00:00Would you rather never drink tequila again or never wear cowboy boots again?
00:03I can give up tequila.
00:05For the cowboy boots, you'll say.
00:07What's up, guys?
00:08It's Emily Curl with Refinery29, and right now I am joined by a country music legend.
00:12From the stages to the charts, she's a real badass and about as real as it gets.
00:17Miranda Lambert, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:20So I thought to kick off this interview, we could play a fun game.
00:23Are you down for it?
00:23Sure.
00:24Okay, so the game is called This or That, and essentially it's like a glorified would you rather.
00:29Are you ready?
00:29I think so.
00:30It's going to be fun.
00:31A cabin in the mountains or a bungle on the beach?
00:34Cabin in the mountains.
00:35Coffee or tea?
00:35Coffee.
00:36I like the buzz.
00:37Text or call?
00:38Text.
00:38Calling's terrifying.
00:40Save or spend?
00:41Spend.
00:41Tattoos or piercings?
00:43Tattoos.
00:43A little too much tongue or never enough?
00:45Depends on the tongue, I think.
00:46Fair.
00:47Go back in time or go into the future?
00:49Into the future.
00:49Patron or Jose Cuervo?
00:51Cosmigos.
00:53NSYNC or Backstreet Boys?
00:55NSYNC all the way.
00:56New York or LA?
00:56New York.
00:57New York or Nashville?
00:58Nashville.
00:59Oh, okay.
01:00Now that we got that out of the way, I feel pretty good about that.
01:02I feel like I got to know you a little better.
01:03Now you got to know me a little bit.
01:04Yeah.
01:04So you're getting ready to drop your new album, Wildcard, in November.
01:07What can we expect on this new music?
01:09I feel like Wildcard is fun and spicy, and it kind of brings me back to where I started.
01:15So it's a little bit full circle.
01:16And so you also just announced your 2020 Wildcard Tour.
01:19What would you say is a lesson that you've learned on tour and on the road that translates
01:23into your daily life?
01:25Everything I do sort of revolves around friendships and good people in my life.
01:30And so whether that's on the road when they become, I mean, we call it road family for a reason,
01:35or just in my daily life.
01:37I mean, I think I kind of make sure to surround myself with people that are level-headed and not
01:44yes people.
01:45You know, the people that love you but kind of tell you when you need to change something.
01:49Do you have any pre-show rituals that you swear by that you do?
01:54We have an Airstream out on the road called Wanda the Wanderer, and she is kind of our hub.
02:00I really try to see my band 30 minutes before we go on stage and just hang out with us
02:04because
02:04it sort of creates this energy.
02:06We know we're about to go do something we love together, so we want to be a unit.
02:10So really, that's it.
02:11And we do these tiny little shots.
02:12They're like this big because we're old.
02:15We can't do real side shots.
02:18It's funny, the older I get now, the longer my hangovers last.
02:21Oh, it's worse. They don't even start until 2 p.m. after you're 30.
02:23Oh my, I'm not ready for that.
02:25When you look at the creation of Wildcard, what process do you think you enjoy the most?
02:29I love writing. I love the writing. I guess that's my favorite part.
02:32But I also enjoy the studio because it's neat to take it and work with a bunch of other artists
02:37in the room
02:38and it becomes this beautiful painting, you know?
02:41Giving the demanding pace of your life and your career, how do you stay mentally and physically healthy?
02:47I try to stay really physical. I ride horses.
02:49My horses really sort of center me in both ways.
02:53It keeps me physically fit and sane because when I'm off the road or not working,
02:58I'm at my farm, like, riding my ponies, playing with my dogs, probably canning something.
03:02Like, it just puts my feet back on the ground.
03:05On days when you just don't feel like it, maybe on a hard day, how do you push through?
03:08I always say it's like hosting a wedding, being on tour.
03:11Oh, Lord.
03:11Because people are coming there for this big event and there's always guests and it's like, it's stressful, but it's
03:16amazing.
03:17And I just think about what I get to do and, like, how rewarding it is.
03:21I just, like, push through knowing that.
03:25And usually I've had some times where I've walked on stage just really, like, at a hard time in my
03:29life or sick,
03:30and the crowd totally turns me around.
03:33They kind of saved my life on those nights.
03:35So, you know, I'm appreciative of that.
03:36One thing that I've always admired about you, too, is that I feel like through life's up and downs, you've
03:42stayed true to yourself.
03:43Have you always sort of been that way, felt, like, really grounded in yourself,
03:45or is that something that's sort of developed throughout your career and throughout your life?
03:49My mom taught me real early, know who you are and stick with it.
03:53And I feel like growing up in a really good home, in a really small town, I mean, I had
03:58a good foundation.
03:59I grew up in church, and I feel like that foundation from that life has carried me through to now.
04:06And so no matter what goes on, what changes in my life, whether personal or professional,
04:10I never have really strayed from my actual, who Miranda is, not Miranda Lambert, the singer.
04:16You know what I mean?
04:17I sort of go internal and keep my feet on the ground in that way.
04:20When you think about your career, is there something that strikes you as something you're most proud of?
04:27Being able to do the music that I love and that I believe in, and I've been able to do
04:33it my way, you know?
04:35I've not had to change my look or change my lyrics or my sound.
04:41And I'm very thankful for that because a lot of artists, especially female artists, at the beginning can get pushed
04:48into maybe an image that they didn't ask for or really believe in, but they wanted it so bad they
04:53did it.
04:53It's important to me to be real.
04:56I mean, I've made a career based on being brutally honest in my songs, you know what I mean?
05:00So I might as well be honest in my life.
05:01So on the contrary to that question, is there anything you look back on that you wish you would have
05:05done differently?
05:06I wish I would have taken it in a little more instead of like next, next, next.
05:11But in this career, kind of trained to be worried about what's tomorrow.
05:16I mean, I get on a bus and wake up in a different city every night, you know?
05:18So you're just trained to be like what's next, what's happening next instead of sitting in what's happening now.
05:23So I've gotten a lot better at that now, but I'd say I would have changed like my pace a
05:28little bit.
05:28Because I can imagine it would be a snowball effect of just like bigger and more.
05:31But you're glad at the time, but now I'm like I should have written it all down or something, you
05:36know?
05:36I got a lot locked away in there.
05:38Because it's Keela and Tito's hasn't got it all yet.
05:41But Miranda, thank you so much for being here.
05:43Thank you for being a longtime fan.
05:45Congrats on Wildcard.
05:46Enjoy the tour.
05:47And thank you so much again.
05:48And thank you guys.
05:49We'll see you next time.
