I like the Dixie Chicks. I’ve liked them since Wide Open Spaces and I’ve liked them ever since they got themselves into a whole mess w/ telling it the way they see it. It takes guts to stand up for yourself.

So it turns out they have a new album out. Yay for them. Even more interesting, they wrote or co-wrote all of the songs. They said in a recent NPR interview that it was because they wanted to address things more personal. Jon hypothesizes that perhaps no song-writer wanted to get near them after tons of radio stations boycotted their music. Anyhow, I find this to be a neato move, and I have one piece of advice for them–

Go Alt-Country. Seriously. I love the genre, and I think they could really transition over well. Even better, they can start their alt-country debut by doing a collaboration album with some alt-country favorites– Lucinda Williams, Steve Earl, etc. It would be groovy to have them singing with Gillian Welch. Or Neko Case. I think it could really be outstanding even to throw in some not-quite-alt-country but doing folky stuff Bruce Springsteen. An album of 10-12 songs collaborated, at least one or two where the Dixie Chicks take the lead and do most, if not all the work.

Call me crazy, but I’d so pay for this!