Court Yard Hounds Sing Out About Gay Rights

Some of the most notoriously outspoken ladies of Country Music are none other than Natalie Maines, Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks. Now, with the formation of Robinson and Maguire’s duo, Court Yard Hounds, the girls have a new platform to speak from. Their newest song, "Ain’t No Son,"’ was written upon the reflection of a film that left Robinson looking for a bone to pick.

 

"We wrote it after Emily had watched a documentary about families who throw their young boys out of the house when they find out they're gay," Maguire said to the Star Observer, an Australian newspaper. "She was really disturbed by that mentality. She doesn't like having to sing it from the father's perspective, because she really has to become that person when she's singing it.”

 

The Dixie Chicks made headlines nation wide in 2003 after Natalie Maines’ comment about President-at-the-time George W. Bush. The avalanche that followed lead the Chicks to be stripped from their position as America’s sweethearts, resulting in plummeting record sales and radio success. It is because of that moment, Maguire said, that she can fearlessly sing about gay rights.

 

"I didn't realize how polarized an industry like music can be," Maguire said. "We grew up in the South, but in a very liberal household -- both our parents are from the Northeast. I was just oblivious to the fact that the Country scene was socially backward and politically opposite of everything I am."

 

"Ain't No Son" is intended to bring awareness to listeners about prejudicial mindsets and how dangerous they can be, which is showcased in the lyrics: “You ain't no son of mine / Forget it girls, there ain't no use in tryin'.” However, the heart and soul of the song is evoked from the heavily emotion-based a capella intro, told from the point of view of the gay son of the homophobic father. "I got something to say / I'm scared and so afraid / Can you take me as I am? / Come what may, our blood is all the same / I'm still your little man."

 

The Court Yard Hound duo has made it clear that their self-titled debut CD is separate from the work of the Dixie Chicks. The tracks featured on the Court Yard Hounds album “were very personal to Emily when she wrote them," Maguire told The Boot, "so we felt like that in itself -- even though we all three wrote for the Chicks album -- this time it was kind of Emily's meditative writing on her own and singing her own songs and telling her own stories. That was a strong way to start with a totally different sound."

 

The Court Yard Hounds will perform several songs from their debut album at London’s esteemed Union Chapel in November. Their debut CD is now available everywhere.

 

Source: TheBoot.com