her teenaged years nicknamed "Martie". Encouraged by her parents, she began playing violin at age five.[1] By age 12, she was experimenting with playing "fiddle style", and was in the school orchestra. Emily Erwin, (later known as Emily Robison), three years her junior, followed close behind, and shared both an early talent and interest in music, and the two were provided with as much musical instruction as was felt they could handle. Because of this, although Maguire became famous for her ability in vocal harmony, and mastery of the fiddle, she also plays a variety of stringed instruments: the viola, guitar, mandolin, and bass.

By 1983 Maguire was touring with her sister Emily and friends; siblings Sharon and Troy Gilchrist. The sisters showed an "almost obsessive" interest" in busking at small venues and attending bluegrass festivals.[2] The four students formed the teenage bluegrass group Blue Night Express, while attending private Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. While Robison was still in school, after Maguire graduated, during the year from 1988 to 1989 she continued to refine her skills, performing in the orchestra while attending school at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in addition to taking home the award for placing third in the National Fiddle Championships.[3]

Early Dixie Chicks

In 1989, Maguire and Robison teamed up with guitarist Robin Lynn Macy and Laura Lynch on bass playing what was at the time predominantly bluegrass music and a beguiling mix of country music standards. Jane Frost, Director of the Patsy Montana Museum and Walnut Valley Festival held in Winfield, Kansas recalls being privy to the discussion that the four women had about a the possibility of a successful career as musicians together. Martie felt they could do well. Robin said, ".. It's going to be a 'hot' band," to which Emily responded, "I give it six months, and if we aren't making money by then, I'm out of here!"[2] When they were at last booked for paid appearances, they decided to call themselves the Dixie Chicks after a song, "Dixie Chicken" written by Lowell George of the band Little Feat. Originally billed as Martie Erwin, Maguire played fiddle, mandolin, viola and harmonized with Robison on backup vocals within the band.

In 1990, the Dixie Chicks paid for a first independant studio album with the name,Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, and in 1991 a Christmas single at the end of the year: "Home on the Radar Range", with the flip side song cunningly titled, "The Flip Side". The album titles were significant; during that period of time, the women dressed up as "cowgirls", and publicity photos reflected this image. However, even with appearences at the Grand Ole Opry, they didn't get much airplay, with a few exceptions, such as Garrison Keillor's radio program, on PBS; A Prarie Home Companion. In 1992 the women had opened for other big name country musicians like George Strait, as well as releasing a second independant studio album,Little Ol' Cowgirl. Although they had originally been billed as an "all cowgirl" or "all-girl" band, they dropped that description as they enlisted the assistance of sidemen to produce a fuller, richer sound in their music. One of these was accomplished steel guitarist Lloyd Maines, in nearby Lubbock, Texas, who played on both their second (and third) independant albums, and with whom they developed a mutual respect as musicians. In doing so, they met Lloyd's daughter, Natalie, who was also an aspiring musician. However, not all of the band members were pleased in the direction that the music was taking. Macy left, seeking a "purer bluegrass sound". Lynch, thrust into the role of sole lead singer on their third album, Shouldn't a Told You That, in 1993, was replaced by the sisters in 1995 with Natalie Maines after the group was unable to garner anything more than local interest.[4] The change left the cowgirl dresses in the past, leaving the band with a more contemporary look, and a sound that was broader in appeal.

A New Lead Singer And Success

After Natalie Maines assumed the position of lead vocalist, the band was revitalized. Maguire said of their music, "It's very rootsy, but then Natalie comes in with a rock and blues influence. That gave Emily and I a chance to branch out, because we loved those kinds of music but felt limited by our instruments." [5] The new Dixie Chicks took to the road, and were signed not too long thereafter to a major label, adding a widespread audience to their original loyal following. Both as a single and an album, Wide Open Spaces flowed musically and harmoniously. The title song, although written by folksinger Susan Gibson, provided lyrics that all three members felt were so semi-biographical in nature, that they commented on it on a "Vh1 Storytellers" program, before performing the song. (reference Vh1 Storytellers)

"Many precede and many will follow,

A young girl's dream no longer hollow, It takes the shape of a place out west; But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed- She needs wide open spaces, Room to make her big mistakes, She needs new faces,

She knows the high stakes."

[6]

In 1999 the album won them their first Grammy Awards as well as acclaim from the Country Music Association and other high profile awards. The album yielded five singles ranking in the top ten in the United States, and of them, three took top place on the charts in the U.S.A. Maguire was singled out by BMI in 2000, and awarded Songwriter of the Year for writing and/or co-writing "Cowboy Take Me Away," "Ready To Run" and "You Were Mine".

