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Hi, babies. Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today, we have somebody who I absolutely adore, my sister from another mista, my feminine rage soul sister over here. I mean, the music she makes is just speaks to your soul. It's Miranda Lambert. How are you doing? Hello. I'm so happy to have you here.

Thanks for having me in your new pretty studio.

I know. Did it scare you when it came in here? I love it.

You do love it? It's awesome. It looks like you.

I appreciate that so much. What have you been up to? You're in and out of Nashville all the time. You guys just got back from Europe, correct?

Yeah, we went to Italy. It was awesome. It was the first time I've ever been to Europe without work. I've never just gone to Europe for fun, which works out usually when we're touring over there, you just stay for fun and make it a trip. But my manager, Marion, had a big birthday, so we went to celebrate her in Italy and ate all the pasta and took a brain break. It was nice.

That's amazing. I don't know how to take a break without working either. So to be able to disconnect and go to another country and just vibe out is a goal.

I think to go into the other country is the ticket because the time zone. So all of everybody here is asleep till your five o'clock And then at my five o'clock, I'm already drinking wine. So I'm like, Well, I can't answer you. Sorry.

Catch me tomorrow, buddy.

Yeah, exactly. So it was great. We just got back, but we have a record coming out. So it's like we had a busy year and then just took that two-week gap of reset before the rest. Yeah.

Absolutely. Where did you guys go?

We went to Lake Como, which I'd never been to.

It's beautiful. And that's in Italy, correct? Mm-hmm.

Okay. And then it's like an hour from Florence. And then we went to Florence. And then we went to Tuscany, in hills of Tuscany.

That's so romantic.

It was so peaceful. And they just do life better. Yeah, do they? Just everything slowed down. We're just chaotic Americans chasing all of our dreams and doing everything fast, which I love that part about home, and I miss it when I'm somewhere really quiet like that. I'm like, it's fun for a few days. I'm like, okay, where's all the action? Where's the loudness? Is it hard for you to relax?

Because I know whenever my husband and I go on vacation, too, the first two days we'll be like, oh, this is great. And then the third day we're like, all right, we'll get back on the phones or we'll start posting. It's just so hard to break from that.

I think it takes three days to We'll really get in or more sometimes just to calm down. You know what I mean? So two weeks, we took just two weeks off. And so it was a little panicky. But then once you settle into it, it's like you really need to do it. You just don't know you need to until you get the chance.

I think that's been my biggest lesson this year is learning how to relax and not pile on so much because I think you're a lot like me, too. We just go, go, go. We're just like, trained to go. And this year, I've been trying to teach myself to just relax a little bit. Do you feel like that's how it's been for you this year?

Or are you still go, go, go? For sure. I mean, I've reached a pretty high level of burnout last summer, and I didn't realize what it was until I was like, I I think this is what they call burnout, from just not taking a break or a long enough one. Just a couple of days at a time just wasn't enough for the amount of busyness. And so I just feel like we have to learn the balance. It's really hard when you're so driven to relax into doing nothing. But if you don't recharge, then you're only operating at 50% anyway. Absolutely. The recharging is so important. It's just hard to do.

It It is. And I mean, you've been in the industry, what, 24 years? Yeah. That's a long time. So for you to just have reached burnout last year, you're a savage. You are an animal.

Well, I think it's like, and it wasn't like the burnout where I'm quitting forever. It was just like one of those moments. I've had those over the years. And honestly, a lot of it for musicians, as you know, because you're on tour, is August, when you're doing summer tours. I think you all did last year.

Yeah, we started earlier last year.

Yeah. And so by the time August comes, you have been hot all year. You're just playing outside. August is usually everyone's like, I don't want to tour anymore. It's like, yes, you do. It's just August. It's just what we do in August. And then you take a break and you're like, okay, I'm ready again. But yeah, I don't know. I just think I'm starting to learn a better how to balance actually living your life. Because as a creative, if you don't go live your life, there's nothing to write about. There's nothing to... There's no fuel. You know what I mean? If you just constantly are going to the next goal, it's like not sitting in the success either of what you've already done.

Absolutely. And I think that also comes with age, too, because I'm actually four years older than you. And when I hit 40, my life was like, I've got to change something because I lived in chaos for so long. And I feel like from 40 to 44, you learn to start stopping and smelling the roses. And it's like you almost can taste life, if that makes sense. Before, it's like you're just going through the motions. And then it's like once you reach a certain age, you get to a point where you're just like, wait, I enjoy doing this. You love doing your dog thing and stuff like that. The little things you start to enjoy and appreciate a little bit more.

Yeah. And you sit in it a little more Where you just... That's the word, yes. My manager, you say, You don't sit in your life. It's like, I didn't know how to do that. I'm blurring how to do that. And I agree at 40, you just go, I really just want to go after the good shit and not deal with any of the other noise that doesn't really matter in my life. And also spend my time, whether it be personal or professional, on things that really add to my life. I do love what I do for a living. That's why I've done it for so long. But you can't love it all the time. You know what I mean? So it's taking moments and also chasing hobbies and doing other forms of art. I need to just sit down. I don't paint. I'm terrible at it, but I should try. You know what I mean?

I can't I'm going to draw a stick figure, so it's okay. Just something.

I ride horses, and I love that. And it's physical, and it's so good for your mind and spirit. So taking time to do those things is important.

Absolutely. I want horses so bad. We We just finally bought 500 acres of land. And I'm the first thing I'm like, Can we be like Noah's Ark? I want two of every animal. I just want horses. I love that. Yeah, I'm ready.

It's going to make it harder to leave, though.

Yeah, exactly. Well, I always tell my husband, I'm like, I love you, I support you, but you chose this life. I don't have to go on every single tour with you. He's like, Yes, you do. I'm like, All right, fine. So we'll discuss that in another five years. But you had talked about hobbies besides riding horses. Horses, what do you do to get away from all of the chaos and just the lights, camera, action besides riding horses?

