KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Those who tuned into any of Kansas City's country music stations Thursday did not hear the Dixie Chicks.

Several stations in town have dumped the group's music over the lead singer's controversial comments about President George W. Bush.

At a concert in London earlier this week, Natalie Maines, the band's lead singer said, " Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

The Guardian, a London paper that reported the comment, said Maines' remark got the crowd cheering.

In a statement on the Chicks' Web site Wednesday, the Chicks said, "We've been overseas for several weeks and have been reading and following the news accounts of our government's position. The anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding."

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The country trio -- consisting of Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson -- are all from Texas.

"I feel the president is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world," Maines added in the statement. "My comments were made in frustration and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view."

And while Maines maintains her beef with Bush, she's much more supportive of the United States troops.

"While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost," Maines said.

Many Kansas City-area residents, however, were not excited about the singer's point of view.

"If you guys play another Dixie Chicks song, we'll never listen to you again," one country music fan told KBEQ.

The station logged nearly 700 phone calls Thursday, denouncing Maines' comment.

The reactions from listeners were enough for programmers at all three big Kansas City country radio stations to pull the Dixie Chicks from their playlists.

But some Dixie Chicks fans didn't appreciate the ban.

"There are some artists that I like that have said things I don't agree with, but it doesn't stop me from listening to their music," said radio listener Shawn Peterson.

One radio station is even taking the boycott a step further.

The station has invited its listeners to come to the station's studios Friday morning and dump their Dixie Chicks CDs in a big trash can.

The Dixie Chicks are scheduled to play to a sold-out crowd in Kansas City next month.

In Pennsylvania, many Susquehanna Valley residents are not happy with the singer's opinion.

"I think you should boycott them," said a caller to Cat Country 106.7.

A poll taken by Cat Country said nearly 75 percent of its listeners were offended by Maines' remark.

Even though the Dixie Chicks have the No. 1 song and album in the country right now, many patriotic people in the Susquehanna Valley don't want to hear them.

"Central Pennsylvania is one of the largest areas for deployment in this country and there's a lot of military families out there who feel very strong for President Bush, and for her to come out and bash President Bush and say that she's embarrassed that he lives in Texas, it really hit some hot buttons with a lot of our listeners," said Dennis Mitchell, with Cat Country.

The station labeled Friday, "Dixie Chick Free Friday," and they're leaving it up to the listeners to decide how long that will last.

Whether Maines expresses her feelings about Bush on the group's North American leg of their Top of the World tour is yet to be heard. If she does, it will be in front of a lot of people.

According to music site Launch, the group sold out 51 out of the 59 arenas in one day on March 1, which amounted to over 867,000 tickets.

The group recently won four Grammy awards including Best Country Album for their smash album "Home."

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