Emily Burns Strayer is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the country band the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks. Strayer plays banjo, dobro, guitar, lap steel, bass, mandolin, accordion, fiddle, piano, and sitar. Initially in her career with the Chicks, she limited her singing to harmony with backing vocals, but within her role in the Court Yard Hounds, she took on the role of lead vocalist.
Robison playing dobro, 2010
With the Dixie Chicks; 1998
Strayer in concert with the Dixie Chicks, Austin, Texas, 2006
Strayer with the Court Yard Hounds at Antone's, SXSW, March 18, 2010
The Chicks are an American country band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. Maguire and Strayer, both née Erwin, founded the band in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, with bassist Laura Lynch and vocalist and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy. They performed bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years without attracting a major label. In 1992, Macy left and Lynch became the lead vocalist.
The Dixie Chicks in Austin, Texas, in 2006
The Dixie Chicks at the Country for Kids concert in 1998 in Stafford, Virginia
The Dixie Chicks performing at Madison Square Garden on June 20, 2003, during the Top of the World Tour
The Dixie Chicks in 2006. From left: Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer
