The word today on the street is the Dixie Chicks, that world renowned, Grammy award winning trio praised for their original music in the bluegrass as well as country world, will have new music to release later this year.

There is only one small catch. Only two of the Chicks will be involved. You probably can guess which one won’t be participating.

According to CMT, Sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire are working together on some music without Natalie Maines, the group’s lead singer. Reportedly the album will be released by Columbia Records, the label for the Chicks.

CMT is also reporting that Natalie’s father, Lloyd Maines, said the trio are still definitely an entity.

The news is quite intriguing, particularly given the Dixie Chicks recent history. It’s a familiar story: Natalie Maines made disparaging remarks about George W. Bush, who was then the President. The world of country music reacted very negatively, and the Dixie Chicks became a talk point and unwitting symbol during a very politically divisive time.

Maines made a forced apology. However she later retracted it. After that the Chicks wrote an album about really not being sorry. The album won multiple Grammies, completely knocking their competition out, including Rascal Flatts, James Blunt and Justin Timberlake. While accepting awards, Maines was singing “ha ha.”

The trio, whether by circumstances or willingly, wound up distancing themselves from the world of country music. They even noted publicly they would prefer not be lumped with Toby Keith and Reba McEntire fans.

You know how that went over.

Since that time, the Chicks have been laying low for the most part and concentrating primarily on their families. All three of the Chicks have young children. Just the fact that there is news of the group being active, even if it involves only two members out of three, is still quite big news.

The absence of Maines is even bigger news. Talk amongst fans as well as those in the middle of Nashville gossip has circulated about just exactly what Robison and Maguire’s opinion was over the Bush controversy. Publicly both sisters did stand by the remarks of Maines as well as the fallout that followed.

Are the sisters just doing a family collaboration for the sheer joy of it? Does their lead singer and long time friend’s absence hold a deeper meaning?

It could be some of each. The sister might prefer that their re-emergence back into the spotlight be lower key.

At the time that “Taking The Long Way” was released some people were saying how great an album it was and how they wished everyone could just forget about all the bull and just enjoy the music. For many fans of the Dixie Chicks this is a very valid sentiment. The album was a very good only and had many emotions and personal facets beyond the obvious controversial ones. In some ways one of the weakest songs on the album was “Not Ready To Make Nice.”

There really can be no escape from the endless questioning. However taking Maines out of the picture, who certainly has pinned herself in the corner as the catalyst of the whole saga, could be the best way to get the group back to their roots and the basics.

On the other hand maybe it’s Maines who wants to stay away from the spotlight just a while longer. After all she was the one who was the center of the controversial storm and has therefore had to weather a majority of the criticism.

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