Three years after bringing down the wrath of God - or, at least, red meat US conservatives - over a mild dig at George Bush, an unrepentant trio of Dixie Chicks still can't believe all the fuss. With a new album to promote, Martie Maguire tells Brian Boyd about death threats, patriotism, the power of Clear Channel - and how cool it was to have Bruce Springsteen on their side

The death threat against Natalie Maines was different from the other hate mail the Dixie Chicks were receiving in the summer of 2003. It specified a time, a place and even a weapon. It was taken so seriously by the FBI and Texas Rangers that a massive security operation was put in place. Those going to the Dallas concert had to pass through airport-style metal detectors, and the three band members were bundled straight from the stage into bullet-proof police cars directly after the show.

"That was the lowest moment," says fiddle player and vocalist Martie Maguire. "With the FBI buzzing around us all night, we realised just how serious this situation had become - how it had gone from being a 'how dare you?' type of criticism to specific death threats. And just because of eight or 10 words."

Those words were spoken by Maines, a Texan, at a concert in the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London in March 2003, 10 days before the US invaded Iraq. Between songs, Maines told the crowd: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."

This reporter was sitting in the audience that night. Nobody thought anything about the remark at the time. In fact, it was mild compared to what other US musicians were saying about President Bush at the time - with the term "war criminal" being routinely used.

The disproportionate reaction to the remark was because the Dixie Chicks were never an arty or edgy street band. They played red state music for red state people. "It took me three years to realise that," says Maguire. "It seemed so much worse coming from us because it was from within. If we had acted to country music type, we would have been flag-waving patriots. It hurt more coming from us than say, Patti Smith. We blew open the whole red state/blue state preconception about attitudes to the Iraq war."

The weird irony here is that it was all the Guardian newspaper's fault. While most reviews of the London show didn't mention Maines's comments, the Guardian reviewer did. The paper's online edition enjoys a huge readership in the US and, once the review went electronic, it was picked up by most every US media organisation.

The Dixie Chicks were accused of being "traitors" and "being disrespectful to the American president on foreign soil". Country music radio stations dropped the band from their playlists and one particular station organised a bulldozer crush of the their CDs. The band were roundly booed when they appeared at that year's Academy of Country Music Awards show. In their country music heartland, they were called "Dixie Sluts" and "Saddam's Angels".

Sony labelmate Bruce Springsteen came out in support of the band, saying there was a "pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war. Right now, we are supposedly fighting to create freedom in Iraq, at the same time that some are trying to intimidate and punish people for using that same freedom here at home."

"When Bruce Springsteen made his statement, I was not so much relieved that someone was supporting us, but more shocked that he had even heard of us," says Maguire. "Before the remark, we existed solely within the country music world. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this, but after that comment I was just thinking 'Oh my God, Bruce Springsteen is defending us, does that make us a cool band?'"

There was a sidebar issue here of how the behemoth music corporation, Clear Channel, was not only in the forefront of banning the Dixie Chicks from its stations - "out of respect for our troops and our listeners, we have taken the Dixie Chicks off our playlists" - but also organising large-scale "patriotic rallies" around the country. There is not enough space in this article to elaborate on the links between Clear Channel and George Bush, but you can start by visiting www.opednews.com/creekmore030804_stern_clear_channel.htm.

Bush himself issued a statement about the row: "I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said," he said. "They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out."

Musically, the Dixie Chicks are derided by purists as country music Spice Girls. But despite their easy-on-the-eye looks and a dress sense that would make Christina Aguilera blush, they are not your typical girlband. All are accomplished musicians and sing songs about killing off abusive husbands. Five years ago they sued their record label, Sony, for "systematic thievery, fraud and racketeering" in a row over alleged unpaid royalties, which was eventually settled amicably. Both Sony and the Dixie Chicks now charmingly refer to the court case as "the situation".

"We were never a typical female country band before - we just didn't slot in to that category - and we're even more different now," says Maguire. "The whole episode politicised us. We became aware of the strength and power of reactionary voices and became more aware of how strong Clear Channel is. We saw and heard things about ourselves that we just couldn't believe. We were damaged emotionally by what happened. First we were baffled by the reaction, then we were sad about it. They we went into defensive mode and then we got angry - and we still are.

"How weird is this? We all still live in Texas and when I go into a local supermarket, I just know that the people there are either going to really hate me or really like me because of what happened. And then I'll be driving behind a car with these bumper stickers saying 'Support the troops' and I'm just thinking, if that person knew I was a Dixie Chick, how would he or she react to me?"

Taking the Long Way, the Dixie Chicks' new album, is trailed by the unrepentant single, Not Ready to Make Nice. The lyrics include: "Forgive, sounds good/Forget, I'm not sure I could/They say time heals everything/But I'm still waiting . . . And how in the world can the words that I said/Send somebody so over the edge/That they'd write me a letter/Sayin' that I better shut up and sing/Or my life will be over?"

"It's a powerful statement and we make no apologies for that," says Maguire. "We don't make decisions based on the fact that our core fans are in the red states. What are we supposed to do, play with red, white and blue guitars and put on our 'I Love Bush' T-shirts? That's not us."

US country music stations playing the single have been bombarded with e-mails saying "keep playing that song and I'll find another station." The curious thing is that US radio programmers invariably report that there are four or five potential hit records on the new album, but Not Ready to Make Nice isn't one of them. Certainly, the single has picked up plenty of coverage, though mainly from TV news and talk shows. A clever marketing device or the Dixie Chicks sticking to their guns?

"We had to release that song as the first single," says Maguire. "In the past, we have mainly just got co-write credits on our albums, but on this one we've written everything. We wrote songs about what has happened to us over the last three years, so obviously we were always going to address that particular incident. The song is therapeutic for us; it explains the hurt and anger we felt at how we were treated, how our CDs were being smashed up by radio stations.

"Maybe country music stations would have preferred a different song for the first single, but we can't think like that. And as much as people might say it is a confrontational return, how does that explain that the song is the No 1 download on iTunes and the album has massive pre-orders on Amazon?"

The album was produced by the ubiquitous Rick Rubin. "I know it seems like he's everywhere these days, but the connection happened naturally," says Maguire. "We were just sitting around listening to a whole bunch of CDs one day and we kept going back to a Red Hot Chili Peppers album, more for the sound of it than anything else. We picked up the album, saw his name as producer and called him up.

"The real difference he made to the sound was to personalise everything. We had all the songs written ourselves, but whenever we played him something, he always said 'make it personal, speak about what happened to you'. I think he was trying to get us to plug into all those emotions from the past few years."

When you consider the whole media fuss about Maines's original comment and all those 'Buy a Dixie Chicks album for freedom' web pages and the opposing 'Not ready to buy the new Dixie Chicks album' pages, it may seem pedantic to point out that the original remark about how they were ashamed George Bush came from the same state as them was factually incorrect. George Bush is from Connecticut.

"That's all very well," Maguire laughs. "But it still doesn't stop me from being called 'Jane Fonda' in my local supermarket."

Not Ready to Make Nice is released on June 2nd. Taking the Long Way follows on June 9th