DIXIE DREAMING

The one and only Dixie Chicks, the biggest selling female act in history – and seven time Grammy award winners, just keep going from strength to strength. In great news for local fans Chugg Entertainment will tour the trio and will bring their ‘Accidents & Accusations Tour’ to Australia for a national run of dates in October 2006, taking in all capital cities.

The band is coming to our shores in support of their fourth album, Taking The Long Way which debuted in Australia at # 2 on the National Motorola Aria Chart in May. Incredibly, the Chicks have sold over 30 million albums since 1998, which includes 700,000 in Australia alone!

The new album was produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, System Of a Down) and is a tour de force of country laced California-meets-Texas pop rock, and their most autobiographical album to date. For the first time, every one of the disc’s fourteen songs are co-written by the Chicks themselves, exploring themes both deeply private and resoundingly political.

Inspired by such classic rock artists as the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Mamas and the Papas, Taking The Long Way adds a sweeping, Southern California vibe to the Chicks’ down-home intimacy. That ambition is matched with lyrics addressing everything from small-town narrow-mindedness ("Lubbock or Leave It") to the psychology of celebrity ("Everybody Knows").

This last statement is especially true when you consider the album’s controversial first single, “Not Ready To Make Nice”, the first Dixie Chicks song to address Natalie Maines’ comments about fellow Texan, President George W. Bush during a London appearance in March 2003. The song is defiant and strong – an inspiring effort given those comments resulted in an uproar – complete with boycotts and death threats.

Superstars, renegades, innovators, heroes, villains, and mums - over almost a decade, the Dixie Chicks have grown from a band into a phenomenon. Now more than ever, the eyes of the world are on them, and with Taking The Long Way, they come out swinging, surpassing the pressures and expectations history has placed upon them.

Dates:
October
Friday 6th - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Monday 9th - Sydney, Acer Arena (formally Superdome)
Friday 13th - Perth Burwood Dome
Sunday 15th - Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Tuesday 17th - Melbourne Rod Laver Arena

VERY ALRIGHT

Her clever, witty songs about smiling and London life have made Lily Allen one of UK’s biggest stars of this year. Heading to Australia for a visit from August 9 – 15, Lily will also play exclusive shows in Sydney and Melbourne to showcase tracks from her debut album Alright, Still.

The UK have embraced this opinionated 21 year old’s infectious music with her single, “Smile” already making its debut at #1 on the official UK singles Top 40 chart. The single held the top spot for its second week running while still holding #1 on the UK airplay chart for its fourth consecutive week.

Locally, “Smile” was the 8th most added track at Australian radio in its first week and moves up two spots to number 6 this week.

Lily’s album Alright, Still was released in Australia this past Saturday, hot on the heels of the great news coming out of the UK that it debuted at #2 on the official UK chart.

Lily signed to EMI in December 2005. Since then it’s gone mad. The online support she received for her music grew quickly. Since then, speculation has bandied about that, like Sandi Thom, it was as much a PR creation as anything else. Lily’s next thrill was hearing her music on the radio, and the reaction has been so positive it’s left her reeling.

Online, her myspace page has had more than 2 millions hits and was recently the 13th most listened to artist, globally.

Dates:
Melbourne - Wednesday 9 August - St Jeromes Bar
Sydney – Thursday 10 August - Club 77