Laura Lynch, founding member of The Dixie Chicks, dies in car crash in Texas
She recorded three albums with the group before leaving. Natalie Maines replaced her in the band.
They were a better/more interesting band before the Maines era.
i.e., before they "went woke"?
No, before they completely changed their sound. moving away from bluegrass and going to mainstream country-pop:
The Chicks were founded in 1989 as the Dixie Chicks by Laura Lynch on upright bass, Robin Lynn Macy on guitar, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin. The Erwin sisters later married and both changed their names twice (Martie to Martie Seidel, then Martie Maguire; Emily to Emily Robison, then Emily Strayer). The band name was taken from the album Dixie Chicken by Lowell George of Little Feat.
They initially played predominantly bluegrass and a mix of country standards. All four women played and sang, though Maguire and Strayer provided most of the instrumental accompaniment for the band while Lynch and Macy shared lead vocals. Maguire primarily played fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Strayer's specialties included five-stringed banjo and dobro.
In 1990, Penny Cook, the daughter of the senator John Tower, gave the Dixie Chicks $10,000 to record an album. Their first studio album, Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, was named after the pioneering performer Dale Evans. They paid $5,000 for the 14-track album. It included two instrumentals. In 1987, Maguire (still known then as Martie Erwin) had won second place, and in 1989, third place in the national fiddle championships held at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
A Christmas single was released at the end of the year – a 45 RPM vinyl record titled Home on the Radar Range with "Christmas Swing" on one side and the song on the flip side named "The Flip Side". The record titles were significant; during that period of time, the bandmates dressed up as "cowgirls", and publicity photos reflected this image. However, even with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, and Garrison Keillor's radio show A Prairie Home Companion, they did not get much national airplay.
The Dixie Chicks began building a fan base, winning the prize for "best band" at the 1990 Telluride Bluegrass Festival and opening for established country music artists, including such names as Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, and George Strait.
In 1992, a second independent album, Little Ol' Cowgirl, moved towards a more contemporary country sound, as the band enlisted the help of more session musicians, and developed a richer sound with larger and more modern arrangements. ]Robin Lynn Macy was not pleased with the change in sound. She left in late 1992 to devote herself to a "purer" bluegrass sound, remaining active in the Dallas and Austin music scenes. It was during this period that professional steel guitarist Lloyd Maines (who had played on both albums) introduced them to his daughter, Natalie, an aspiring singer. Lloyd Maines thought his daughter would be a good match to replace the departed Macy, and had passed along Natalie's audition demo tape, which had won her a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, to both Maguire and Strayer. Her distinctive voice was a match for Maguire's soprano and Strayer's alto harmonies. As Maguire and Strayer considered their options and the major record labels waffled over whether they should take a risk on an all-woman band, a few reviewers took note of their talents:
Some record label executives will be kicking themselves soon enough when the Dixie Chicks are queens of the honky-tonk circuit. If their show at the Birchmere last week was any indication, these Chicks have what it takes to make the big time, yet no major label has taken the plunge to sign them.
— Eric Brace, The Washington Post
Lynch, thrust into the role of sole lead singer on their third independent album, Shouldn't a Told You That in 1993, was unable to attract support from a major record label, and the band struggled to expand their fan base beyond Texas and Nashville. Their new manager, Simon Renshaw, approached the executive Scott Siman and he signed them to a developmental deal with Sony Music Entertainment's Nashville division. The deal was finalized with Sony over mid-1995, and Lynch was replaced by Maines.
