Dixie Chicked

When I first saw the Dixie Chicks at the Dallas State Fair in '96 I was in love. Ten years later, when they apologised for coming from the same state as George W Bush I was in love again.

These local gals, playing fiddle, banjo and tin whistle to their own country-based lyrics, caused a suprising tide of opinion. It probably wouldn't have been so dramatic if their record label, Columbia hadn't publically distanced itself from the girls' comments.

The public reacted differently than expected. Suddenly you couldn't get a ticket to a Dixie Chicks show. Then their song Travellin' Soldier, about a young girl mourning a Vietnam soldier, became, for a while, the most downloaded song on the internet.

The expression "to be Dixe Chicked" has entered the U.S. political lexicon as a fable of how not to take public opinion for granted.

The band has just announced the commencement of its "Accidents And Accusations" world tour, and I hope they're coming to Australia. Then we'll apologise to them for electing John Howard to give President Bush a hand