Less pressure led to laid-back feel of `Home'.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Between battling their record company over $4 million in royalties and makin' babies, it's amazing that the Dixie Chicks managed to find the time to craft "Home," a month-old album that is already the fastest-selling CD by a country group in history.

That "Home," a wholly acoustic set, sounds so free of turmoil despite everything is as shocking as seeing James Taylor nestled in the Billboard Top 10 next to Nelly in 2002.

"I was surprised how we were able to remove ourselves from the business side of things," says Dixie Chick Martie Maguire. "I had more fun than I ever had in the studio."

Part of the reason is that "Home" was recorded in a remote, Austin house-turned-studio surrounded by a spacious field while the trio's attorneys fought far away in Nashville. "We on purpose don't have lawyers that live in Texas," Maguire says, laughing.

The relaxed vibe of "Home" was also due to lead singer Natalie Maines' father Lloyd Maines co-producing the album with the Chicks. (Maines gave birth to a son recently; Maguire's sister Emily Robison, who rounds out the trio, will do so shortly).

"Lloyd is so laid-back and we never had any worries about working with Natalie's dad or that we couldn't joke around and be our normal selves and crack dirty jokes since he's her dad," Maguire says.

"Home," which follows 1998's "Wide Open Spaces" and 1999's "Fly" _ two albums which shipped a combined 21 million copies domestically _ sold 780,000 copies in its first week and stands as the No.1 country album in the United States for four weeks running. To suggest that Maguire is ecstatic and relieved by "Home's" commercial and artistic success is an understatement.