Miranda Lambert

One Liner: One of the Queens of country music

Wikipedia Genre: Country, Country Rock, Alternative Country
Home: Lindale, Texas

Saturday

Thoughts:  I figured that I had written about her before, but other than a few album reviews, I never really had gotten into her backstory before.  It is a pretty good story, in my opinion.

Born in Longview, Texas, which is out in East Texas, in 1983.  She was actually raised in Lindale, which I have on my radar because a friend from college is from there and also because I used to always incorrectly sing the lyrics to Robert Earl Keen's "Lynnville Train" as being about the Lindale Train. Her parents met while her dad was an undercover narc at SMU, while her mom was attending a camp on campus.  I would LOVE to hear further backstory about that meet up between an undercover cop and the teenager at a camp.  Her parents married several years later, became private investigators, and then formed a faith-based ministry that sought to offer help to victims of domestic violence.  Her dad had played in a country-rock band called Contraband in the 1970's, and so Miranda started singing early.  By high school, she sang with The Texas Pride Band and fronted the house band at a place in Longview which also launched Brooks & Dunn.

At 16, she appeared on the same talent show that had launched LeAnn Rimes, and got a chance in Nashville out of it.  But she didn't like the "pop" country she was later presented with in Nashville.  So, she came back to Texas, asked her dad to teach her the guitar, and in 2001 she released her first self-titled album.  That one is not available on Spotify.  She spent the next few years opening for Texas artists like Jack Ingram and Kevin Fowler, and in 2003, she appeared on Nashville Star (like American Idol but for country) and placed third.  That appearance led to her signing with a label.

Her first album with that label, 2005's Kerosene, was an instant hit.  Opened at #1 on the Country charts and went platinum.  To hear it today, in my opinion, it sounds very much like the Dixie Chicks music from that time frame.  Strong and independent, some harmonies (not as much as the Chicks for sure), and a brassy confidence.  The top track, by a lot, is the title tune.  69.8 million streams.

Like if Natalie Maines made a solo record back then, this would have been on it.  I don't recall hearing this song prior to now though, so just completely off of my radar.  Also, she seems so angry in that video, I am sort of terrified.  She was nominated for a Grammy for that one.  

Her next album was 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which featured one of her top tracks overall even to this day.  "Gunpowder and Lead" is in the wheelhouse of "Goodbye Earl" and the ladies fighting back against the dickhead men in their lives.  120.5 million streams.

No official music video is kind of disappointing.  I wanted to see her shooting dudes.  A couple other tunes on here break the 20 million stream count - this album sounds a lot like the first one, but maybe just a little more rock and roll.

2009's Revolution features a great cover of "Time to Get a Gun," a song that was hot during the time I lived in Dallas (as sung originally by Fred Eaglesmith).  That is an ignored track on here, as this album blew up and resulted in a much bigger profile.  9 CMA nominations, and she won female vocalist of the year and album of the year.  Then she won a Grammy for "The House That Built Me."  That is the top streamer from this disc with 164.9 million streams.

Over 100 million views of that video too.  And fascinating to me also, because I don't think I have ever heard that song before right now.  And yet it was apparently huge - platinum and a Grammy - but just never hit my radar.  It's beautiful.  And I love the sentiment of it all, I think a lot of us have fond and nostalgic memories of the home where we grew up.

Her next album was a collaborative effort with her band called the Pistol Annies.  I didn't write this one up - 2011's Hell on Heels - but I did write up their follow up album in 2015.  "9. Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel.  This is surprisingly good.  I had dismissed it when seeing it released, thinking that Miranda Lambert (one third of this lady-centric Nashville supergroup, also including Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley) is too Nashville country for my tastes.  But for the most part, this is more like a Dixie Chicks thing, and less of a Big & Rich thing.  Now don't get me wrong, they stick to many of the usual, current Nashville tropes like smoking dope and divorce and farming.  But the guitars and harmonies are irresistible anyway.  "Cheyenne" and "Best Years of My Life" and "Got My Name Changed Back" are all good or fun.  "Sugar Daddy" is less so.  But overall, an actual fun album."  The biggest track from this one is the title track, "Hell on Heels," with 55.2 million streams.

Pretty dang tasty.  Like if the Highwaywomen were about being badass.  Also, though, really seems like Miranda is the top tier voice when they sing their own bits. " 

Next came the originally titled Four The Record, also released in 2011.  It features another big time hit, "Mama's Broken Heart," with 202.6 million streams.

That one rings a bell.  Also in 2011, Lambert married Blake Shelton.  In 2012, she made her acting debut by appearing on Law & Order: SVU.  She claims that she didn't even really want to act, but that she wanted to do the show so that she could get autographs of the actors on the show.  Funny.

2014's Platinum isn't my cup of tea as much - feels like she is using drum machines and vocal effects where she never did that sort of thing previously.  Maybe it is because she has Little Big Town on here, or Blake Shelton is ruining her life.  I dunno.  The big hit is more traditional though, and features fellow top-tier singer Carrie Underwood.  "Somethin' Bad."  155.5 million streams.

New to me, but their harmonies are worth the price of admission.  Sadly, for the purposes of this blog, I think I like Carrie's voice better than Miranda's.  That is unfortunate.  In between this and the next two albums, it appears that the marriage to Blake Shelton came to an end.  Afterwards, she dated singer Anderson East, then the Turnpike frontman, before marrying New York City police officer Brendan McLoughlin.  Interesting for the kid of a cop to end up with a cop.

Her next album was 2016's The Weight of These Wings, a double album featuring 24 songs and 1:34 playtime.  Which is too damn long.  However, I will say that I like the vibe of this album more than the last one.  Feels more down to earth and rootsy.  Quite a bit fewer streams though, so the rest of the world may not agree with my take!  The top track is from the second disc - "Tin Man" - and has 89 million streams.

