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Court Yard Hounds
Court Yard Hounds
Court Yard Hounds
Genres: Country, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of The Dixie Chicks are releasing new music under the moniker Court Yard Hounds. — The Court Yard Hounds profoundly evocative songs tell stories woven into melodies that are both individual ...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Court Yard Hounds
Title: Court Yard Hounds
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Columbia
Original Release Date: 5/4/2010
Release Date: 5/4/2010
Genres: Country, Pop, Rock
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 886975244126

Synopsis

Product Description
Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of The Dixie Chicks are releasing new music under the moniker Court Yard Hounds.
The Court Yard Hounds profoundly evocative songs tell stories woven into melodies that are both individual and universal. Robison is the lead vocalist and primary writer on most of the tracks, although Maguire takes over the lead on her own solo composition, "Gracefully". The new music spans sounds of folk, country, rock and Americana and includes a collaboration with Jakob Dylan on "See You in the Spring", the wry tale of a couple from the northernmost and southernmost parts of the country who find their biggest obstacle is climatic.

Texas also asserts itself more contentedly in "The Coast", which celebrates neither the east nor west but south coast, and Skyline, which was inspired by the view of San Antonio from Robison's loft. Faster paced songs range from the self-doubting levity of "Then Again" to the fiery outrage of "Ain't No Son", a song about an angry, disapproving father. Fairytale speaks to romantic enchantment, while there's no happily-ever-after in sight in the breakup songs "April's Love" and "It Didn't Make a Sound".

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CD Reviews

Release The Hounds!
Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 05/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Content for several years with being in the background while the often fiery and feisty Natalie Maines was their lead vocalist, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, having achieved a lot with Natalie as the Dixie Chicks, decided to do their own musical side project under a different moniker while Natalie decided to take time off from music following the Chicks' Grammy wins in 2007, and the controversies over Nat's Bushwhacking comments in London during the previous four years. So here Emily and Martie come into the mix as the Court Yard Hounds. And although it may be missing the intensity and the snarl that Nat bought to the Chicks, there is just as much bite as there is bark in these Hounds.



For one thing, having really grown well beyond what the Nashville or even mainstream Texas establishments pegged them as with the Chicks' TAKING THE LONG WAY, Emily and Martie have carried that album's songwriting style over onto this duo project, where breezy songs like "The Coast" and "Delight (Something New Under The Sun)" alternate with rootsy country-rock songs like "I Miss You" and "Fairytale", and rather stinging social commentary, the latter in the form of "Ain't No Son", which is a fiery attack against the redneck notion that homosexuals are inferior to everybody else. One would also be remiss in not mentioning the fact that their instrumental abilities make them rather peerless in a genre where independent women are still an anomaly, Martie doing her fine fiddle and mandolin work (and even lead vocal on her own composition "Gracefully"; the other songs being written by Emily, who does the lead singing on the rest of the album, and sounds, unintentionally, like Sheryl Crow), and Emily working things out on guitar, banjo, dobro and other sundry stringed instruments. They also get able help from highly reliable session vets, like Natalie's father Lloyd Maines, ex-Lone Justice drummer Don Heffington, and pedal steel wizard Greg Leisz, who worked on the Eagles' LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN, and Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris' 1999 "Everly Sisters" album WESTERN WALL: THE TUCSON SESSIONS. And on "See You In Spring", Emily and Martie get it on with Bob Dylan's son Jakob as guest vocalist.



COURT YARD HOUNDS almost certainly falls into that musically gray area known as Americana, what with its mix of rock, folk, pop, country, and bluegrass elements; like TAKING THE LONG WAY, it will likely succeed with that Americana crowd as well as an audience that was raised on the 1970s California country-rock sound pioneered by Linda, Emmylou, the Eagles, and Poco. But make no mistake, there is a huge audience out there that loves to hear something different from the same old Nashville assembly line. And though it hardly means that the Chicks themselves are through as a group, at the very least Emily and Martie have created something of their own as a sister duo that is eminently listenable and memorable."
Like catching up with a really good friend.
Dorthy Parker | North Carolina | 05/13/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I hadn't actually heard about this album and was shocked when I stopped in for my morning coffee at my local Starbucks and saw 2/3 of the Dixie Chicks staring back at me. I'm a big fan, so I bought it (which cost me 10 dollars more than if I had bought it on Amazon!) Despite the sting of overpayment, this a great collection. It is different than the Chicks music. Both styles are great, but this album feels more mature musically. I can relate to the lyrics like they came from my own heart. If you are a woman who is no longer a child, this music will speak to you. The songs are about love and loss and family and that's pretty universal stuff.



Listening to the Court Yard Hounds feels like catching up with a really good friend over a great glass of wine.



Well done ladies and thank you for not giving up."
Who knew?
Gloria Beaverson | Roxborough Park, CO USA | 07/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a fan of the Chicks for a long time. But I had no idea how wonderful the voices of the 'backup singers' were. Seems to me, Natalie should have shared the mike a bit more and showcased the other talent in the band. I love this CD. Can't imagine ever getting tired of it. Emily's voice is so pure, and even though there are numerous comparisons to Sheryl Crow, Crow does not sound this good on her best day. (I am a fan of hers, too.) I hope this is not the only CD from these 2. Bravo!"