As the mainstays of the Dixie Chicks since they formed the award winning group in 1989, sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison have been familiar faces to many millions of fans, yet just a little mysterious in that familiarity, content as they were to cede the lead vocalist position and remain musics most recognizable "sidewomen". That's just what they've done in their newly hatched incarnation as Court Yard Hounds. Court Yard Hounds was formed in 2009 when Maguire and Robison wanted to return to the studio. The sisters decided to record a side project under a different name. Court Yard Hounds, featuring Robison for the first time as lead vocalist released a debut album for Columbia Records, the same label for which the Dixie Chicks has recorded, on May 4, 2010. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, initially selling 61,000 copies. It has sold approximately 825,000 copies in the United States.

Robison and Maguire could no sooner take an indefinite vacation from music than they could from being related. So as the mother bands hiatus grew into a longer vacation than anyone originally anticipated, "dormant" began to equal "torment" for these two working musicians. The Dixie Chicks were last seen triumphing at the Grammys in early 2007, winning the exceedingly rare trifecta of album, record, and song of the year for "Taking the Long Way" and its flagship single "Not Ready to Make Nice." Something else they weren't ready to do was make records or tour again, at least for a long while, as it turned out. All three Chicks enjoyed family time away from the media glare, but after a while Maguire and Robison felt refreshed and rarin' to go, which still left them one singer short of a quorum. The usually bold third member and lead-singer of the group Natalie Maines reticence to put herself through the grind again had the effect of pushing her slightly shyer band-mates out of the nest.

After it was clear that self-veto power wouldn't be necessary, the last element to come into play was a band name. Court Yard Hounds came from a novel Robison was reading called City of Thieves, by David Benioff. Theres a fictional book-within-the-book called The Courtyard Hound, but Emily points out that the specific impetus was a quote in there about how inspiration comes and goes. The idea is that there are seasons of talent, and that at some point its gonna leave you, so you have to make the most of it when you are inspired. Its not difficult to see why that thought took root, with Maguire and Robison not wanting to let their own gifts lay fallow.

The Chicks haven't disbanded, but Court Yard Hounds is no mere time-marker of a project. Sony is looking at this opportunity like an artist launch, as Maguire and Robison are looking at it like a new chapter in music.