Despite the fact that the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way has been the number-one album in the country for two weeks, the trio may be staring at wide open spaces when they take their show on the road this summer.

Billboard reported Wednesday that a handful of dates on the North American leg of the Dixie Chicks' upcoming Accidents & Accusations tour, which kicks of July 21 in Detroit, might be postponed or canceled due to slow ticket sales.

Ticket outlets were averaging 5,000-6,000 tickets sold per date in major markets, although most of the arena-sized venues can accommodate more than 15,000 people. So far, a September date at Memphis' FedEx Forum has been X-ed off the schedule and the fate of shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City is up in the air, according to Billboard. Shows in the band's home state, including Austin and Dallas, are moving ahead as scheduled.

"The tour is not being postponed or canceled at all," Dixie Chicks spokeswoman Kathy Best told the Los Angeles Times. "There is a reshuffling of dates and as soon as rerouting is confirmed, we will be able to announce the changes... There will be some cancellations due to rerouting and additional dates being added."

No direct connection has been made between the lackluster ticket sales and any ire fans might still harbor toward the Chicks because of the, um, unpleasantness. Lead singer Natalie Maines informed London fans in March 2003 that she was ashamed that President George W. Bush is from Texas. The overseas crowd lapped it up, but a lot of people on this side of the pond were none too pleased.

Maines issued a public apology afterward but took her mea culpa off the table last month just before Taking the Long Way's release. Still, the album took the easy way to the top of the Billboard 200, selling 526,000 copies its first week out and another 271,000 last week, per Nielsen SoundScan.

But this latest album's success just adds to the puzzle over why the Accidents & Accusations tour isn't meeting expectations. Back when the Dixie Chicks--Maines, Martie Seidel and Emily Robison--were taking Europe by storm and ticking off fans of the U.S. President, ticket sales were off the charts. The group's 2003 tour moved 876,000 tickets during the first week of sales and encore dates had to be added in multiple markets. The ladies went on to have the top-grossing country tour of the year, raking in $62 million.

This summer definitely doesn't qualify as a lost cause, though. Plenty of venues on the 40-plus date tour will be full of screaming fans, and hopefully they'll be shouting nice things.

"We're happy [with our on-sale] and comparatively seem to be ahead of most," John Page, general manager and chief operating officer of Global Spectrum at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, where the Dixie Chicks are booked for July 25, told Billboard.

And you can't blame Canada for slow sales. Toronto's Air Canada Centre added a second date to accommodate demand.

"Canada loves the Chicks," the arena's booking director, Patti-Ann Tarlton, told Billboard.

According to a statement from Maines, fans who do show up in the next few months will be treated to "more of an old-style rock show, not so much about theatrics and props but just about the music. To rock out, we used to have to pull out a cover tune, so it's nice to have your own songs to fill that part of the set."

Before the Dixie Chicks hit the Motor City in July, they'll perform in London this month to promote Taking the Long Way's international release. Their June 15 show finds them back at Shepherd's Bush Empire, the scene of the 2003 controversy. Then the Chicks will join the Eagles onstage June 17 at Twickenham Stadium.

"The Chicks will tell you they're not a country act, and it appears that not a lot of country fans are lining up to buy tickets to this show," Ray Waddell, who covers the concert industry for Billboard, told the Times. "If the sales were based only on quality of this record and the quality of the Dixie Chicks as performers, it should be a no-brainer home run. It's too bad there's other baggage associated with it."