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Martie Maguire Biography

martie-maguire
  • Born: October 12, 1969 in York, PA
  • Years Active: 1990s-2000s
  • Member of: Court Yard Hounds
  • Genre: Country

Country songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, guitar, viola, bass, mandolin), and founding member of the Dixie Chicks, Martie Maguire (originally Ervin, then Seidel, following a first marriage) was born October 12, 1969, in York, PA, but was raised, along with her younger sister Emily Ervin (later Robison), also a future founding member of the Dixie Chicks, in Addison, TX. Maguire began playing violin at the age of five and by the time she was 12, she began experimenting with playing the instrument fiddle style. While attending Greenhill School in Addison, the two musically talented sisters (Emily was proficient on banjo by this time) hooked up with guitarist Robin Lynn Macy and bassist Laura Lynch to form a busking bluegrass/country group called the Dixie Chicks, the name coming from the Lowell George song "Dixie Chicken." Originally, the Dixie Chicks had a classic cowgirl image, and titled their 1990 indie-label debut Thank Heavens for Dale Evans. The follow-up album, 1992's Little Ol' Cowgirl, however, found the Chicks moving toward a more contemporary sound. Macy left the group at this point, with Lynch assuming lead vocal duties. Now a trio, the group released Shouldn't a Told You That in 1993. After the band signed to the Monument imprint in 1995, Lynch left the group and was replaced by lead vocalist Natalie Maines, the daughter of steel guitar legend Lloyd Maines. Now sporting both a contemporary dress style and a completely modern country sound, the Dixie Chicks' 1998 major-label debut, Wide Open Spaces, went commercially through the roof, eventually going quadruple platinum. Fly followed in 1999, and was also commercially well received, as was their sixth album, 2002's Home, the first for their own Sony imprint, Open Wide Records. Top of the World Tour: Live and its accompanying DVD were issued as a stopgap in 2003. Taking the Long Way appeared in 2006. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi

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