That's pretty much the only one I have time for. Also, go in. I go to this place called Round Top. It's in Texas, and it's twice a year, and it's literally miles and miles of just any everything you can think of. It's like the biggest flea market ever in the world.

That sounds like heaven. We need to go.

It's a girls trip, though, for sure.

Where is this?

It's like two hours from Austin. Okay. We got to go.

Okay. No, seriously.

I got you. It's my friend's Junk Gypsies. They're like a lifestyle brand, and they are those a staple of this whole vibe. And they have a bed and breakfast. It's beautiful. And it's called the Wonder Inn. It's so cute. And so it's a girls' thing. We go and ride around golf carts and drink wine and buy old shit.

Oh, my God. No, We just got into antiquing. We've started doing that. We actually did a lot of the stuff that's in the studio. We went to an antique store and got. And I'm obsessed. My stepmom used to do it when I was younger, and I was just like, why do you want old stuff all the time? And now I'm like, I crave it. It has stories. Yes, it does. It definitely does. And I don't know, something about going to an antique store and just browsing through people's old things is so meaningful because you're like, where was this piece at? Or this was in somebody's home at one time, and it actually meant the world to them. Or maybe it was a centerpiece that brought them together at dinner every night. It's just little things like that. Yeah.

It's just, I don't know, just something that's simple that you don't have to think.

You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. Couldn't agree more. I love the fact that you and your manager are so close because that's the same with my manager and I. And one thing that I admire about you, too, is you are so girl power. I'm the same way. And I don't think a lot of people get to see that side of you in the public eye, but behind the scenes, everybody knows that Miranda is just female empowerment. Where does that come from? Where do you think that stems from?

Well, thank you for saying that. It is. I just think it's like there's room for all of us, and we don't have to be best friends or fake friends. We can just sometimes lift each other up from afar, or sometimes we can really dig in and join together as a team. I mean, it's hard for women in a lot of ways to do a lot of things we're doing, but we're doing it and we're being great at it. My whole management office is women, and I feel like it's our job, especially when you've been in something a long time and you've honed in on your craft. I feel like it's our duty to help the next generation and be there to mentor them and to learn from them, too. To stay in the know of the new ways to do things. In the music business. I mean, it's changing Every single day, how music is consumed, how the business works, how the fans are consuming the music. Every single part of it is so different from when I first started, and it's changing every day. So I'm trying to learn of how everything works and to stay in it and to keep growing and to be inspired.

But I can't do that alone. You know what I mean? I feel like it's important for us to support each other and respect people that are really being their authentic self. That's my favorite thing about any human is when someone's authentically themselves and really chasing after goals and being who they are, but also lifting up others, which you're great at, too. You are really about lifting up other women. And we figured that out right when we first met and had dinner. And I was like, you can feel it from people. And we were in Italy, we were celebrating Mariam's birthday, and she has a friend named Elizabeth who's very, I want to be her when I grow up. Parts of her, she's just this most classy, beautiful woman and super smart. And we were talking about this exact thing with women of all ages at the table, just talking about the competition between women and how it can get really ugly, and not so much in Nashville, but just in life. And Nashville, we're lucky because the country music community is pretty supportive and lovely, especially the women. But she was saying there's a difference in wanting to win and wanting to beat everybody.

And it really struck me. I thought, I'm going to take that with me because we can all win. We can all win. We're not all trying to get the same trophy anyway. We're all in our lanes doing our thing. But it's when you start to go, I want to beat that person, then it becomes a different game.

That becomes an inner competition. So, yeah, that's actually beautifully said. And thank you for giving me my flowers. I really appreciate that. That's one thing that I've always just loved about you. I remember the first night that we met, I went home and told Jay, I was like, I love her.

We each had It's a great dinner, and you're just so down to earth and obviously really smart, and you know who you are. And I just appreciate that about anyone, especially someone successful, that brings other people along. It's really important.

No, I love that. Do you think that stems We're going to swing back. We're going to go travel back in time to Longview. What was the name of the city that you grew up in? Longview, Texas. Longview, Texas.

It's very, fairly a city.

Isn't there a little one that I cannot- Lindale. Lindale, yes. Okay. The Yaya's, that's your Meemaw.

Can you take me on that journey? Yeah, I got on a tangent. I didn't actually answer your question.

No, you're fine. You're totally fine.

So to answer your question, I think the lifting up of other women comes from there. That's where it all started. It was the Y'all Y'alls were my mom's mom, Wanda Coker. She was my nanny. She had this group of girlfriends, and they were drinking, smoking, gambling, like Y'all Y'alls. But they They were so strong, and they raised me. I mean, they were just constantly lifting each other up and being there for each other's families and fun and so many stories and so many recipes. But it was not the boring grandma hang. It was like, they were wild. But they were so inspiring because they were just who they were. And they would come to my shows and stand in the pit at the front, the first ones on the back rack.

That's going to be That'll be all of us. It'll be us, yeah.

And I'm like, that was the first generation of the women that I grew up around. And then my mom and her best friends, who are basically my aunts. I have a very small family, so we have chosen family. And That was the second generation of just all very successful and very driven and very strong. And then now I have my own circle of really great gal pals that are all following their own passions and their own dreams, but are there for each other. And so since I don't have children of my own, I want to use that part of what I've learned for younger generation, especially of artists, because no one tells you how this goes. Nobody sits there and gives you a handbook of like, well, when you make it to this level, this is what's going to happen. And then you're going to have your first breakdown on week four of this tour. No one tells you.

Those tour breakdowns are ruthless, too.

They're real, and no It tells you also what to do if you've made it.

Yeah. It's a crazy world that you can literally go from one minute, nobody knowing who you are, to being thrust into the spotlight. Nobody sees the years of work it took for you to get thrust into the spotlight, though. And nobody tells you how to handle that or what to say. We don't all have Marians in our corner. Right.

