NATALIE MAINES
Natalie Louise Maines was raised in a musical family as her grandfather was a musician and her father, Lloyd, was a steel guitar player/record producer and a member of the family band “The Maines Brothers Band” She started her singing career at age 3, spending time in recording studios, family jam sessions and performng with her father. The first song she learned to sing was “Shake Your Booty”. She learned to play the piano at 12 and later the acoustic guitar. She continued to perform during her school years attending O. L. Slaton Junior High becoming a member of the choir and was a cheerleader. She attended Texas Tech and had a job waiting on tables at an Italian Restaurant. Natalie made a demo tape that got her a scholarship at Berklee School Of Music in Boston dropping out of Tech. When The original Dixie Chicks Martie and Emily, who were popular around the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, needed a lead singer Lloyd got Natalie’s demo tape to them. They liked what they heard calling and then sending her a song to sing on a follow-up demo tape. The song “You Were Mine” would later become a #1 song from their first album. Natalie then checked out of Berklee joining The Dixie Chicks. After having to learn the words to 25 songs within a short time she was on stage performing as a Dixie Chick the following week. Natalie Maines with her good looks, high energy, stage presence and talent was the final ingredient needed to take The Dixie Chicks to the top. Ten #1 hits, “Wide Open Spaces” album selling 10 million copies, “Fly” album selling 10 million and 15 major awards to date. Natalie was born in Lubbock.
