The members of The Chicks are happy to thoughtfully discuss serious issues, as befits a groundbreaking country-music group that has triumphed over intense adversity.
But Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire are just as happy to gleefully crack jokes and poke fun at each other. And that's exactly what they did recently, in between discussing serious issues, during an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Here are excerpts from the lighter-hearted moments of that conversation.
Q: A lot bands can remember when they moved up from a car or a station wagon to a van, and then from a van to a tour bus ...
Strayer: We had an RV in between there. We had an RV for a long time!
Q: Who was the best driver in the band, and who was the worst?
Strayer: Hmm. I would say I was the best driver! (laughs)
Maines: I think Emily was a good driver. I was the nighttime driver. I don't know why; the lights kept me awake. I think we were were all good drivers. But there are a couple of stories of Martie dragging giant planters out of gas stations! (laughs)
Strayer: No one was ever hurt, though. It would always be inanimate objects that she'd be dragging behind us.
Q: What is the best and worst day jobs you ever had, and did you get a song out of it?
Maines: Martie, you didn't like (working at) Braum's, right? Because of your uniform?
Maguire: Yeah, I had to wear a Braum's polyester uniform and a trucker's cap. Now, I love trucker's caps. But, at the time, I didn't. I was scooping ice cream at Braum's, a Texas-based hamburger joint (that) also sells groceries.
Maines: I didn't have horrible jobs. Oh, you know what? I did. I was a substitute teacher and I looked younger than the kids! It was a ridiculous thing. I hated it. I think it would always be, like, a junior high (I'd sub at), which just is a very hard age. I had no business (being there), no business. So, it didn't take long before I just stopped answering those calls. I was like: "No!"
Q: If I recall from my school days, having a substitute teacher was just an excuse for kids to goof off.
Maines: Oh, totally. I was the worst at it. And the teacher never left me any real lesson plans. So, yeah. What do you do?
Strayer: I'm trying to think if there's anything that I didn't know about Natalie, but that was one. I did not ever know that you did substitute teaching.
Maines: I was, like, 19! What school district has a 19-year-old teaching?
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