I'm part of a label, founder of a label called Big Texas. It's a branch of Big Loud, which I love working with Big Loud in Nashville. They're just an amazing team. And they approach John Randall, who's one of my best friends and co-writer. And we've worked together for 20 years. And about keeping that outlaw movement from Texas going. I mean, so much of the music that influenced all music is Willy and Wayland and the Boys. I mean, think about how much music came out of Texas that has influenced music over the years. Absolutely. It's so important to keep that going. And so I'm really excited about it for so many reasons, but mostly because I've been through so much in this industry and personally in my life. And I feel like I can be there for the 2:00 AM call, or I can be there for the, Hey, I met with this new manager. What do you think? Or I want to just be an artist for the artist. You know what I mean?

That's amazing, though, because not So not many people and many females in your position, especially your position of power, are willing to give back to the new generation like that. And I think that you're setting an example and actually creating a standard for the OGs in the country music to be there and be like a, I don't want to say coach, but like a mentor.

Yeah, and like a sounding board, too. And also seeing we only have one artist signed so far because we're brand new, but his name is Dylan Gosset. He's from Austin, and he's out there killing it. But just seeing the fire in the eyes of someone just starting, it recognize your fire. It's like, oh, man, I remember the day of It's all right. It's all in front of you at this point, and the world is waiting for you to just come into the world and fly. And I feel like being around that energy reminds me of the I need to still I have that energy. So when I do reach a level of burnout or I'm exhausted or when you do something for a really long time, you can't love it every day, like we said. But I think being around that new fire and young people that are so hungry and so inspired is like, I want some of that. And I want to give them some of the wisdom and some of the reminders of enjoy the ride, because there's a lot of things that I don't remember because I was just going so fast.

It's That's crazy. You have to stop sometimes. And like you said, we're just now going, oh, I could just look around and absorb and live in what I'm doing right now. It's a big moment or a small moment, whatever it is. But I want to just be there for anybody that just needs a sounding board because I've been there.

I think whoever you bring under your wing is going to fly because who better to have guide them through this industry than you? Because you have been through everything that you could possibly I think of in this industry. Your life is played out in the public. Your music is just beautiful. No matter what, everything you touch turns to gold. You're an artist that every other artist should strive to be like, because it's like you pour your heart and soul on these pages, and it resonates with everybody. It doesn't matter if they're a country fan, pop fan, all genres. Everybody knows who Miranda Lambert is. So I think that for you to have the attitude that you do and want to help these people that are coming up, they're just so lucky to have you.

That's so sweet of you to say. I appreciate that. And I know because I know you and your husband, I know you see all that goes into the art part of it. Everything else is the business. But the art part of it is where it starts and ends, and that takes almost everything out of you if you're doing it right. And then the work begins. You know what I mean? And so I know you see it day in and day out with Jason and just everything you all are having to do. And I don't think people understand the pouring out of the heart in a living A lot of the stuff we write, that's the songs that resonate with you, especially the sad heartbreak ones. We had to live through that to get that on the page. Sometimes I don't think people realize this became song because it was a life moment.

Is it hard for you to relive those life moments time and time again? If you've had to write a song about heartbreak or something that you've gone through, when you're going through it? I know that from Pillar to Post, it takes some time, sometimes years before songs come out. Do they still affect you the same way they did when you wrote them?

I think it's interesting on this new record, it's called Postcards from Texas. I went home to make this record because I just felt like I needed to go back to the root of it all because I just left a label that I'd been on for 20 years and signed with Republic and with Big Loud and Republic, New York. And so I felt this new energy of a whole new team that was so excited about the art. And after 20 years in the business, they're more excited than anyone's ever been that I've worked with. So it reignited my fire. But I really wanted to go back to the root of where I started. The honky tonks in Texas are how I got my grid. It's where I've learned my chops. You know what I mean? So I wanted to go back and start there for this new... Start there again, I guess, for this new chapter of my life and career. But I have learned some of the songs I cut, one of the toughest songs on the record that I was almost 10 years old. It's called Run, and it's very raw. And it was a moment in my life, and it's a solo ride.

So with a solo ride, you can't hide anywhere. Everybody knows it's you. You know what I mean? You can't be like, What's my co-writer's story?

You can't blame it all. You can't gaslight the masses.

Exactly. So that part is like, I felt like That song is just an example, but it's one that I wasn't ready to sing before. But I also know that you don't have to live every song you write. I feel like once you get to a certain point, I take that back, every sad song. I think I've been sad enough that I can revisit. If that makes any sense, I don't think it's healthy to try to stay tortured so you can be good. You know what I mean? I think at the beginning, you think that in your 20s, you're like, Tortured artist. And there is an element to that that is true. And also when you're young, you have to live out some stuff to be able to write about it and really sell it.

Life lessons. Yeah.

You have to be able to... When I hear your stories, I know that you live them. You tell it with your truth. But I did learn in the last, I don't know, probably decade, that, okay, you don't have to go and find the sadness and the pain. Just you have your art. If you've been through enough, you can revisit that. And it's interesting to me, too, because sometimes I'm reminded as I'm singing in the studio, which is hard for me sometimes. When you're tracking in the studio and you're in the moment, and then two months later, you got to go back and stand in a vocal booth and revisit that emotion, whatever song it was. You know what I mean? So you have to go back there. But then I'm reminded that's why they call it a recording artist, because you got to get in character of whatever that song is, funny or sad or burn their house down or whatever you're doing, you got to sell it in that moment.

Yeah. I always call it turning trauma into art because literally that's what you guys are doing. And I think that's what any creator, whether it's music, online influencer, which I hate that freaking word. But I think anybody who pours themselves out on any platform, you're turning whatever trauma you've gone through, big or small, into some art.

Yeah, I agree with that. And I think it's important because it makes people feel not alone in whatever they're going through. It makes everybody be on the same playing field. Everybody has a life. Everybody has horrible stuff that's happened, have broken relationships, They also have a lot of highs that we can talk about. Absolutely. And I think we learned that, too. It's really good to sit in the high moments. I don't think I sat in any of it for a while. I didn't take time to really spend enough time in the pain or spend enough time in the joy. And I'm learning to do that a lot better now.

Isn't it crazy how we do that as women? Being a woman is such an evolving journey. Oh, yeah. It's wild. If I could give any advice to 25-year-olds, it's just, Stop. Just stop all of it. Soak it all in. Just enjoy every freaking moment of it because it goes by in such a blink of an eye.

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Can we go back to your parents? Because I heard a really cute story that your parents took you on a stakeout when you were three years old?

My parents were private investigators. My dad was a police officer, and my mom was a PI. And my mom talked my dad into being her partner, so they were Lambert and Lambert. I'm like, Real clever, guys. Do better. I'm a songwriter. That's not acceptable.

It's like Alpha and Omega. Exactly.

So they had a PI for my whole childhood, and they mostly did Divorce and Child Custody, which is where I think I got a lot of my early songs because I'm 17 writing divorce songs. You know what I mean?

You had so much material.

Yeah, material. But yeah, my mom took me on my first job. She had a job that was going to, I think it was Padre Island, which is like a beach in Texas. Yeah. And she had to make friends with this lady and her three-year-old. So she was like, Well, perfect. I have a three-year-old. So she brings me on. That was my first plane ride, and I guess we I guess the person they were working for won the case because I became best friends with this three-year-old, and my mom knew all the dirt on this lady. I mean, all my whole life... One time, I think it was in high school. I had to be in high school, and I was a cheerleader, and my mom took me on a job where I had to put my cheerleading uniform on and pretend to sell cookies for the cheerleading squad. And she was like, When you get in their house, ask to use their bathroom when they're getting their money out. And then when you get in there, see if there's any liquor because they're not supposed to be drinking. I'm like, I'm 15.

You're like, Mom. I know.

I'm like, I should be at cheer practice right now. She's like, No, this is what we're doing. So it just was normal for us. And I tell people all that. They're like, It's so interesting because it was. But she would pick me and Luke up from school and her like, tened window, shady suburban.

Not the shady suburban.

Yeah. And she'd be like, Here's your coloring books and a snack. We're going to be staking out for about five hours.

Could you get anything past your parents?

Oh, absolutely.

Or not. Yeah. I would think having PI as parents, there's nothing you could do. No.

I tried to sneak out one time to go to a bonfire party because we live in BFE, Texas. That's what you do.

I went to a pasture party one time. Same thing. Okay.

And my mom was When I got there. What? I was like, well, there goes that.

Did she know that you were going there? That's why she was there?

Yeah. And then she was like, I mean, there's just no getting away with anything, which I didn't really try. I was a really good... I grew up in like, Little Baptist, Lindale, Texas, like football, Friday nights, church on Sunday mornings, like real- All-American. Yeah, all-American childhood. And although my parents were PI the whole time, that was the difference.

It's like the double life.

It really was because my mom would be on a surveillance all night, and then we'd come home, she'd make us cookies after school. You know what I mean? So it seems normal, even though the dinner conversations were literally all about child custody and divorce. And it was all these high-powered attorneys in Dallas and all this stuff. But at the time, Luke and I were like, We don't really... It's just our parents' job.

You know what I mean? Literally. So it's like you just grew up with it, so it just didn't even faz you.

As an adult, though, people were like, They were what? They were We're out of this. It was interesting. I do think I got a lot of material. When I was about 14, my parents started taking in abused women and children that weren't victims of domestic violence situations, because with my dad's law enforcement background, it just made sense. From 14 until out of high school, I've shared my room with moms and daughters of whoever was in need at the time. And I really think that I learned a lot about life. I mean, because I was sheltered in a way, and I had this really sweet small town childhood, I saw the ugly up close and personal. In In our own home. I wake up in the morning, my parents have been out all night rescuing this mom and their kids or whatever. And so I feel like my early music, Gumpowtern, led specifically, I really absorbed a lot. I was old enough then to really understand, Oh, man, this world can be a really, really bad place, and see women that were just really at the bottom of their barrel and still have the strength to get out and try to pick themselves up and get back on their feet.

And so I think a lot of the early songwriting stuff I had came from the stories and the experiences that I had with those families.

You've done it so wonderfully, though. I feel like you have embodied when I I said when I was introducing you, the Queen of Feminine Rage. But it's like, you make rage so hot. It's crazy. I love that.

I'm going to use that. That needs to be on a T-shirt.

No, literally, you do. And it's like, because you have this sweet Like just sugary voice, but you're packing a powerful message. I remember the first time I heard Gunpowder and lead, I hadn't even gone through a domestic violence relationship at that time. I think Gunpowder and lead dropped when 2006, seven?

Maybe, yeah. Seven. Eight?

I think seven. Okay. Yeah. So I hadn't even gone through that. But I know when I went through my domestic violence relationship, that was my anthem, dude. I was like, I'm going to burn this motherfucker down, pooky. It used to get me hype all the time.

I love that, and I'm glad. And I think that also the ones I saw, and this is a whole situation, but that go back, I think that's where my fire started because I was like, I literally am going to go burn your husband's house down for you. The stories I would hear would be so awful. And then they would try to give it another chance. And I know that's such an issue in such a case-by-case situation. But at 16, I couldn't understand then why you got out. We want to keep you here. And so I think, as you say, my rage started when I was like, Well, then I'll just go burn the house down, then she can't go back. You know what I mean? I didn't know how to process all of that. But living those women and their daughters that were just, like I said, just in the most horrible situation. And it also made me really thankful for a family that was fine with Luke and I being exposed to that. My mom didn't try to shelter us to the point where we couldn't handle that, and it taught us both a lot.

I think it's beautiful because some people might have looked at that and been like, some kids don't know how to deal with so much emotion coming into their own home. But for you to be able to look at it and use it as your muse for music is actually a testament of how big your heart is to be able to see people that are suffering that your parents brought in and to be able to just make an anthem and music and just paint a picture of a life that you hadn't lived, but you got to witness. Yeah.

I actually wrote Gun Power and Lead with a good friend of mine, Heather Little, and she had been in a domestic violence relationship. And so I actually wrote down the idea when I was taking my concealed handgun class. When I was 18, my dad's a gun safety instructor, police officer, and all that. So he was like, You're going to get your concealed. Or he was teaching the class and all the things. I love that. They teach you all the parts of the gun. We were right in the middle of having those families at our house. I had started writing songs with this girl named Heather Little, and she was amazing. She is amazing. And she had two babies, and she was just living in a little farmhouse. But she was an amazing songwriter, and I met her at a songwriting competition, and I was like, Can we make music together? Especially when you're little small towns and you don't really know what you're doing yet. I was taking my consel class, and they were talking about the parts of the gun, and I was like, Gumpowder and lead, not sugar and spice. That's what we're going to write.

Yes. You know what I mean? And so it was really special to get to write that with her because it was her story, and I had seen it so close with other families.

Writing music has been a huge part of your life because you've been writing songs with your dad since you were little, Correct? Yeah. You guys, I think I read something where he would take out the guitar and you would literally fall asleep in between him and the guitar. When did you know that you were going to take this serious? And college wasn't your thing. When did you know that you were just going to be a star, that you wanted to be a star? Or did you ever set out to be a star?

Well, dad is a singer songwriter. He's really good. He had a band when he was a cop. They were all cops in the band, and they called it Contraband, which is ridiculous. They were narcotics officers. I love that. So it was pretty freaking clever.

We got to Google this. Is there anything on Google with that?

I don't know. It was way back in the day. Probably not.

We'll look and see if there And so I really think I got my...

Grew up with just thinking, I thought all this hagg song's dad would sing were his songs. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. But he's a great singer-songwriter. And I guess I just wasn't very good in school. I barely made it on grades. I didn't like it. I'd learned differently. I'm a creative. Now, looking back, I needed Adderall or something. Yeah, no same. But my mom's like, Don't put her on medication. Let her be creative. Back then, it was like, we didn't know what all that was. You know what I mean?

I know. I appreciate parents like that, not saying anything to parents who do put their kids on medication. But I'm one of those parents now, too. I just don't believe that. Let your kid be creative and see how their brain develops. And then once they're old enough, then let them decide that on their own.

Yeah. Well, I'm thankful my mom because now I know I'm just over here doing this. You know what I mean? But I just was starting to I think, what am I going to do? I live in this small little town, and I don't want to go to college. I'm not going to be good at college for sure. And I entered this contest. It was called the True Value Country Showdown, and it was in Longview. It's this club called the Rio Paul Mile. And I just heard an ad for it on the radio when I was working in the garden. And my mom, I went inside and was like, I was 16. And I was like, I want to enter this contest. And I'd always just been like, they always tried to get me to sing and needed to be my idea because I was a teenage girl. Anything was their idea, I was like, no, absolutely not. And so I just decided to do this contest, and people were like, She's really good. She has something. And it was the first thing that ever came naturally to me. Like, really good. I say that lightly.

I was 16, but I had something. You know what I mean? Especially for the small town little competition. It was like, oh, people were paying attention to it. So it wasn't just like mom and dad going, You can sing, girl. You know what I mean? And I think that's what just started it. I was like, What if I could do this? So I started playing guitar. My dad taught me three chords. It's all you need, country music.

I've heard that, too. I think Jay's told me that, too.

And I wrote my first song, and it was like my end of my junior year, and I just went to my parents and was like, I I really want to chase this. I don't want to go to college. And dad's like, Well, if I use the money that I save for college for you, that's all there is, and there's no plan B. So you're going to have to make this work, because if not, you're on your own. We'll put that money we set aside towards this career that you want to chase, but then it runs out. That's it. So you got to make this... If you're serious... And I was. And so my mom started being my booking agent.

I love how supportive they were, though.

They were the parents that were like, You can be anything you want to be. And I'm so thankful because my brother is brilliant, and he is a techie, and he went to UT, and he's valedictorian. We love that. Yeah, exactly. Me, and I'm over here like, I'm going to play some country tunes. But I started playing bars in Texas, anywhere that would let me play. My dad would pay people to let me play. I would play during set changes. My mom drove me around in an expedition. Have you ever seen Cole Minor's daughter, the movie?

Yeah, I haven't seen it, but I do know about it.

Okay, well, it's Loretta's story, and they're driving around in a car, and she's going to radio stations. That's exactly what it was, like baloney sandwiches, just trying to figure something out. And And then my dad saw that I was serious, and it was like, Okay, we're all doing this as a family. And my little brother was 14. He built me my first website. He still runs our website today. So it was really like, I don't know how people without supportive families do it. It's got to be that 10 times harder. And I'm so thankful that I had a family that was behind me.

That's where your loyalty comes from. Yeah. You're such a loyal woman, and I think it stems from just your family, just rallying and just being there for each other. So take me on this journey. When did you decide to come to Nashville? Because I know you're a Texas girl. I'm a Texas girl, too. I was born in Houston, but we all eventually leave, but we always come back. When When did you make that big decision? I mean, you're driving around with mom shopping songs, I'm assuming, to radio stations. When does that click that you're like, You know what? I think I'm going to go to Nashville.

I got auditioned for... Well, American Idol was happening at the time. It was the first season, so it was Kelly Clarkson. She had just one, and she's a Texas girl, and mom was like, You could do that. You got to go try it for Idol. And I wasn't interested in it because I wasn't a pop singer. And back in those days of Idol, it was pretty pop-driven, and they didn't let you do originals, and I was writing songs. I'd been playing the bar scene for almost three years, and I had a little independent album called Miranda Lambert. I love that. That I made in Dallas.

