Editing Emily Strayer (section)

==The Chicks==
[[File:Emily Robison with the Dixie Chicks 1998.jpg|thumb|200px|left|With the Dixie Chicks; 1998]]

In 1989, after years of attending [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]] [[festivals]] and [[busking]] where they could, Emily joined her sister Martie, guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and [[upright bass]] player [[Laura Lynch (musician)|Laura Lynch]]. Frost, again, recalls being privy to the discussion that the four women had about the possibility of a successful career as musicians together. Martie felt they could do well. Robin said, ".. It's going to be a 'hot' band," to which Emily responded, "I give it six months, and if we aren't making money by then, I'm out of here!".<ref name="Frost" /> Emily was shy, and the youngest member of the group. She had enjoyed playing throughout school, but was at an age where she was already entertaining thoughts of working hard to be accepted by the [[United States Air Force Academy]].<ref name="Clark">Clark, Renee [http://www.dixie-chicks.com/dlife392.shtml "Can the Dixie Chicks make it in the big time?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191833/http://www.dixie-chicks.com/dlife392.shtml |date=March 4, 2016 }} ''Dallas Life Magazine'' in ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', March 1, 1992 (Retrieved January 23, 2008).</ref>

By 1993, the band had evolved into a new direction. Macy left the group for a "purer" [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]] sound. Lynch, thrust into the position of sole lead singer, was replaced by the sisters in 1995 with singer composer [[Natalie Maines]] after the group was unable to garner anything more than local interest.<ref name="Dickerson">Dickerson, James L. (2000) ''Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage''. Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas, Texas. {{ISBN|0-87833-189-1}}.</ref> Emily commented, "We were prepared to pay our dues for as long as it took; we were prepared for longevity. We know that we will always be playing music together, so we wanted to find someone who is just as determined and energetic as we are."{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

But in later interviews, the sisters revealed what many had thought for a long time: the reason Lynch was replaced was not commitment but a perceived lack of talent.  In an article in the April/May edition of ''Country Music Magazine'', Emily stated, "We felt we needed the next calibre of singer."{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

[[File:Emily-Robison.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Emily in concert with the [[Dixie Chicks]], Austin, Texas, 2006]]

From there, massive commercial success ensued, with their 1998 and 1999 albums ''[[Wide Open Spaces (album)|Wide Open Spaces]]'' and  ''[[Fly (Dixie Chicks album)|Fly]]'' both achieving [[diamond record]] status. Emily was a key element of the group's look, with her hair dyed blond to match the other two at first, and then allowing it to return to her natural brunette color, and distinguishing herself visually from the other two. Emily and Martie's instrumental virtuosity set the Dixie Chicks apart from many other country acts, male and female. Emily's songwriting has also been a factor in the Chicks' recording career. <!-- needs expansion, reference to particular songs -->

Emily stood by Maines when the controversy over Maines' remarks about U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] hit the newswire on the eve before the [[Iraq War]] in 2003. She was the only bandmate to realize that - while in the U.K., there was a big anti-war sentiment in the audience - back in the United States, Maines' criticism of President Bush would not be well received. Nevertheless, even when her home was trashed,{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} and plenty of editorials were predicting the end of the Dixie Chicks' successful careers in music, she remained loyal to Maines, as did her sister.
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