Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The Dixie Chicks are pop’s ultimate crossover queens. The Texan group began in the 1990s as a bluegrass and country music outfit. But after singer Natalie Maines joined everything changed. Out went the cowgirl dresses and in came a more contemporary look and sound. By 2002, the Chicks, including sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, were sharing the stage with pop stars like Celine Dion, Cher, Shakira and Mary J. Blige in the VH1 Divas Show in Las Vegas. The crossover began with 1998’s Wide Open Spaces, which entered the pop and country charts in the top five and went diamond with sales of 10 million. The followup, Fly, repeated that achievement, making the Chicks the only female group t...

They may be a string band, but Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson put a thoroughly modern spin to their rootsy sound. Actor-director Denzel Washington was so drawn to their music that he included it his 2007 film The Great Debaters. Whether delivering a banjo-driven r&b hit (“Hit ’Em Up Style”), a lightning-fast fiddle tune (“Sandy Boys”), an acapella Celtic ballad (“Reynadine”) or a Tom Waits tune (“Trampled Rose”), these Drops have really got it going on. Old-timey with a twist.