Lambert and Lambert. Yeah.

And it was 10 songs, and we made it in Dallas. I was selling them out the back of my mom's car. We printed 3000.

Let's not brush over the fact that you're playing in Texas bars, okay? The Texas bar scene was rowdy back then.

They weren't letting girls play at all. That's why I was playing during set changes or until I started being like... That's how I learned my tops, though. I learned immediately how to deal with a drunk asshole and immediately how to sing way louder over clinking beer bottles. I'm going to have to quit doing ballads. I'm going to have to do some rockers. I learned a lot in those days of honky-tonking because that is not a glamorous scene, and it's not a female empowerment boring scene.

It's way different than Nashville Honky Tonks. I feel like Nashville Honky Tonks are a little bit glamorous, and the ones in Texas are a lot more seedy. I don't know if you ever watched I Road the Bullet, Gillies. That's what it reminds me.

I'm wearing a gilly shirt on the cover of my record.

I grew up wearing one. Not the movie. What is it called? It's Urban Cowboy with John Travolta and Sissy's Basic. Oh, yeah. That was my love story growing up. Little girls grew up watching like, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I grew up watching Urban Cowboy. Oh, yeah. Same.

But that was glamorous to me, though. That's the funny part. You know what I mean? Yeah, me too. A little show popped up called Nashville Star, and I auditioned And my mom was like, I think you should audition. And I was like, I don't know, because those things are rigged. And will I be like some little... I don't know. I just wasn't sure of what... All the contests that I had ever done were weird and shady. And I was just like, I can do this. It's just going to take me a really long time. I can do this. I can grind this out. And my mom was like, Well, what if, though? What if you could get seen by the person you're supposed to be seen by to get you further in your career? Because I'm playing for 200 $100 a night. You know what I mean? And so I auditioned in Houston. I did not try because I had a terrible attitude. And I just did the wrong song, and it showed up with a shitty attitude. And my mom was like, We got... And I didn't make the top 30. Actually, But that was Dallas.

I tried out in Dallas. Then made the top 30.

Why did you have an attitude?

You just didn't want to be there. I just didn't want to be there. And we got in the car, and my mom didn't start the car. She just turned and looked at me. No one wants their mom to do that. Never. She turned and looked at me, and it's silent in the car, and we're this close. She's like, That was terrible. You wasted my time. I drove all the way to Dallas for you to audition, and you wasted everybody in there's time. You wasted your time. You wasted God's time and my time. And we're not doing that. She goes, And I know you don't want to do this, but I also don't want to drive you around in this expedition for the next 10 years. So you're going to go to Houston, and you're going to give it your go. And if you give 100 %, I'll never mention it again. And I was like, Okay. So we drove to Houston, and I had an attitude adjustment, and I sang an Amy Lou Harris song, and I ended up winning the whole thing for Houston and got a national star. And so that was at college.

I was almost 20, or I was 19, and my mom dropped me off at DFW. I'd never flown by myself, ever. And so I was crying, and I had my comforter, like I was going to some dorm somewhere.

Emotional support blanket.

Yes, because I was moving to Nashville, pretty much. You know what I mean?

So when you won, that meant you had to move to Nashville.

When I won for Houston, I went on to regionals, which were in Nashville, and got the top 10 for the contest. So I got on the show, and We all lived in a house. It was a reality show. We all lived in a house together. And I'm 19 from Lindale, Texas. I was the youngest by 10 years. I was like, I don't even know what I'm getting into.

They just thrust you into the spotlight.

Kind of did. And I'd never been on TV before. And so that was my intro. And I got third in the competition, which was better because the contracts for those things aren't the best. So getting first, you're locked in. So third was good. But I got a record deal out of it with Sony that I was on for 20 years.

That's amazing. I never knew the reality story part.

Yeah. Well, the show didn't last, and it was really didn't... All it did for me was exactly what I wanted it to do, which was Tracy Gershaw was working at Sony, and she was like, This girl has something. This is authentic. And that's my favorite part about anyone is authenticity. And so I was just my true self on that show, and it really got me exactly where I needed to be. And then it was another three years before I had a record deal or had a record out or anything.

When did your first album drop?

2005? 2005.

And that was Kairosine? Yeah. You came out the gate swinging.

You did your homework, girl.

Listen, baby, you're one of my favorite humans. I wanted to learn about you. So kerosine drops. I mean, you are literally just pretty much thrown into country music, and it takes off from there. How are you feeling? Is dad happy, first of all?

Oh, my parents are still... They're so proud. They're proud, but it was a ride. It was a journey. It was scary because we didn't really know what we were doing. You know what I mean? It's like, Texas has its own scene, and we knew what to do there. But this was, we're doing it. And yeah, Kerosine did really well. I mean, it sold a million copies, and it launched me into it. And then I just went on the road forever. Forever. As soon as that happened, I went on tour with Keith Urban in 2005.

We love Keith. It was so funny because we saw Keith at one of the award shows, and I was like, I don't get the appeal of Keith. And then I saw him on stage, and I was like, I get it.

I get it now. That guitar in his hand, girl.

Yeah. No, totally get it. It's a whole different ball game.

Yeah, I totally get it. He taught me. We came straight out of the barge in Texas to Keith Urban tour, and their show is incredible. He's an incredible artist.

Yeah, and a showman.

Yes. And I was like, the first show, I called my whole band. We had a band meeting, and I don't even think we had this broke down bus. And I was like, Meeting on the broke down bus right now. We have to watch this show every night because this Isn't it just like that bars in Texas anymore. This is like the big guns.

Was it Arenas? Yes. So you went straight from bars in Texas to Arenas. Yes.

