Dixie Chick Natalie Maines to release solo album May 7

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks confirmed Friday she will release her debut solo album, "Mother," on America's Columbia Records label May 7.

"I wanted this music to be very different from the Dixie Chicks," Maines said in a statement. "Lots of albums by lead singers might just as well have been made by the band, but I think this is very different from anything the Chicks could make. That separation and distinction was important."

The title track of "Mother" was initially released on "West of Memphis: Voices for Justice," the soundtrack for "West of Memphis," a documentary about three Arkansas men imprisoned as teens for 18 years after being wrongfully convicted of killing three 8-year-old Cub Scouts.

The men were released from prison in 2011 after an investigation concluded they didn't get fair trials.