Their not officially disbanding but Emily Robison and Martie Maguire got the urge to make some new music so they have formed a duo called Court Yard Hounds.
It's not like they purposely left Natalie Maines out in the cold. Talking to Rollingstone.com Martie says "Emily and I had the itch, and every time we'd call Natalie and say 'are you ready?' she wasn't ready. She wanted a clear-cut break." (I guess she is still Not Ready To Make Nice - not that I blame her one bit.)
As I said, this is not intended to be the end of the Dixie Chicks but they are unsure of their future. The three don't see each other very much as Natalie now lives in LA (hubba-hubba hubby Adrian Pasdar just finished his stint on Heroes and hopefully will be showing his gorgeous square jawed mug on my TV again soon!)
So what's up with their new duo Court Yard Hounds? They will present their debut disc at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas in March, release it in May, and then tour. Martie does hope Natalie will catch them on tour and she hopes it will, "...inspire her to want to do music again."
I always thought Natalie had the best voice of the three, but let's see what happens with Court Yard Hounds. And please, someone ask about that name!