At a 2003 show in London, Natalie Maines expressed her shame of George W. Bush being a fellow native Texan, inadvertently sparking an uproar of hostile opposition from conservatives in the United States. The lead singer was representing her Grammy award-winning trio Dixie Chicks, and as a result of her single and brief statement against the U.S. President, country stations across America refused to play their songs, former fans protested outside their concerts, and a few death threats were even issued.

All of this make up the subject of the feature documentary Shut Up and Sing. As the film portrays, the three women balance the overwhelming challenges of being industry musicians, wives, mothers, and, above all, Americans. My central concern is whether the controversy would have been as strong had they not been female members of the country music scene. Then, would pro-Bush Americans have a different image of what the Dixie Chicks should be representing? Perhaps the old-fashioned belief that pretty, young girls from the South should not practice defiance and should only speak up when permitted to is fresh and alive in a large portion of the United States population. Here is a clip from the film.

Shut Up and Sing was shot by the following filmmakers.

Barbara Kopple, co-director, 1976 winner of Best Feature Documentary Oscar for Harlan County, U.S.A.

Cecilia Peck, co-director, daughter of late actor Gregory Peck.

Joan Churchill, director of photography. Other credits include director for Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.