Court Yard Hounds Highlight NVOH Summer Festival, 7/10

Tomorrow (Saturday, July 3) kicks off the Robert Mondavi Winery / Napa Valley Opera House Summer Festival with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and fireworks. Tickets are still available and will be available for purchase at the winery. Gates open at 5pm, the concert starts at 7pm. More information is available at nvoh.org/mondavi.

The second performance in the Robert Mondavi Winery / Napa Valley Opera House Summer Festival features the Court Yard Hounds, comprised of former Dixie Chicks Emily Robison and Martie Maguire. This performance will be Saturday, July 10 at 7pm. Tickets are $75 - $205 and can be reserved by calling 707.226.7372 or visiting NVOH.org.

The "Hounds" are in the midst of a busy summer tour, which includes several dates with the 2010 Lilith Fair and a recent appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Opening for the band is up-and-coming artist Griffin House. Among other critical acclaim, CBS Sunday Morning critic Bill Flanagan raved about House's first album, Lost and Found, putting the newcomer on his short list of the best emerging songwriters in the U.S., alongside Ray LaMontagne and Joseph Arthur.

As the mainstays of the Dixie Chicks since they formed the group in 1989, sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison have been familiar faces to many millions of fans. "Chicks" fans couldn't help but hear those ever-present harmonies and wonder if Emily and Martie might ever come out from hiding in plain sight. That's just what they've done in their newly hatched incarnation as Court Yard Hounds, with a debut album that has the siblings sounding like they've been fearless front women all their lives.