SPOTLIGHT ON NASHVILLE
| Miranda Lambert’s running 30 minutes late, but given the launch-week tumble of commitments, that’s not bad. Since not winning Nashville Star a decade ago and releasing the Thelma & Louise-invoking "Gunpowder & Lead," the tumble-haired Texan has been a girl on the go. With her no-mess anthems — "Kerosene," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," even "Only Prettier" — Lambert pulls no punches, instead building a grrrl nation that took Platinum to the top of the Country charts, her fifth, and the top of the all-genre album chart, her first. Licensed to carry, the animal lover from Longview drew down on HITS’ own hollow-point Holly Gleason. |
| So you’re doing the TV shuffle. Up early?
No, today was 10; not bad. Tomorrow’s 4:30. That’s the one you dread all year. But you must be glad it’s getting out there... I’m so ready for [Platinum] to be here, to know what people think. It’s been building up and building up—since I recorded it in August—and the anxiety builds. In a good way, but you know...Is it weird, being the voice of kickass womanhood? I didn’t set out to do that. There wasn’t a plan to be different, I just set out to do what I feel. I ended up with my own little corner. But I’m happy here; I like it. Ten years ago, nobody would’ve thought these songs would create something like this. I’ve always been honest in my music. I don’t have a lot of fake in me, so it’s not something I can bring into my songs. If it’s not real, I can’t really do that.Has your writing evolved? When I was getting ready to go in the studio, I did a little inventory—going back to Kerosene, listening to everything I’ve written. I wish I could write like that again: there was an innocence to it when I didn’t know how you write a song. You write with better writers, and you grow.I’ve changed a lot, but I also have this common thread that runs through everything. I think it’s how you see things that holds the music together. There’s that female empowerment thread, but there’s also a girlishness... Not just kicking ass. It takes strength to be vulnerable. You have to be willing to say things you’re not comfortable saying. You need to be strong to put things out there, really suck it up and do it. "Bathroom Sink" is definitely one of those. Oh, yeah! Everything in that song is true. I’d just had an argument with my mom, and all the things you want to believe, you can’t hide from them looking in the mirror. I was getting on a plane; I wrote it in my phone. When I got on the bus, I took down my guitar... And the idea my mom’s gonna be hurt hit me, but that’s what happened. I think that’s what happens to a lot of girls, so you tell it. We’re girls: you feel a 100 things in one day, and that can be exhausting, but the music is a way to get it out.How’s fame for you? It’s a lot of what I expected.And when you add Blake? The most surprising thing is how fast the change happens. We were just country singers, you know? Then Blake gets on The Voice, and we’re in the tabloids.That’s not anywhere in the You Want to Be a Country Singer? handbook. Musically, for me, and career-wise, it’s sort of gone to another level because of it. But there are wonderful things too, right? So many things! Getting to perform with heroes like George Strait and Merle Haggard, hanging out with Loretta Lynn and shooting a video in her house. Those are moments when I go, "Am I really doing this right now?’ In those moments, it all seems crazy."Are you able to take any of it in? I’m learning to soak it all in... The last 10 years have been so fast. It’s trying to get to the next level, trying to get to the next level... What’s next? What else? You’re just rushing and trying to grow. Now I’m really trying to take the time to experience everything.Let’s play Who’s Better, You or Blake? OK.Hunting? Depends on what you’re hunting for (laughter). But he probably wins on hunting.More hair and skincare product? When he’s at home, me! I have a whole duffle bag.More competitive? On different days, both. I definitely bring out the competitive in him. |
