Photo: Episodic
The Chicks are gearing up for a new set of tour dates, kicking off shows this month. The iconic country trio — Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson — caught up with Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show about the honesty of their music, including after going through divorces.
“I definitely wanted to be very blatant and literal with this one,” Maines told Clarkson. “I wasn’t beyond all the emotion like I am now, and then there was the stress of, ‘oh my gosh, now my kids are gonna hear this,’ and now my son is on tour with us. He’s in the band, and I’m like, ‘this is kind of weird!’”
Robinson added that writing music falsely never works. Unless songwriters are being upfront, their music will never resonate with audiences in the same way: “The more specific you are, the more it’s universal to other people.”
Going through divorce was relatable even within the trio. Maguire recalled how she and Maines bonded over their divorces: “I remember when you first came down in the studio and said ‘guys, I just wanna tell you, I’m getting a divorce,’ …I remember thinking, ‘well, I’m getting a divorce, now she says she’s getting a divorce, now I can’t say I’m getting a divorce,’ …I was feeling like everybody is gonna judge me. I thought I was first...because I didn’t know anybody close to me that was getting a divorce.”
Watch The Chicks and Clarkson talk about songwriting here:
Watch Clarkson cover “Gaslighter” here: