The Dixie Chicks rock on fast-pickin' country

By Jerry Sharpe, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

The Dixie Chicks: Fiddler Martie Seidel had the right definition when she said the three-woman act isn't iust a bridge from pop to country but instead is universal country.

And, too, a live concert by the Chicks is pure entertainment. A sold-out concert at the Mellon Arena last night fortified that fact. The Chicks, joined by Ricky Skaggs as an opening act, demonstrated to the mostly young crowd that country music isn't necessarily grandpa's music. The Chicks and Skaggs showed that fast-pickin' country is just as exciting as rock. And the two acts had the crowd dancing and rocking through most of the concert

But the Chicks also appeal to older fans, too, because they use nothing but the "real" country instruments five-string banjo, fiddle and flat-top guitar.

Lead singer Natalie Maines' vocals were appropriately sad for the Chicks' lover-breakup hits "You Were Mine" and "Tonight the Heartache's on Me."

And they rocked a few numbers so hard that the words were drowned out by too-loud amps, but that's what a lot of rock fans like. With Seidel on fiddle, Emily Erwin Robison on banjo and Maines on acoustic guitar, the trio also jammed on several instrumentals much to the crowd's delight.

But the Chicks are also known for surprises, and last night, Seidel walked out alone to say, "Tonight we've decided to embarrass ourselves."

And then she proceeded to use the three overhead screens to show the three women's baby, childhood and teen-age photos. One photo showed Maines as a teen in a pretty dress with a big bow. Seidel joked, "Notice she's alone. But I guess that's what 'bring your beau' meant in Lubbock."

Naturally the trio, backed at times by their six-piece band, rolled out the hits "Cowboy, Take Me Away" and "Sin Wagon."

Then they left the stage, in a planned encore, as the audience yelled for more. The three reappeared, each in a different spot in the audience and they sang the controversial "Goodbye, Earl," in which an abused wife and her Natalie Maines friends kill the husband.

Skaggs provided an entertaining 45-minute opener with his crack Kentucky Thunder band, which includes twin fiddles, a five-string banjo, three guitars and Skaggs on mandolin. He opened with a terrific version of the old bluegrass classic "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms."

He also performed some gospel numbers, including "A Voice From on High." And the group did several fast-pickin' instrumentals and also included the late Bill Monroe classic "Uncle Penn."

Skaggs congratulated the Chicks on their election as the Country Music Association's entertainers of the year and mentioned that he held that honor in 1985.

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