Dixie Chicks Say Raising Their Kids Kept Them Off the Road

It's been four years since the Dixie Chicks have launched a major tour, and there are a few very important reasons why. In a new interview with Zane Lowe, the trio reveals that their families took priority over any opportunities to head back out on the road.

“Well the kids -- our nine kids, collectively -- are why we paused for so long," fiddle player and vocalist Martie Maguire explains. "I'm finding out that teenagers are a lot harder than babies," she notes with a laugh.

"Babies pull you off the road, teenagers push you back on,” adds lead vocalist Natalie Maines, a mother to two boys, Jackson Slade, born in 2001, and Beckett Finn, born in 2004. Maguire is a mother to three daughters with her ex-husband, Gareth Maguire -- twins Eva Ruth and Kathleen Emilie, born in 2004, and Harper Rosie, born in 2008 -- while multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Emily Strayer has three children (Charles Augustus, born in 2002, and twins Julianna Tex and Henry Benjamin, born in 2005) with ex-husband Charlie Robison and a daughter, Violet Isabel, born in 2012, with husband Martin Strayer.

On March 4, the Chicks shared "Gaslighter," their first new single in 14 years. Maines says the bulk of their new material was created after her divorce from actor Adrian Pasdar ignited a new creative spark. With even more new music on the horizon, the band says their children are now cheering them on.

“Yeah, you know, my boys are actually really supportive and really excited for the music, and they are fans," Maines shares. "They're not too cool to like their mom's job.”

The Dixie Chicks will release their highly anticipated new album, Gaslighter, on May 1. The record features production from musician Jack Antonoff, who has also worked with Taylor Swift and pop artist Lorde.

Tour dates in support of Gaslighter have not yet been announced, but Maines teased a possible arena tour during a 2019 appearance on the Spiritualgasm podcast.

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