Court Yard Hounds is the debut album by American country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 duo the Court Yard Hounds, founded as a side project of the Dixie Chicks

Dixie Chicks

The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...

 by sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire. The album was released on May 4, 2010 via Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. It was mainly recorded in Maguire's home studio in Austin, and co-produced with Jim Scott

Jim Scott (producer)

Jim Scott is an American music producer and engineer, best known for his large body of work as an engineer, and his work as a producer with American rock band Wilco. Scott has worked as engineer with a range of other rock music artists, including Dixie Chicks, Tom Petty, Sting, The Rolling Stones,...

 (who was also the Grammy-winning sound mixer/engineer on the Dixie Chicks' latest album Taking the Long Way

Taking the Long Way

-Public reception:On May 31, 2006, the album took three number one spots on the charts of Billboard magazine. It was number one on the Hot Country Albums, Top Digital Albums, and on the Billboard 200 chart, going Gold in its first week with 526,000 units sold....

and Playlist: The Best of the Dixie Chicks

Playlist: The Very Best of Dixie Chicks

-Chart performance:...

).

Promotion

On February 10, 2010, the album became available for pre-order. Additionally, four tracks from the album – "Delight (Something New Under the Sun)," "The Coast," "Fear of Wasted Time," and "Ain't No Son" – were available for download to those who pre-ordered the album. The duo made their first public appearance on March 18, 2010 at the Americana Music Association

Americana Music Association

The Americana Music Association is a trade organization developed to provide professional support and to promote awareness of Americana music. Toward these ends the organization works with artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others to create networking opportunities and to...

's SXSW showcase, with a tour to follow.

The group's debut single, "The Coast," was released on March 30, 2010 and served as the lead-off single for the album.

The group made their first appearance at SXSW in Austin, TX in 2010. Their first tour was as part of Lilith Fair

Lilith Fair

Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...

 on July 15, 2010. They are scheduled for around 10 dates on the tour.

Track listing

This Track List was confirmed by their Official Website on February 10, 2010.

Martie Maguire sings lead on her composition, "Gracefully". Lead vocals on all other songs are performed by Emily Robison.

1. "Skyline" (Emily Robison, Martin Strayer) – 4:20
2. "The Coast" (Robison) – 3:04
3. "Delight (Something New Under the Sun)" (Robison, Strayer) – 4:34
4. "See You in the Spring" (featuring Jakob Dylan
   Jakob Dylan
   Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
   
   ) (Robison, Strayer) – 4:50
5. "Ain't No Son" (Robison, Martie Maguire) – 4:39
6. "Fairytale" (Robison, Strayer) – 4:05
7. "I Miss You" (Robison) – 3:49
8. "Gracefully" (Maguire) – 4:28
9. "April's Love" (Robison, Strayer) – 3:23
10. "Then Again" (Robison) – 3:20
11. "It Didn't Make a Sound" (Robison, Strayer) – 3:48
12. "Fear of Wasted Time" (Robison, Strayer) – 4:07
13. "Well Behaved" – 4:35 (iTunes
    ITunes
    iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
    
     / Deluxe edition bonus track)
14. "Straw Cage" – 3:24 (iTunes
    ITunes
    iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
    
     / Deluxe edition bonus track)

Court Yard Hounds

• Martie Maguire: Fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  , Mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  , Viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  , Vocals & Vocal Harmonies
• Emily Robison: Acoustic
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  , Electric
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
   & Resonator Guitar
  Resonator guitar
  A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones instead of the wooden sound board . Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion...
  
  s, Dobro
  Dobro
  Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
  
  , Banjo
  Banjo
  In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
  
  , Pump Organ, Vocals & Vocal Harmonies

Additional Personnel

• Jakob Dylan
  Jakob Dylan
  Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
  
  : Duet Vocals
• Mike Finnigan: Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Audley Freed: Acoustic, Electric, Twelve-String & Slide Guitar
  Slide guitar
  Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
  
  s
• Martin Strayer: Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano
• Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz is an American multi-instrumentalist, playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass.- Biography :Leisz was influenced early on by the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, especially pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow...
  
  : Steel
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  
• Lloyd Maines
  Lloyd Maines
  Lloyd Maines is an American Grammy Award-winning country music record producer, musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas and is now based in Bulverde, Texas....
  
  : Steel Guitar, Dobro & Mandolin
• Jerry Holmes
  Jerry Holmes
  Jerry Holmes is an American football coach and former defensive back. He played ten seasons in the National Football League, mainly for New York Jets but also with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. He also played in the USFL for the New Jersey Generals and the Pittsburgh Maulers...
  
  : Autoharp
  Autoharp
  The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
  
  
• Glen Fukunaga: Acoustic Bass
  Acoustic bass
  The term acoustic bass may refer to one of the following bass instruments:*Double bass - an upright contrabass violin*Acoustic bass guitar - the acoustic version of the bass guitar...
  
  
• George Reiff: Electric Bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Don Heffington: Drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , Percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Pat Manske: Percussion
• Tom Hale: French Horn
• Brian Standefer: Cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  

Production

• • Adapted from allmusic:
• Produced By Emily Robison, Martie Maguire & Jim Scott
• Recording Engineers: Les Banks, Pat Manske, Jim Scott & Kevin Szymanski
• Additional Recording Engineered By Kevin Dean & Adam Odor
• Mixed By Jim Scott
• Mastered By Richard Dodd

Chart performance

Court Yard Hounds debuted at #7 on the U.S. Billboard 200, with 61,119 copies sold in its first week.

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	42
Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...	6
New Zealand Albums Chart	30
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	58
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	79
U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	7
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums	3