Martie Maguire

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia   Martie Maguire born Martha Elenor Erwin October 12 1969 is a Grammy Awardwinning American songwriter multiinstrumentalist and a founding member of the female alternative country band the The Chicks fka Dixie Chicks She won awards in national fiddle championships while still a teenager Maguire is accomplished on several other instruments including the mandolin viola acoustic bass and guitar She has written and cowritten a number of the bands songs some of which have become charttopping hits She also contributes her skills in vocal harmony and backing vocals as well as orchestrating string arrangements for the band She is lefthanded but plays righthanded Maguire learned several instruments at a young age honing her skills with her younger sister Emily Robison née Emily Erwin and two schoolmates a brother and sister team Troy and Sharon Gilchrist for over five years as a part of a high school touring bluegrass quartet After graduation the sisters forged an alliance with two other women they had met through the Dallas music scene Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy forming a bluegrass and country music band busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits for six years After the departure of Macy and the replacement of Lynch with singersongwriter Natalie Maines the band widened their musical repertoire and appearance The result was a trio so commercially successful that it took the country music industry by surprise with a number of hit songs albums and awards that have set records in the music industry Maguire subsequently stood by her bandmates as they were engulfed in political controversy Description above from the Wikipedia article Martie Maguire licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia