- 12 minutes ago
Miranda Lambert sits down with Billboard to reflect on her journey from Texas bars to country icon status, opening up about the turning point that changed her career, the lasting impact of ‘Revolution,’ and what it means to represent country music for more than 20 years.
She also talks about helping shape Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” why the song hit so hard, and how she’s embraced being a mentor, producer and proud big sister behind the scenes. She also opens up about working with Kacey Musgraves on “Horses and Divorces” and squashing their misunderstanding and more!
She also talks about helping shape Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” why the song hit so hard, and how she’s embraced being a mentor, producer and proud big sister behind the scenes. She also opens up about working with Kacey Musgraves on “Horses and Divorces” and squashing their misunderstanding and more!
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00:00I love that song, and it so feels like such a part of me.
00:03I'm from Texas, and I just, you know,
00:07it was like one of those things where we just wrote this song we really loved,
00:11and all of a sudden, I've never seen anything like it.
00:14So when Ella calls, it's like, what does this mean?
00:15I'm like, I wouldn't know, girl.
00:17Can't help you with that one, yeah.
00:18Yeah, I'm like, I need to call Taylor Swift right now,
00:21because this is like that kind of big.
00:36I think it's 2010.
00:38I started in 2005, like, you know, with my record deal.
00:42I got a record deal.
00:43But I'd been playing bars for three years before that.
00:45So I've just been kind of at it a while,
00:47and I'm glad because I got my grit and my chops honed a little more.
00:52But 2010 felt like a transition year for me.
00:56I think it's because I had a number one by that time,
01:01finally my first number one on my third record.
01:03And, you know, I think it didn't really click fully until, like, that really,
01:11I don't know, that really kind of helped raise the bar for me at radio,
01:13especially because I had struggled at radio up to that point
01:17because I was putting out stuff like kerosene and gum powder and lead.
01:21There was a little bit of a shift from what was going on at the time.
01:23Yeah, a little bit of a shift show, if you will.
01:26And so White Liar going number one was really like a kind of a stake in the ground.
01:34I knew when I was making that record that something needed to happen
01:38because I was chugging along pretty great,
01:40and I had sold a million copies of kerosene and then of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,
01:44which is awesome and a big deal.
01:47But I hadn't had radio success yet,
01:49and I hadn't, like, really stepped into my headlining.
01:51Like, I just, I needed to take it up a notch, and Revolution was that record for me.
02:03Icon is definitely a word that is, it's a big word.
02:07It is a big word.
02:08It's a really big word, and it's, obviously, it's an honor, and it's, it makes me reflect when somebody says
02:15that word
02:17because I just don't sit around thinking about all the things I've been able to do in my career all
02:22the time, obviously.
02:24But when moments like this happen that I'm forced to talk about it, then I'm like, it feels pretty good.
02:30I definitely do not take it lightly that I am a representative of country music.
02:34I am a country singer-songwriter.
02:37That is who I am.
02:38That is, that's what I've always wanted to be.
02:40There wasn't ever really a question in my mind of, like, where I fit in in a genre
02:45or what I wanted to do.
02:47It was, it was country music, period.
02:49The end, you know, it's just what I grew up on and what I, what inspires me the most.
02:53So, yeah, I mean, I, I definitely feel it's a huge honor to be one of the ones that's been
02:59representing now for over 20 years.
03:01I feel like there's been milestones over the years that have been like, okay, I feel like I've made it
03:06now.
03:07And then time will take on and something else will happen.
03:10And, I mean, one of the biggest things that stands out to me is, um, I got to sing for
03:15Earl Haggard when he got inducted into the Kennedy Center Honors.
03:18I got to sing with Chris Christopherson and Willie for Merle.
03:21And I was like, I don't know how I would ever top this.
03:25This is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
03:27And it was such a big moment for me.
03:30And, um, you know, but there's been times like that where it's like, it just makes you stop and really
03:36soak in it.
03:37Yeah.
03:37Like getting to sing with your heroes for your hero is something you can't really even dream up when you're
03:42like a little, you know, 17 year old girl in East Texas.
03:45It's like, it's something I didn't even think to dream and, and getting to feel like a peer versus just
03:50a fan was really special for me.
03:53I'm waiting on the sunset.
03:56Yesterday ain't gonna be here.
04:00Yeah, I think, um, you know, anytime that I was nominated for awards was very helpful and validating and an
04:08honor and humbling and all of that at the same time.
04:10Um, I don't have like a, there's a formula to this, right?
04:15Like everybody's journey is different.
04:16Sure.
04:17So there's no, there's no handbook you can look at.
04:19You're like, what should I do next?
04:20And where do we go from here?
04:21You gotta draw your own map.
04:23At least that's what I felt like I had to do for my career.
04:25And, um, you know, I had hits that weren't even singles.
04:30Yeah.
04:30I had singles that were not hits.
04:32You know, it just was, um, I had some amazing opening slots for some really amazing tours.
04:38I had some shows where it wasn't my best show.
04:41I mean, I just, I was on the journey and I'm thankful for all of the moving parts of it
04:45because it taught me to like pivot when I need to pivot and to not get stuck in like, I
04:52need a hit song or I need to sell this many tickets or I want to sell this many records.
04:56Make your art, go make it and, and then do the work after to get it out there to the
05:01people.
05:01That's the other part, you know, the art part is the fun part.
05:04Then we got to do the hard stuff.
05:13I never wanted to stray from country, but I definitely have a lot of rock influence, especially my earlier records,
05:20especially with like wild card.
05:21I've made up a Jay Joyce.
05:22It's very Jay Joyce.
05:24There's many songs on there.
05:25Yeah.
05:25And I feel like that's always been part of who I am as an artist because it's such an influence
05:30on me.
05:30Like Leonard Skinner and Credence.
05:32And I really took like being authentic, my real true self.
05:37Like I'm fine.
05:37I love to like evolve and learn and try new things.
05:41But at the end of the day, I'm a country artist.
05:43And like that was non-negotiable for me.
05:46Still is.
05:53It was not on my bingo card for choosing Texas to take over the world.
05:56Honestly, like I love that song and it so feels like such a part of me.
06:00I'm from Texas and I just, you know, it was like one of those things where we just wrote this
06:07song we really loved.
06:08And all of a sudden I've never seen anything like it.
06:10Yeah.
06:11So when Ella calls and is like, what does this mean?
06:13I'm like, I'm one of those.
06:14Can't help you with that one.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Yeah.
06:16I'm like, you know, I need to call Taylor Swift right now because this is like that kind of big.
06:19But it's really, I feel so proud.
06:23I feel so thankful that she trusted me and that we could work together.
06:28And Ben West, our co-producer and all the musicians and our co-writers, Joy and Luke.
06:32Like, I just feel like nobody could have, but it makes me so happy because it's a great song with
06:38a great singer and a really strong artist with a really strong vision.
06:42And that stands out.
06:43And this is just proof of that.
06:45It's proof of what I've always been drawn to.
06:48It's country as shit.
06:49Like, I mean, I love it.
06:51It's throwback country.
06:53I mean, Ella's influences are very much 70s and 80s country.
06:56Sure.
06:56And that's what we were going for.
06:57And I feel like so happy that the world is, I feel like more ears are on country music now
07:02because of it.
07:03I'm so thrilled about that.
07:04The first, like, week it was out, when we started seeing the numbers we were seeing, I was on the
07:09road and I started covering it.
07:11And by, like, the second weekend on the road, I moved it down to the end of my set.
07:15That's how I knew.
07:16I was like, oh, this is a huge hit and I got to follow it with my old shit nobody
07:19cares about.
07:20I wouldn't say that exactly.
07:21But yeah, sure.
07:22I'm sure that song got to pop.
07:23One of those moments where I'm like, oh, this is, this is a thing now.
07:27Yeah.
07:28Like, so it's really, it's really fun to do too.
07:30It's fun to have my own version of it out there and watch people of all ages, like, sing to
07:35this song.
07:36Like, they've known it their entire life and it's new.
07:38You know what I mean?
07:39So it's instantly classic.
07:40Yeah, I was about to say that.
07:41It's an instant classic and that, that never happens.
07:44Ella was being, she was like, Miss Director on the set.
07:47She was like, running the show and I loved watching that because she just really knows who she is.
07:51She is, she's on such a mission and she's very confident in her art and who she is.
07:58And I, watching her, you know, be with, on the backside of the camera, watching the monitor and directing was
08:03really, really cool.
08:05Like, I felt like a proud big sister.
08:08I, I just, I loved being there for her and being in the video.
08:10So many cameos, which was really smart for her to do.
08:14But, you know, she's on this rocket ship and all I want to do is be there for her for
08:18the highs and lows.
08:18Because sometimes they come at the same time.
08:21Nobody tells you that part.
08:21You know what I mean?
08:22So, I'm, I'm happy to just be like big sis, kind of cheering her on from the side and from
08:27the behind the scenes and being there for her.
08:37I think it became more of an interest to me to be a producer because I had started sort of
08:44taking a bigger role in my own records.
08:46Sure.
08:47And the first couple, I didn't really know what was going on.
08:49I didn't write a record before.
08:50But then as, as I kept making records, I felt like it was, I was a co-producer.
08:55So, why not really dig in?
08:57And it's not even just about a title, but it's about a teamwork thing that we can do in here,
09:01you know?
09:02And, but honestly, having had, you know, the last couple records of my own that I'm listed as a co
09:12-producer,
09:12but I've never had a record in the world that I was just a producer, a co-producer, not the
09:19artist.
09:19You know what I mean?
09:20So, Vandaline this week has been pretty cool feeling.
09:23I was texting John Randall, my best friend and co-producer, like, I've never known the feeling that this is
09:30before.
09:31Just having a beautiful masterpiece in the world that I got to have a hand in doing that isn't, doesn't
09:38say my name on the front.
09:39You know, it's really, it's really a crazy feeling.
09:41I love it.
09:48You know, I think about how all the different platforms that you can hear music these days, and sometimes I'm
09:55jealous.
09:55I'm like, dang, I was stapling a poster to a telephone pole outside a bar, you know what I mean?
10:00But I'm really thankful for that part of my journey because it taught me so much grit and patience, and
10:06I had to really go.
10:07So, but now these younger generation, these kids have to do it just as hard.
10:12It just looks different.
10:13Yeah.
10:13All the content and all the constant, you know, putting things out there, putting themselves out there, and then have,
10:20and if something pops off, then having to go do the work on the backside.
10:22Like, it's just a different model.
10:24Absolutely.
10:24It is still the same amount of work.
10:26And so I just feel like, but I'm so happy that there's a way for people to hear choose in
10:32Texas that would never have heard it before because of social media.
10:36I love that anybody gets to choose now.
10:38You're right.
10:39The gatekeepers are the public at this point.
10:42They're like, we like it or we don't.
10:43Yeah.
10:44And I love that.
10:45And I just am, you know, it's helpful to me since I've been making records for so long for my
10:50new stuff.
10:51Like, I'm trying to learn how the kids are doing it, and I'm trying to keep up.
10:55How's that going so far?
10:56I mean, it's a rough go.
10:58It's not easy.
10:59It's not easy.
10:59I'm learning.
11:00I have a great team who drags me out of my cozy clothes in my barn, like, you have to
11:07go do stuff.
11:07And I'm trying to do better, and when I see something like what's happened with Ola, it's like, okay, there's
11:15proof in the pudding.
11:16I need to get out there and try to do better.
11:17So right now there's just a moment for women in country, and I love watching it.
11:22I want to support them all.
11:23Like, I feel like, you know, we got to stick together, too, because it's hard, and we have two and
11:30a half hours of hair and makeup before we do anything.
11:32Boys don't have to do that.
11:33Guys don't have to do it for two and a half hours?
11:34Boys don't have to do that.
11:35But it just feels very, very cool right now to see these women really coming into their own.
11:40They're all very different.
11:41Lainey is a close friend.
11:42Elle's close friend, and I just feel like watching, getting to kind of, like, hold hands and do it together
11:48feels really cool.
11:50I really didn't have, like, a girl gang to, like, be there for me at the time.
11:55I just don't think there was, especially in Texas music, which is kind of where I started, there wasn't any
12:00women, hardly at all.
12:03And they're just, I don't know, I don't know why, but I, Reba was always kind, but she was so
12:10untouchable to me.
12:11Yeah, she was Reba.
12:13Yeah, she's still Reba.
12:14She's still untouchable to me.
12:15I love her dearly, but I feel like I did have Dirk Smidley.
12:19Like, he's been a solid, a solid rock for me.
12:23We toured together in 2005 and about 10 times ever since then, and it just feels like a big brother
12:29situation.
12:29So I did have that in my own ways, but I definitely didn't have this, like, sisterhood that I'm so
12:35glad to be part of now.
12:37Casey called me, and we've known each other for a very long time.
12:45And she was like, I have an idea.
12:49I'm done with my record, but I can't leave this off if you agree to it.
12:55She was like, I know we've had our times where we just have drifted apart and known each other forever,
12:59but just careers with separate ways, marriages, divorces, whatever.
13:04And she was like, the two things we have in common are horses and divorces.
13:08Like horses and divorces, and we both like to drink.
13:12And she said, I want to ride it with you and Shane McAnally and put on this record.
13:16And I was like, damn right we're doing that.
13:17Yeah, sounds good.
13:18We're doing that.
13:18So it was honestly like last minute because her record was technically done.
13:25But I love that she reached out and that, you know, I've been seeing like social media and stuff of
13:30her riding horses too.
13:31And I'm really, really back into it now as well at the same time.
13:33And we both got divorced.
13:35And I just feel like, you know, it was a song that needed to be in the world by these
13:41two people.
13:41And it was sort of like a, it bridged a gap that if we had a gap, that that was
13:46the bridge of this song.
13:47And Shane McAnally is like, it's Shane, yes, that we're obsessed with.
13:52And this has been his dream for like ever.
13:54And he will tell you that.
13:55He was like, I need y'all to be best friends again.
13:57And I need for this song to happen.
13:59And so he was like the glue of this song.
14:02And it was really fun.
14:03We, all three of us were in different places.
14:05So we had to like really work on getting together to write this song.
14:09But I'm excited to do it live.
14:12Like, yeah, that's going to be the most fun of it all.
14:14It's very like has a Willie and Waylon vibe to me.
14:17I think it's important.
14:18It's like, no, we weren't best friends.
14:20So yeah, there was some, whatever there was.
14:22We don't even know now.
14:23We just talked about it.
14:24We're like, I don't know if there was weirdness, but, and we don't know why, but it doesn't matter.
14:28It's whiskey under the bridge, as we say in the song.
14:39You know, this is my 20th ACM and I'm up for eight, like hanging in like a hair and a
14:43biscuit, as they say in the song.
14:45Like, I just feel like it's, you know, it's really special.
14:48I love getting nominated with friends because of a collaboration with my co-writers and producer friends and musicians.
14:55And like, it's more fun to celebrate together.
14:57So I didn't think about it until you said that, but I'm happy.
15:00Like I'm Stapleton and Ella and all the songwriters.
15:03And it's like, Jesse Frazier is one of my best friends who wrote songs to sing with us.
15:07So like, how much more fun will Vegas be this year?
15:10Because we get to do it together.
15:11I think just try new things.
15:13I mean, musically stretching myself.
15:15I love Marfa tape.
15:16So hopefully another one of those.
15:17And maybe digging a little deeper into influences and putting some things on tape that aren't.
15:25The same things I've already done.
15:27Either way, it'll be country, but it'll, but it'll, I just, I'm kind of open.
15:31I, you know, I'm at this place where I really set a ton of goals when I started.
15:37Like you just told me, I said one to someone.
15:38I want a 50 year career and I reached almost all the ones I set early.
15:44So then I set another set of goals and the best problem in the world to have is that you
15:48reach them.
15:48And then now what?
15:49And I think where I'm at right now is that I just want to be open.
15:53Okay.
15:54And kind of let the universe bring to me what's supposed to happen.
15:57Cause I'm just want to be open-minded and kind of sit here and go, it's kind of how I
16:01find all my rescue dogs.
16:02Like, all right, who are you?
16:04Who's supposed to be here right now?
16:05And just feel like, let the world tell me the direction I'm supposed to go rather than like being so
16:11set on something.
16:12Cause I think that that's why I got here is because I was like this, but now I'm like, what
16:17are y'all doing?
16:17What are we, let's create something together.
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