Composing Songs And Touring

Martie co-wrote the song "Cowboy Take Me Away" on the Dixie Chicks fifth album Fly for her sister Emily, during her courtship to country music singer Charlie Robison. [2] Martie was so happy for Emily, who subsequently married, changing her name to Emily Robison in 1999, that she introduced it years later, on a Vh1 "Storytellers" program, saying that "Charlie is a 'real' cowboy", and that the song was their wedding waltz.

Personal life

Martie married pharmaceutical representative Ted Seidel on June 17, 1995, after which she was billed as Martie Seidel. During the marriage she met her new step-son, Carter. The couple was divorced in November, 1999.

Martie met her next husband at bandmate Natalie Maines sister's wedding. Martie then married Gareth Maguire, a Roman Catholic from Northern Ireland on August 10, 2001, in a civil ceremony in Hawaii, and later had Catholic "blessing" ceremony was held in the groom's hometown, Carnlough in County Antrim, Ireland, on March 9th, 2002, for all the guests that were not able to attend the first one. Martie said that the Catholic Church would not permit a wedding service due to her prior divorce. After her marriage, Martie changed her name to that of her new husband, which is why in her musical career she has had the surnames of Erwin, Seidel, and now, Maguire. During promotion of the album Home, the Dixie Chicks made reference to the fact that "White Trash Wedding" was written about Martie and Gareth's nuptials, due to their wedding being planned in two weeks and being last minute.(http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1449170/09252001/dixie_chicks.jhtml CMT Spotlight ]

Infertility and Motherhood

Maguire has been frank about their decision to use IVF to conceive their twins. Speaking in an interview in Conceive Magazine, "All my paperwork said 'unspecified origin,'" she says. "We spent three years of active trying before we went to IVF. First I went on Clomid. Then I had some dye tests and found I had a collapsed tube, so I had laparoscopic surgery; the tube wasn't blocked, just spasming." After three attempts at intrauterine insemination, she said, she and her husband didn't think it was worth continuing in that manner, and switched to invitro fertilization. Martie and Gareth now have two children, twin daughters Eva Ruth and Kathleen Emilie, born April 27, 2004.[7] Currently, the two reside with their children in Austin, Texas. Maguire and Robison co-wrote a song, "So Hard", about their own personal experiences.

References

1. Maguire, Martie. 3 September 2005[http:/www.chicksrockchicksrule.com Interview]</ref> ^ a b Frost, Jane. (15 July, 1999)Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, Early 1980s The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page Accessed 3 December 2007. 2. Ankeny, Jason. 17 December 2007 accessed. All-Music Guide 3. 4. 5.

  1. ^ Maguire, Martie (3 September 2005)[http:/www.chicksrockchicksrule.com]
  2. ^ a b Frost, Jane. (15 July, 1999)Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, Early 1980s The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page. Cite error: The named reference "Frost" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ankeny, Jason. (2007) Vh1 Dixie Chicks Biography All-Music Guide.
  4. ^ Dickerson, James L. (2000) Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage. Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas, Texas. ISBN 0-87833-189-1.
  5. ^ Malkin, Nina (retrieved 31 December 2007)[1]
  6. ^ Gibson, Susan Lyrics, Wide Open Spaces
  7. ^ Weinhouse, Beth. (Fall 2007) The Dixie Chicks Taking The Long Way...To Motherhood

Awards

Academy of Country Music Awards

  • (1999) New Vocal Duo or Group
  • (1999) Top Vocal Duo/Group
  • (1999) Album of the Year
  • (2000) Album Of The Year
  • (2000) Vocal Duo/Group Of The Year
  • (2001) Entertainer of The Year
  • (2001) Vocal Group of The Year
  • (2001) Video of the Year

Country Music Association Awards

  • (1998) Vocal Group Of The Year
  • (1999) Horizon Music Video of the Year "Wide Open Spaces"
  • (1999) Single of the Year "Wide Open Spaces"
  • (1999) Vocal Group of the Year
  • (2000) Album of the Year Fly
  • (2000) Vocal Group, Video "Goodbye Earl"
  • (2000) Entertainer of the Year
  • (2002) Vocal Group of the Year
  • (2003) International Artist Achievement Award
  • (2007) Nomination: Group of the Year

Grammy Awards

Juno Awards

Personal Awards

Discography

See also: Dixie Chicks discography
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