Editorial: Dixie Chicks a windfall for Mission

WELCOME: The Dixie Chicks will play at next year's Mission Concert. PHOTO SUPPLIED

So there we have it - the Dixie Chicks it is.

Personally I was holding out for Leonard Cohen, followed closely by Neil Young, but I suspect both Canadians (82 and 70 respectively) are now a slim hope of ever gracing the Mission Estate's verdant pastures.

Still, the Dixie Chicks, with 13 Grammy Awards to their name, are quite the coup for our most coveted concert.

From a marketing perspective the easy-on-the-eye and ear Texas trio is already looking like a godsend for the concert.

Speaking frankly, the Mission Concert hasn't been the same since Rod Stewart's second appearance (an effective sell out) in 2012.

Barry Gibb and Carole King didn't attract the masses in 2013, and neither has any act since.
Then there was the dire announcement in November 2014 that there would be no 2015 concert - the news was dubbed by this paper as "the day the music died".

So, credit must go to the historic estate and its promoters for bouncing back strongly. Mission CEO Peter Holley said he was delighted with the signing. "I'm very pleased - they open up a whole new genre."

What a great way to celebrate the event's 25th anniversary.

As one muso has already written, the Dixie Chicks are "innovators, renegades, villains, mothers, influencers and music superstars". The cross-genre, multi-platinum selling trio will have huge appeal.

Even if the bluegrass/country-pop/folk scene isn't your scene, a full paddock of punters on Church Rd will return a stellar dividend to the region.