Oh, she redid that one on the Marfa Tapes album.  I really liked that album.  Really a pretty song.  When she decides to go the ballad route, she can really crush a tune.  I say that I liked this one more, but I'm not sure that is true for the whole run of the album - definitely feels like I am listening to Nashville country on some of these songs.

Now, we get to the part of her career where I was actually paying attention.  2019's Wildcard got a lukewarmish reception from me, but better than I had expected:

"Miranda Lambert - Wildcard.  I talked about this album because it was in someone's top ten albums for 2019, and I surprisingly didn't hate it.  In fact, I kind of like it.  Angles more rock than country, except the lyrics are that kind of schlocky comedic shit that you get in country music some times, like an allegory of collecting all your problems and sticking them in the washing machine like they are stained clothes.  Or a song in which the protagonist declares herself too pretty for prison, despite her actions.  It's clever enough to make me grin.  And "Bluebird" and "How Dare You Love" are legitimately pretty.  The weirdest piece to me are the 80's synths and guitar on "Track Record," like she joined up with a Flock of Seagulls to make a country track.  "It All Comes Out in the Wash" wins the stream count for now at 15.6 million.

I mean, that is highly cheesy, full of tropes.  But its damn catchy!  I honestly don't know if I had ever listened to a Miranda Lambert song before now - I just had a general negative impression because she sings country and is a modern artist.  But I don't hate this.  I'm not about to toss out Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves in my pantheon of country lady songwriters or anything, but this has goodness in it."  

And by now, "Bluebird" crushes that other song on stream count, with 185.5 million streams.  So, we'll do that one as well.

Really is a nice song.  That cage is apparently in her bar/restaurant that she owns on the Broadway strip in Nashville.  We did that for a minute this summer for the first time (not her bar, but that general area), and it was sorta hell.  A louder and more desperate-feeling Sixth Street.

Next was the excellent 2021 album with some other guys on board.  "Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes.  Delightfully messy little batch of songs from these guys.  I don't listen to much Lambert, haven't heard from Ingram in years, and have never heard of Randall at all, but some of these songs are really great.  But they're deliberately raw - there are random background noises, and Lambert giggles in the midst of songs pretty frequently - and the recording sounds like it was done in a barn using an old jam box for the mic.  Which is kinda fun - feels like I'm listening in on these folks having an old time song swap.  Just one acoustic guitar, and some nice harmonies, lets you really listen to the lyrics.  The top track is the opener, "In His Arms."

I gotta say, watching that video made the song even better - beautiful.  Randomly just got emotional watching that.  What the hell.  But yeah, a lovely little song and sentiment.  I like it.  "Two Step Down to Texas" sounds very much like they brought in Kelly Willis to sing.  I really like Randall's sound - he reminds me of David Wilcox on How Did You Find Me Here (see "Breaking a Heart" or "Amazing Grace - West Texas").  "Geraldine" is weird, because it is a "Jolene" ripoff, but it goes so far as to name-check "Jolene," so it's a knowing ripoff, which seems off-putting to me.  But overall, this is a really fun album.  Makes me want to go to deep west Texas and play the three chords I can play over and over.

Looks like they made a movie to go with the album, here's the trailer:

"

And then after that one, you get the also good Palomino from 2022.  I keep saying the same thing in these reviews about how I don't listen to her, and then I go on to listen to her some more... 

"Miranda Lambert - Palomino.  My normal angle would definitely be that I don't listen to purely Nashville artists like Lambert.  But then I make exceptions for people like Stapleton and Simpson.  Now Lambert is making me think she belongs in that same list of exceptions.  I really enjoyed her scruffy last album with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, so I figured I'd give this one a shot.  It is really enjoyable.  In part, that is because a lot of these songs are already in my head from the Marfa Tapes disc, but also because they are a good combination of country, rock, and solid songwriting.  And there are some curveballs on here - she's got the B-52's singing backup on one tune!  "Geraldine" makes me think of "Jolene."  "In His Arms" is lovely.  "Country Money" is funny.  "Waxahachie" is odd, because she asks the town if it is still on '35.  Like, are some towns known for picking themselves up and moving?  But it is a nice song - I dig the lyric of writing a lipstick letter while on a bourbon buzz.  But the top tune is "If I was a Cowboy," with a big lead over all other songs at 66.8 million streams. (now up to 103.2 million)

Kind of has a Kacey sound to it. Honestly, one of the weaker tunes on here in my opinion. I much prefer the rest of the disc. Not a bad song, just seems more like a contrived Nashville song working hard to make sure that she could sing about being the queen cowboy. But, I'll absolutely keep this disc around. I like it."

And finally in 2024 she released a new disc, on a new label, called Postcards from Texas.  I remember reading something about it being a "return to roots" and a love letter to Texas.  Ehh, not sure I completely agree there.  Some of the songs are very good, and she does mention the names of some Texas towns, but I wouldn't say that she's left the Nashville slickness entirely behind.  Album has been out since 9/13/24, and the stream count would lead me to believe that it has not been a hit just yet.  Top streamer is "Dammit Randy" with 4.4 million streams.  I love that song title.

Don't love it.  There are definitely better tracks on here, in part because of some of the trite ass lyrics about like "flying a kite in a hurricane."  C'mon.  Is that the best you have?  And nobody ties pennies to the tracks, they just set them down on there.  This disc is fine, but I definitely prefer the stripped down Marfa Tapes sound or the Palamino disc if I had to go with one of the newer ones.

It has been fun to run through all of this.  I'm definitely going to see Alan Jackson, but I like realizing that Lambert is legitimately enjoyable to listen to and not just Nashville pablum.