Dixie Chicks Dish On Larry King

On CNN's Larry King Live

THE DIXIE CHICKS appeared on CNN's LARRY KING LIVE last night to promote their new documentary, "DIXIE CHICKS: Shut Up And Sing," and to no one's suprise the conversation turned to politics. One particular exchange had NATALIE MAINES commenting specifically on radio's role in banning their music after her controversial remarks about President BUSH on a LONDON concert stage.

KING: "We have an e-mail question from BOBBY JOE in LOUISVILLE. Some stations refuse to play your songs and claim listeners don't want to hear your music. Do you think they are practicing a form of censorship, NATALIE?"

"COX and CUMULUS, who own a lot of radio stations across the country, had corporate bans from the top..."

MAINES: "Now, not necessarily. At the time, definitely. We know that they were. COX and CUMULUS, who own a lot of radio stations across the country, had corporate bans from the top, and you see that in the film as well, had some Senate hearings for media consolidation and the guy says himself that he's trying defend what they did.

"He then says and everyone fell in line, which is very telling and, you know, we know DJs that got fired for playing us anyway, because they didn't want to get political and they didn't want to make music political. And so, you know, I think, you know, people get tired, maybe, of us talking about it, but I think the importance, we feel, is for people to recognize that this sort of thing can go on without you knowing it. It was a form of censorship and media consolidation and that is very scary.

"We didn't have a problem with people not wanting to buy our music or not liking us anymore. That is a form them voicing their opinions as well, but when people are deciding things from a corporate level, and they're deciding, pretty much, what you're going to hear, or like, or listen to, there's some very scary consequences to that scenario."

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