An essential part of the vibrant Texas country music scene, Lloyd Maines has produced some of the genre’s biggest names—Parker McCollum, Robert Earl Keen, and Jerry Jeff Walker, just to name a few. As the father of The Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines, he also helped jump-start the award-winning trio’s commercial success in the mid-1990s. Today, we’re diving into the life and career of Lloyd Maines, born in Lubbock, Texas, on this day (June 28) in 1951.
How Lloyd Maines’ West Texas Upbringing Shaped His Career
Long before his daughter’s birth, Maines’ life was steeped in country music. His father and uncles formed the Original Maines Brothers Band, and he grew up listening to them play in his grandmother’s kitchen.
Over the years, Lloyd Maines taught himself to play a multitude of instruments, including acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, and more. He was especially drawn to the pedal steel guitar. Today, he is one of its most renowned experts.
He has contributed his steel pedal skills to records by Joe Ely, Guy Clark, Wilco, David Byrne, and—of course—The Chicks.
When the musician was 14, he and his brothers began playing gigs around Lubbock as the second-generation Maines Brothers Band. The siblings went in separate directions after high school. Lloyd studied forestry at Texas Tech University intending to become a park ranger.
Instead, he went to work at a local studio, cementing his musical path. He began his producing career with Terry Allen’s landmark 1979 album Lubbock (On Everything).
He Has Produced Some of Country Music’s Best Work
Lloyd Maines’ daughter, Natalie, recalls her father bringing her onstage “whenever I wanted” as a child.
Nurturing that performing spirit, he passed along his daughter’s demo tape when he heard that a group called the Dixie Chicks (now known as the Chicks) was in the market for a lead singer.
A week later, Natalie, then 21, was performing onstage with founding sisters Emily Strayer (banjo/guitar) and Martie Maguire (fiddle/mandolin).
In the late 1990s, Lloyd produced an album, Wayside, by alt-country band the Groobees.
One track, “Wide Open Spaces”, stood out to him, and he persuaded the Chicks to record it. The song became a number-one hit and established the trio’s new image as outspoken, free-spirited trailblazers.
Lloyd Maines produced many of the Chicks’ albums, including 2002’s Grammy-winning Home.
Featured image by Rick Kern/Getty Images)
The post Born 75 Years Ago in West Texas, the Man Behind Some of Country Music’s Biggest Classics and Father of a 90s Country Star appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Erinn Callahan
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