That was my first tour, and I was like, oh, this is how it's done. Goodness. And so we watched Keith every night. We had We just had to really... I literally found my band at a guitar center in Greenville, Texas. We came out of nowhere. So it was like, Oh, we have to... This is the big stage. This is it. And then I went on tour with George Strait. I mean, I just was on the road, literally. Well, still am. Yeah. No, literally. But that's what launched it. And I literally just did it like old school. We opened, opened. We 15 minutes, and then we'd get in the middle slot, and then finally became a headliner. But it's just been the road since then.

It's been amazing. It's been beautiful to watch because I've been around watching your career since it started. So I just think it's amazing. Can we talk a little bit about your new album, Postcards from Texas? Damn it, Randy. Somebody made a special contribution to this, to the lyrics on that album?

Yes, they did. Somebody My husband got his first cut on this on a record. First cut on any record ever. Yes. And disclaimer, my husband is a retired police officer, not a songwriter. Yeah.

And we're going to get into how you guys met in a second, but I want to hear this story.

Literally. So during 2020, we, obviously, I was at home board, and I'm a songwriter, so I'm like, Let's write songs. And so he was like, I don't know how to write songs. So I was like, Yeah, you can. You can do it. So we start, I get the guitar out. We start writing. And he's actually He's really good. He has some really good lines. I mean, being a New York police officer, he's lived enough life to have some good lines in there. Absolutely. And so we would write a little bit. We probably wrote four or five little tunes during COVID. And then one day, he was just talking shit. Our friend Jesse Frazier, who was your friend, too.

They come on tour with us. Yeah, I know. Those are the writers that he's up with all night.

And Jesse Joe.

I love I love Jesse Joe.

And Jesse Alexander. Yes.

All the Jessies. We love all the Jessies. He was talking shit to Jesse Frazier.

He was like, Riding is not that hard. It's easy. Jesse was like, Oh, okay. So he made Brandon come in and do a a little roll right with me and Jessie and Brenda. He had tracks pulled up, and he made Brenda sit there. He came from the golf course. He was in his golf outfit, and he was like, We were there for four and a half hours. I mean, it's a lot. And he was like, Oh, it is really No, it's work. He taught him a lesson.

Yeah. When you sit in a... Or when my husband does those writer's camps, I'm like, How does your brain... My brain would explode.

It does sometimes, and it's exhausting.

Yeah. I wouldn't be able to put two words together by the end of the day. You can't. Yeah. Exactly.

I mean, I can't. I'm just like... But anyway, so that happened, and we got a great song out of it. So now he's just like, I'm a songwriter. Okay, whatever.

We love that for Brenan.

Exactly. He's one of those people that's down for anything, and he also is good at everything, which is annoying. And so getting ready for this record, John Randall and I were coproducing it, and we were sitting there doing pre-production, which we were drinking tequila, talking about the music, really, is what we were doing. And he got the guitar out. Every time that happens, we're going to write a song. It's just how our chemistry is. And we started talking about leaving Sony and signing with a new record label and really just talking about having a situation that doesn't serve you anymore and moving on from that and what a fire it lights under you and how you know when you need to close the door on something. And John Randall is my buddy, but his name is actually Randy. And so we always say, Damn it, Randy, to him.

That's a great merch, too, by the way.

And so we started writing this song, and Brandon kept popping in while he was watching football. And I was like, Are we doing this? Or are you like, In or out? You're not turning the game off. Pick aside.

You're a songwriter now, dude.

Exactly. You're a songwriter First to get your pin out. So we started writing it together, and he wrote some of the greatest lines in the song. And JR was looking at me like, Dang, he's killing it. And so it was really special, actually, because also The situation I wrote this song about, Brandon is my husband, so he's had to hear me bitch about it for so long that he knew the story better than I did. So he had the same emotion in it that I did. And so I'm real proud of him, and he's super excited about too. When we cut it in the studio, he wasn't there all day. He came in in the afternoon, and I was like, I want to play you something. And so the whole band knew he'd written it. So we're all just staring at him. We're like, Push, play. We push, play. He's like, he won't say it, but he got a little misty-eye. He was like, You got my song? It was awesome. And it's one of my favorites on the record.

I love that. What can we expect from Postcards from Texas? Is there anything different? Or are we going are we going to get the spicy Miranda? Or are we going to get the Lover Girl Miranda because your ballads are just as beautiful as the spicy stuff? What does this embody on this album?

You know what? In country, especially, we do every two or three year album cycles. So I feel like every record I've ever made has been a snapshot of where I was in those two or three years, as life progressed. But this record feels like two decades worth of information a little bit. It's why I called it Postcards from Texas, because number one, it felt like home. It sounds like home. It's very honky-tonk. It's back to the root of everything I've ever loved and that has influenced me. But But it's also there's all of it. I put Damn It, Randy and Wranglers in my set the last couple of weekends. And it feels like right up next to Kerosine or gum powder or Mama's Broken Heart, it feels I feel like those songs could have been on any record I ever made. So I feel like there's something from every period of my life in a way. And some of the songs are old. I've written about a decade ago, and they just needed to find their home now because I'm ready to sing them now. Some are songs my friends wrote. And I think there's a song for every emotion on this record.

There's fun, there's nostalgic, there's heartbreak, there's burn your house down, there's frustration with Randy.

There's just everybody's got a Randy in their life. Yeah, absolutely. I'm excited. And it drops September 13th, correct? Yes. So everybody listening to this podcast, go get that album. I wanted to circle back to you and Brenda. How did you guys meet? Take me on this journey with your love story, because I know the world is so curious about you guys, and I've got to see you guys in person, and I think it's adorable. I feel like you guys are like yin and yang and just balance each other.

We really are. We're really best friends, honestly. And it's a girl from Lindale, Texas, and a guy from Staten Island, New York. Just happenstance that we even cross paths. We met in the city. Brenan was a cop, and I was doing Good Morning America, and we crossed paths, and we met up after our show. I was there with Pistolanis. Oh, I love them. My gal band.

I love the Pistolanis.

