Editing Natalie Maines (section)

== Early life ==
Maines was born in [[Lubbock, Texas]], to country musician and producer [[Lloyd Maines]] and Tina May Maines. She attended Nat Williams Elementary School in Lubbock, where her second grade teacher recalls being told by Maines during a math lesson, "Teacher, I don't need to learn this stuff—I'm gonna be a star."<ref name="Dickerson" /> Maines was a cheerleader while attending O. L. Slaton Junior High School,<ref name="Dickerson" />  and graduated in 1992 from [[Lubbock High School]] where she had participated in the school [[choir]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amc-music.com/musicmaking/play@school/artists.htm |title=Play at School |publisher=American Music Conference |access-date=April 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928211031/http://www.amc-music.com/musicmaking/play@school/artists.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref> Maines has described growing up in conservative [[Texas]], saying "I always rebelled against that. My parents sent me and my sister to public minority schools so I always felt like a hippie and a rebel. ... As a teenager I always loved not thinking in the way I knew the majority of people thought. I always stood up for minorities. ... I've always stood up for homosexuals. I just always had these really strong convictions about doing so."<ref name="Heysen">Heysen, Kristen. (October 8, 2006) [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20541859-5006343,00.html Not ready to make nice] AdelaideNow. Retrieved April 3, 2007.</ref>

Following the completion of high school, Maines attended several colleges. She spent two semesters pursuing an undeclared major at [[West Texas A&M University|West Texas A&M]] where her studies focused heavily on radio, then a year and a half at [[South Plains College]]. One of Maines's instructors at South Plains, and a former member of [[The Maines Brothers Band]], Cary Banks, recalled "She was mostly into [[rock'n'roll]], [[rhythm and blues]] ... [[alternative rock]]." When Banks encountered Maines on campus, he said that she usually needed to vent a little steam. "She would get into a lot of political arguments" at the predominantly Republican school, and was a fan of Texas Governor [[Ann Richards]]. "She's always been opinionated and hardheaded like her dad."<ref name="Dickerson" />  In December 1994, Maines auditioned for and received a full vocal scholarship to Berklee College of Music. She pursued the diploma program at Berklee but dropped out before the completion of her studies. Even though Maines is from Lubbock, home of [[Texas Tech University]], she attended only one class at the school, a 1995 summer course in "Introductory Wildlife".<ref name="Dickerson" />