A statement, yes, but it was this

In the wake of the Dixie Chicks’ big night at the Grammy Awards, where they won three of the top four Grammys and all five for which they were nominated, much of the media coverage presented their Sunday sweep as purely a political statement by the music industry hubs of Los Angeles and New York City.

The results have been interpreted as a liberal rejoinder to Nashville’s rejection of the Chicks after singer Natalie Maines’ controversial 2003 criticism of President Bush over the impending invasion of Iraq. “Just so you know,” she said, detonating a career bomb on a concert stage in England, “we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”

While a show of political support might have played a part in the Chicks’ big win, it’s a mistake to see the results as politically motivated. There are several other good reasons the Chicks took home all that hardware for their 2006 album, “Taking the Long Way.”

For one, the trio has always enjoyed the Recording Academy’s affection. They had won eight Grammys before this week, and this was their third nomination for album of the year. The previous two came before the Bush comments, and they won a Grammy in a country category in 2005, after the Chicks hit the fans with their anti-Bush stance.

So it’s reasonable to argue that the real political gesture was the one made back in November at the Country Music Assn. Awards, not the one this week at Staples Center. At the CMA ceremonies, the Nashville-centered organization ignored “Taking the Long Way,” despite its commercial success (it’s sold 1.9 million copies to date). Political passions might have played a role there too, but maybe the CMA was also recognizing the same musical reality that the Grammy voters responded to. The Chicks moved to Los Angeles and recorded “Taking the Long Way” here with rock guru Rick Rubin, with the session help of such esteemed players as Benmont Tench from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers and Chad Smith, the dynamo drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Along with the undisputed chops of the Chicks themselves (Emily Robison is an elite banjo player and Martie Maguire is an accomplished talent on dobro and fiddle), that carried plenty of weight with the largest voting bloc of the Recording Academy, the producers and engineers wing.

This bloc is probably the same reason that such tasteful, traditional works as Steely Dan’s “Two Against Nature” and the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack became upset winners for album of the year earlier this decade.

The Chicks’ new, rock-leaning sound -- one tending toward the Eagles, Tom Petty and other Southern California acts -- and the Los Angeles sessions made “Long Way” a hometown favorite for many Grammy voters, even if some famous refugees were the ones singing.

It didn’t hurt, either, that the band consisted of three attractive women with a movie credit (their documentary “Shut Up and Sing”).

Still, that political back story was hard to shake entirely. Even Maines suggested as much during one acceptance speech Sunday. “I think people are using their freedom of speech tonight with all these awards.” She added, “We get the message.”

It’s understandable if the issue still haunts Maines, Robison and Maguire. The group was one of the biggest acts in country music, but after Maines’ comments they were blackballed in the genre.

There were death threats, radio boycotts and CD burnings, and the Chicks widened the divide by saying that they weren’t interested in the mainstream country audience.

“Taking the Long Way” has some on-point responses to their critics, including the songs “Not Ready to Make Nice” and “Lubbock or Leave It.” But it’s a mistake to call it a political album. There are songs about relationships and a woman’s struggle with infertility, and the kind of sassy songs of independence that have always made the Chicks far more fun than Shania Twain, Faith Hill or the other plasticized country queens.

In the end, really, the Grammy Awards weren’t so much an attack on President Bush or his supporters as they were a welcome to the newest fire-tested L.A. band. Around the third trophy, you could almost hear it in the arena applause: Just so you know, the music industry isn’t ashamed that the Chicks are from Texas.

geoff.boucher@latimes.com