Martha Elenor Maguire is an American musician who is a founding member of the country band the Chicks and the country bluegrass duo Court Yard Hounds. She won awards in national fiddle championships while still a teenager. Maguire is accomplished on several other instruments, including the mandolin, viola, double bass and guitar. She has written and co-written a number of the band's songs, some of which have become chart-topping hits. She also contributes her skills in vocal harmony and backing vocals, as well as orchestrating string arrangements for the band.
Maguire performing at SXSW, Austin, Texas in 2010
Maguire at Royal Albert Hall, 2003
Martie Maguire with the Dixie Chicks in Austin, TX, 2006
Maguire performing at Antone's in Austin, with the Court Yard Hounds; 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