"Shut Up & Sing" travels with the Dixie Chicks, from the peak of their popularity as the national-anthem-singing darlings of country music and top-selling female recording artists of all time, through the now infamous anti-Bush comment made by the group's lead singer Natalie Maines in 2003. The film traces the lives and careers of the Dixie Chicks over a period of three years during which they were under political attack and received death threats, while continuing to live their lives, have children, and of course make music. At a time when the United States is fighting for democracy and freedom in another country, it raises questions about our own right to freedom of speech and the negative consequences it sometimes has.