DO BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN?; IF THEY'RE DIXIE CHICKS, DEFINITELY.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

Keep it to yourself, but Emily Erwin of the hot country trio known as the Dixie Chicks falls asleep on airplanes - with her mouth open.

Alert the media.

Erwin is still getting used to being noticed by strangers, especially on airplanes and particularly in the Lone Star State after Southwest Airlines profiled the Chicks in the latest issue of its in-flight magazine.

``I was flying to Austin to meet with my fiance last week and couldn't do anything without people staring, because the magazine's right in the seat pocket in front of them,'' Erwin recalled. ``Let me tell you, I fall asleep on planes with my mouth totally open, and it certainly doesn't look very attractive.''

While fellow airline passengers are keeping one eye on this sleeping beauty, Nashville's Music Row is crowing about discovering the Dixie Chicks.

However, some folks have known about the lively blond vocal trio for years.

Country fans in Dallas, in fact, named the Chicks their favorite group four years running before they signed with a Nashville label. During that time, the gals were frequent performers on the state fair circuit.

Even prior to the January release of the Chicks' best-selling album, ``Wide Open Spaces'' (Monument/Sony), the group had a mailing list of 6,000 fans, a busy Internet site and three indie CDs.

``It's been said in Nashville that we're an overnight success,'' says Erwin. ``But we got a lot of critical acclaim at the beginning, and people saw that the music was good and not just three blondes who were put together like the Monkees or something. There were people who bought the album because they were curious - and that word of mouth really helped, especially among the younger fans. When a girl brings the CD to school and tells her friends, it helps spread the word.''

Country's hot trio

However it occurred, the award-winning trio - which also includes Natalie Maines and Martie Seidel - are happening in a big way. The title track from the Chicks' long-player last week topped the national country airplay chart, while the album placed No. 2 in the country sales list and No. 10 in the national pop albums chart, beating Aerosmith, Brandy and Marilyn Manson.

``If it all ended tomorrow, I'd be OK because we've been so fortunate,'' Seidel, 29, said. ``I have a big scrapbook of memories.''

The Chicks' flawless three-part harmony-based sound is as contemporary as anything out there, but with a genuine traditional streak. The million-selling disc is filled with banjo, dobro, fiddle and mandolin, all played by Seidel and Erwin.

The trio's fresh-faced, tuneful appeal does indeed cross over with various age groups. The Chicks have even been dubbed the Spice Girls of country.

For example, Nicole Emily Larson, an eighth-grader in North Mankato, Minn., counts the Dixie Chicks among her seven favorite performers and runs a Web site devoted to the group.

``I saw them in concert three weeks ago, and they really rocked,'' Larson, 14, said. ``I also got to meet them that night, and they were all so friendly and thanked me tons of times for my dedication to my site and all. The Dixie Chicks aren't that popular yet at school, but I was in my local paper not too long ago, so people in my town are starting to recognize their name.''

Here's to the winners

At the recent 32nd annual Country Music Association awards, the Dixie Chicks won prestigious honors for best new act and vocal group of the year.

``When we started getting the critical picks, we thought we might have a shot at the newcomers award,'' Erwin, 26, said. ``Winning the vocal group award was a real surprise. It was funny, because the cameras were showing Diamond Rio, so we thought they were about to win. Maybe they were trying to fake us out. But winning best new act represents our biggest goal - longevity. It represents to the industry that these girls are going to be around for a while.''

Some have said the trio's name is an almost sexist reference to the fact that Erwin, Seidel and Maines are plainly babes. But Maines insists the Dixie Chicks moniker has more innocent connotations.

``Call me a blonde, but I never even thought about the name being sexist,'' Maines, 24, said. ``I was thinking about little baby chicks - and that Little Feat song `Dixie Chicken.' It was totally tongue in cheek. One thing's for sure, it sticks in people's minds. And that was the goal - to be remembered.''

It was nearly nine years ago when sisters Seidel and Erwin began pickin' and singin' for tips on a Dallas street corner, raking in $375 in their first hour. Back then, the duo wore cowgirl get-ups and played western swing and bluegrass, becoming one of the city's most popular club acts in the process.

After selling around 60,000 copies of their first three independently released CDs, the sisters decided it was time to audition another member before trying to score a major label deal.

Fiddle-mandolin player Seidel and multi-instrumentalist Erwin met singer Maines in 1995 when her dad, West Texas session musician-producer Lloyd Maines, played steel guitar on two of their early albums. The sisters first checked out an audition tape Maines had used to get into Boston's Berklee School of Music.

Big footsteps to fill

Six months after Maines joined the group, the Dixie Chicks landed a deal with Sony Nashville's newly revived Monument label, a logo previously known for launching such legends as Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Larry Gatlin and others.

The Chicks, in fact, have been selected as the flagship act of the new label: ``These women are the real deal,'' says Sony Nashville president Allen Butler.

Meanwhile, the groundwork for the success of ``Wide Open Spaces'' has been carefully laid.

``We're very familiar with the grass-roots way of meeting people and selling records, because with the indie albums, that's the only way,'' Erwin said. ``You have to rely on the people who were fans at the beginning, and that tradition is staying with us.''

A busy period for the Chicks is about to get busier. On Nov. 23, the trio will appear on TV with Dick Clark announcing the American Music Awards nominees. That evening, the Chicks will perform on ``The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.'' On Jan. 5, the gals help announce the Grammy Awards nominees in Nashville, and on Jan. 11, the group is set to appear on the American Music Awards telecast from Los Angeles.

A typical Dixie Chicks show includes a western swing reading of Bonnie Raitt's ``Give It Up or Let Me Go,'' savvy country-pop fodder like ``There's Your Trouble,'' the bluesy single ``I Can Love You Better,'' and cover tunes by J.D. Souther and Maria McKee.

Erwin recalls with a giggle the first time she heard herself on the radio.

``I was on my way to the gym,'' she said. ``It was incredible. I was screaming at cars, `That's me on the radio!' ''

When touring, the Chicks travel on a bus that sleeps 13.

``It's not luxurious by any means, but at this point we're businesswomen, too,'' Erwin said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) THE DIXIE CHICKS

Country music's hottest new band rules the roost

(2) Emily Erwin, left, Natalie Maines and Martie Seidel of the Dixie Chicks stay busy these days boosting their already considerable profile in the world of country music.