Dixie Chicks Announce New Album and Tour Coming in 2020

The wait is almost over for Dixie Chicks fans, with a new album from the group set to arrive in 2020 along with an accompanying tour.

Frontwoman Natalie Maines appeared on a recent episode of the Spiritualgasm podcast where she shared the news, telling hosts Sterling Jones and Arielle Kebbel that the project is almost complete. Maines revealed that the working title is Gaslighter, which is also the name of one of the songs on the record. The trio has been working with producer Jack Antonoff on the project and has continually teased the new release on social media. In addition, Maines mentioned that she and bandmates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison had just received their “routing,” mentioning arenas as possible touring venues for next year.

The Chicks’ upcoming album will be their last under a seven-album contract with Sony. Their previous releases include four studio albums and two live albums, and Maines revealed that the trio had planned to record an album of covers for their seventh project. That changed after Maines’ divorce from husband Adrian Pasdar, which led to the decision to record original material.

“I had a lot to say,” Maines explained. “Songwriting is really hard for me, and I think for many years, I didn’t want to analyze my life or my relationship. I was just in it and dedicated and devoted, and if I had started writing songs about it … I don’t want to say I was in a ‘survival mode,’ but I was just not ready to open up like that.”

The Chicks’ last album was 2006’s Taking the Long Way, which was largely a response to the treatment the band received after Maines made negative comments about then-president George W. Bush in 2003. While the group had essentially been banned from country radio as a result, Taking the Long Way earned the Dixie Chicks five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.

“Our last album was the most personal and autobiographical we’ve ever been,” Maines said. “And then this one is 10 times that.”

After Taking the Long Way, Maines took a break from music, though she did release a solo album in 2013. The musician explained that her decision was due to wanting to be present to raise her and Pasdar’s two sons, who are now 18 and 15 years old.

“You have these dreams, and I had surpassed all of my dreams,” she said. “To make a record means you have to tour. It’s a whole cycle. It was easier when the kids weren’t in school – you just bring them [on tour] – but once they got their own lives, we didn’t want to make their lives about us and our careers … I just wanted to be a mom.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Chris Polk