She will always be country, but Miranda Lambert tried some new things on a couple of the songs with her latest Wildcard album. The 36-year-old shifted slightly away from the old-school country that she is know for, on at least some of the songs, including “Mess With My Head.” For Lambert, it’s less a switch to a new style, and more a calculated decision to stay relevant in the current music scene.
“I’m open to new things,” Lambert told Grammy.com. “The way we put music down is all changing so quickly — literally day to day, it can change — and I’m not trying to be too old school. I mean, I’m old-school romantic about putting out country records; that’s just what I do. But I know I want to stay in the game and go with whatever the changes are, so I’m trying to be flexible.”
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Lambert has been one of the fortunate few women who have managed to have singles get regular airplay at radio, something she believes will soon be a reality for other female artists as well, even if it is taking a painstakingly long time.
“I do think it’s shifting,” Lambert hinted. “I’m getting a single played right now, and I’m thankful for that. I don’t know how quickly it will shift and I don’t know how balanced it will become, but I do feel like it’s getting better. Someone asked me in an interview before this one if I needed radio, and I said yes, because I can see from the stage [that] country music is its own thing; it’s not like any other genre.
“So if you’ve been an established country artist for a long time, we’re not like grandfathered into the new system,” she continued. “We still need our old-school ways, to be honest. I can see in the towns that I play in, the people singing along, that they’ve heard the song, and it helps.”
Unlike her previous The Weight of These Wings, most of Wildcard is fun, upbeat and happy. The mood shift happened not only because she is in a happier place herself, especially with her marriage to husband Brendan McLoughlin, but also because she knew what she wanted to deliver to her fans on the road.
“I wrote for this record in the way of wanting to have a little fun and letting myself off the hook,” Lambert acknowledged. “I wrote a pretty heavy singer-songwriter record with The Weight Of These Wings. And also, you really have to factor in playing live, what you’re missing on the stage and what you want to give your fans.”
Lambert is nominated for two Grammy Awards: for Best Country Song, for “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” and Best Country Album, for Interstate Gospel with the Pistol Annies.
Lambert is currently on her Wildcard Tour, with Cody Johnson and LANCO serving as her opening acts. Find dates at MirandaLambert.com.
Photo Credit: Getty / Jeff Kravitz
