`WIDE OPEN SPACES' SONGWRITER: `I ALMOST LOST THE LYRICS'

`WIDE OPEN SPACES' SONGWRITER: `I ALMOST LOST THE LYRICS'

AMARILLO, Texas (Wireless Flash) -- Believe it or not, the Dixie Chicks big hit "Wide Open Spaces" almost slipped through the cracks. That's according to singer/songwriter Susan Gibson, who penned the No. 1 country hit a few years ago while visiting her parents' home on a break from college. The 27-year-old says she wrote the lyrics to the tune in a notebook which she left behind when she headed back to school. Gibson says the lyrics probably would have wound up in the garbage heap if her mother hadn't sent them to her in a college "care package" a few months later. These days, Gibson still performs "Wide Open Spaces" with her own band, The Groobees -- whose self-titled album has just hit stores.