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| Court Yard Hounds 2010 |
651 Miles To Go
The Erwin Sisters (a.k.a. Martie Maguire and Emily Robison) took the first flight away from the Dixie Chicks as the Court Yard Hounds and flew into Sheryl Crow airspace on their 2010 debut.
Motherhood, personal strife and the ongoing fallout from the Dixie Chicks/W. controversy put the band on the shelf following the 2006 "Accidents & Accusations" tour.
The combination of circumstances, including Robison's 2008 split from Texas singer/songwriter Charlie Robison, inspired Emily to write as an outlet for all that was going on around her.
"The first year of our hiatus, I was getting very restless and needed to be creative for my own sanity," the younger sister said on the Court Yard Hounds web site. "And, at the same time I was going through my divorce, so it was very fertile ground for writing."
Robison writes or co-writes and sings on 11 of the 12 songs on the album. Her elder sister Maguire takes the creative lead and vocals on a single song - Gracefully.
The resulting Court Yard Hounds collection is filled with heartaches, heartbreaks and hard choices, along with splashes of breezy ballads and sunny mid-tempo rockers.
Musically, it plays like a softer Sheryl Crow record and both sisters' vocals are similar to the quiet Crow. Surprisingly, there's barely a taste of country or bluegrass on any the songs.
Even Robison's banjo and Maguire's fiddle playing are very subtle on Court Yard Hounds. In fact the fiddle play is more "violin" than would be expected (Ain't No Son the one exception), especially given Maguire's fiery flashes with the Dixie Chicks.
Skyline, Fairytale, Gracefully, April's Love and Fear of Wasted Time are atmospheric and lonely.
See You In The Spring is a duet with a Jakob Dylan in which a San Antonio girl and a Chicago boy use the weather as an excuse to avoid commitment.
The Court Yard Hounds crank the cadence on The Coast, Delight (Something New Under The Sun), Ain't No Son, Then Again and It Didn't Make A Sound to show they weren't the only Dixie Chick who wanted to move out of the country now and again.
Given the grandness of the songwriting and singing departure for Robison and Maguire on Court Yard Hounds, it stands as a solid opening effort.
A new record is promised for this summer along with a series of high profile Court Yard Hounds concerts including Milwaukee's Summerfest, Lollapalooza and both weekends of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Whether Chicks, Hounds or both, Robison and Maguire won't be turning into anyone's hen-pecked lap dogs anytime soon.
Song For The Soundtrack: Then AgainMotherhood, personal strife and the ongoing fallout from the Dixie Chicks/W. controversy put the band on the shelf following the 2006 "Accidents & Accusations" tour.
The combination of circumstances, including Robison's 2008 split from Texas singer/songwriter Charlie Robison, inspired Emily to write as an outlet for all that was going on around her.
"The first year of our hiatus, I was getting very restless and needed to be creative for my own sanity," the younger sister said on the Court Yard Hounds web site. "And, at the same time I was going through my divorce, so it was very fertile ground for writing."
Robison writes or co-writes and sings on 11 of the 12 songs on the album. Her elder sister Maguire takes the creative lead and vocals on a single song - Gracefully.
The resulting Court Yard Hounds collection is filled with heartaches, heartbreaks and hard choices, along with splashes of breezy ballads and sunny mid-tempo rockers.
Musically, it plays like a softer Sheryl Crow record and both sisters' vocals are similar to the quiet Crow. Surprisingly, there's barely a taste of country or bluegrass on any the songs.
Even Robison's banjo and Maguire's fiddle playing are very subtle on Court Yard Hounds. In fact the fiddle play is more "violin" than would be expected (Ain't No Son the one exception), especially given Maguire's fiery flashes with the Dixie Chicks.
Skyline, Fairytale, Gracefully, April's Love and Fear of Wasted Time are atmospheric and lonely.
See You In The Spring is a duet with a Jakob Dylan in which a San Antonio girl and a Chicago boy use the weather as an excuse to avoid commitment.
The Court Yard Hounds crank the cadence on The Coast, Delight (Something New Under The Sun), Ain't No Son, Then Again and It Didn't Make A Sound to show they weren't the only Dixie Chick who wanted to move out of the country now and again.
Given the grandness of the songwriting and singing departure for Robison and Maguire on Court Yard Hounds, it stands as a solid opening effort.
A new record is promised for this summer along with a series of high profile Court Yard Hounds concerts including Milwaukee's Summerfest, Lollapalooza and both weekends of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Whether Chicks, Hounds or both, Robison and Maguire won't be turning into anyone's hen-pecked lap dogs anytime soon.
Running Data For Wednesday, May 15:
4.63 Miles
50:54
Mileage In The Change Jar: 0.23 Miles
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