“Revolution” spun Miranda Lambert into the superstar stratosphere. She won Album of the Year and was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and she picked up a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “The House That Built Me.”
How do you follow that?
Lambert packed a double-barrel blast, partnering with friends Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley for Pistol Annies’ 2011 debut, “Hell on Heels,” and fired another round with the solo album “Four the Record” in November.
“Working with Pistol Annies kept me excited about songwriting right after ‘Revolution’ was released [in 2009],” Lambert wrote in an email interview. “A lot of the time, artists will be burned out on writing once they finish an album, but I was so inspired by my friends Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe and our collaborations that I just couldn’t stop!
Miranda Lambert (photo by Randee St. Nicholas)
“I think their creativity and the idea to put out a trio project with ‘Hell on Heels’ definitely inspired me to write more and find great material for ‘Four the Record.’ I did feel pressure with my fourth album because everyone was wondering how it could possibly top the success of my last one.
“ ‘Revolution’ was a big milestone for my career, and I am so grateful for how the fans and my peers in the industry embraced it. So with ‘Four the Record,’ I decided that there was really only one way I could make sure I loved it as much as ‘Revolution,’ and that was by letting the music lead me.”
She co-wrote the disc’s first single, “Baggage Claim,” a brash, no-nonsense number about being tired of toting around a man’s ego: “If it ain’t obvious what has set me off today/ Behind every woman scorned is a man who made her that way.”
And there’s “Fastest Girl in Town,” a scorcher she and Presley penned with a classic line: “I’ll be wearing nothing but a tattoo and a smile.”
Lambert seems to be beaming since wedding country superstar Blake Shelton last year. “Four the Record” features “Oklahoma Sky,” a track written for the bride.
“Allison Moorer is one of those amazing songwriters who inspired me to start writing; I am a huge fan of hers,” Lambert, who grew up in Lindale, Texas, wrote. “I hoped to write with her for ‘Four the Record,’ but we didn’t get the chance due to our schedules being so busy, so she wrote this song for me about my new home in Oklahoma.”
With tours and Shelton’s gig on NBC’s “The Voice,” love is all about logistics.
“Blake and I make sure to get in real couple time at our farm in Oklahoma. Our relationship is really just about scheduling, and so far we have done a good job,” Lambert wrote. “At home, we’re just like any other normal couple; he’s out on the tractor and I’m playing with my dogs and planting flowers.”
How do the singer-songwriters spend a day off?
“We love being outside, so I like going fishing, four-wheeling, taking care of our farm animals — really anything to be out enjoying our land,” she wrote.
And everyone wants to know if a family is in their future.
“We have seven dogs, so we’re just taking care of them for now. They’re all rescues and all crazy-looking. Every animal is named after a song or an artist — Delta, Delilah, Cher, Jessi, Waylon, Virginia Bluebell and Black Betty,” Lambert wrote. “We have so much going on right now, we’re gonna wait a while. The dogs are really good birth control!”
A couple of furry friends even travel on the tour bus.
“I usually bring two of my smaller rescue dogs, Delta Dawn and Cher, out on the road with me,” she wrote. “They are great company and help me feel like I’ve got a little piece of home with me wherever I go!”
Lambert will play a 7:30 p.m. show March 22 at the Huntington Center. Only single seats ranging from $27.75 to $51.75 remain. Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann will open.
The feisty 28-year-old who gained fame as a 2003 finalist on “Nashville Star” has a reputation for kick-ass hits: “Gunpowder & Lead,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “White Liar,” “Only Prettier,” “Kerosene.”
“I make music that I love, and maybe that’s not always music that speaks to everyone, but I feel blessed when my music does inspire fans. I’ve had women tell me that my songs gave them the courage to leave abusive relationships, and that is the highest compliment I can get as a songwriter,” Lambert wrote.
“Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn are two of my favorite songwriters, and I try to follow their no-holds-barred approach to writing. Their songs have stood the test of time, and I hope mine will do the same,” she added.
Meanwhile, the spitfire loaded with talent continues to blow fans away.
“I am just trying to take my career one day at a time and really appreciate all the good things that are happening as they come my way,” she wrote. “I am so blessed to get to do what I love for a living, and I hope to continue making music I love for a long time.”