We were doing a song called I Got My Name Changed Back. Love it. When I had to change my name back from when I got which takes a very long time. And so we wrote a song about it, and we were doing it on the show on the on Good Morning America. And we just crossed paths, and he came to the show.

When you guys crossed paths, did you How did you check him out?

Well, my friend Angelina, my bandmate, she was eight months pregnant, and she was wearing giant heels. She was towering over everyone, and she was standing there frustrated because she's in heels, pregnant on the street in New York. And she was looking around, and she was like, Oh, there's a cop over there. He's hot. Hot cop, everyone. Hot cop. Tapping us on the shoulders. And we're like, Yeah, he's cute, but it's eight in the morning. We've been up doing glam since 3:30.

I can't be bothered.

All I care about is my look in the back of my eyelids right now because we had a show that night. My security invited him. They knew some of the same people. So my security team invited him to the show, and we gave him one ticket. No plus one.

I love that. And he still came.

He came by himself, and we met up after the show. I didn't even see him before the show. We met up after and just hung out and talked. And I didn't really know. There wasn't an agenda, really. It was just like, Hey, nice to meet you. I was wearing a Wayland Jennings T-shirt. He's in his Gold Cross. You look hot, though. I'm like, This is going to be weird. But he was super cool. And we talked, and then we just kept in touch, and we wrote each other literal letters, old school. That's sweet. It is.

That's actually really romantic.

I was like, Do you want to be a pin pals? He was like, Write letters with a pen. I was like, Yeah, he's eight years younger, so that was really mind-blowing to him.

Jay's five years younger than me.

Yeah. Sometimes people actually write things on paper and put them in an envelope and send them. It's all texting. And so we just hit it off. We're very different, but we come from the same background. It's from law enforcement and first responder family. All his family is cops and firemen, and so was mine. And so that just felt like homey. That felt like we came from the same... Cut from the same cloth, even though we're from New York and Texas.

Yankee and Southerner.

Exactly. But also, I feel like we have the same mentality from both of those places. Super sweet, but don't mess with us. And if you don't like us, we really don't care. And so our attitudes, they aligned. And he's someone in my life that is not a yes person. I don't believe in surrounding yourself with yes people at all. And I don't do that. My friends and family and my management team and everyone in my life is like, truth tellers, and I don't think it's healthy mentally.

It keeps you honest.

It sure does. I just don't think it's healthy for people to surround themselves with people that are disagreeable or not in it for the right reasons or something.

I wouldn't want that anyways. I want somebody to be like, no, you're fucking up right now or you could do this better.

100 %. I think it's important. And Brenda He's just very honest. He's a harsh New Yorker, and I like that because he just tells it like it is. He doesn't sugarcoat. He calls me on my shit, and I want someone like that in my life. But he's also super supportive.

It's also essential to growth. You're never going to grow if somebody's just letting you do something over and over and over again.

And you and Jay seem that way. You really balance each other. When I've been around you all together and just even seeing from afar, I just feel like it's genuine and it's Honest.

Well, it's like you said, we're best friends. Him and I have been through so much shit, and it's like half of it's not pretty. And I talk about it on my podcast all the time. We've been through some shit, and there's nothing that that man could do that I would ever just never want to work through with him. I just love him. That's my person. And I feel like that's how you and Brenda are, too. It is.

I told him, I'm a Ninja for you. I will fight through anything with you. And I feel like that's so important. And I think going through other relationships, you learn through those things, and you learn what's important, and you learn about communication, and what you did do and what you didn't do. And so I think I came into this marriage with such a strong sense of what I want and what I want to be for someone, and a partner that I want to be, and the partner that I need him to be. And voicing that, number one, and communicating all of the things right away, not harboring resentment or not telling them right away is something that's so important to us.

It's important in any relationship because too many relationships harbor resentment, and then that just creates distance. And when you have distance in a relationship, that's when people drift apart.

Yeah, for sure. And also when you have distance physically, like running back in New York a lot, and I'm on the road, and it's like you can't have distance emotionally and physically.

That's not going to work. No. Jay and I have a two-week rule where we don't go more than two weeks without seeing each other. We've had that rule since we first got together, and we've stuck by it. There's been a couple of times where I've had to go over two and a half weeks because our schedules have been busy. But as soon as I can, I get straight to him.

I think it's important to really reconnect. It is.

I just want to bring up the fact that you were the first female that had a Broadway bar open. Yes, ma'am. I mean, come on, girl.

Yes, girl.

I'm very proud of that.

I really am.

You should be. That is something to celebrate because in a world full of men, it's like, here's Miranda Lambert.

It was really cool to have tickets open Casa Rosa because it was all the guys. And I love... The guys in country music are always so supportive of the women. They really are. I know that conversation always happens about just the harder time we have and the uphill climb that it is. But we have the country music community is always super supportive. So supportive. And I love that.

I preach that on this podcast because coming from the arena that my husband was in, like the country rap or whatever it was that he was in, it was so drama-filled. Whatever he was doing. Yeah. I don't know. I don't really... Because I just always felt like my husband was more than that, and I don't ever want to put him in a box. But coming into the country scene, it has blown our mind how so sweet and supportive and loving. And we did not think it was going to be so accepting as it has been. It is. To know that the men support you, too, and They're just out there like, Hey, open your bar, girl.

Yes, they do. And I appreciate that. But I was really proud on that row on Broadway of all those boys' bars. It was like, All right. But I mean, like you said earlier, I meant to bring this up, but you said people don't see what it took to get there. Anyone that's really found their success and really hit their stride probably spent 10 years getting there. Absolutely. Pretty much. I was like, overnight successes are 10-year successes. Yes, Absolutely. It's worth the work. But I just think sometimes people this day and age, because of all the platforms and socials and everything that we have, that's like, so everything's right now. I still think on either side of that, you got to put in the work. Yeah, absolutely. So even if you blow up on a social media platform or whatever, that's awesome. But get ready for 10 years work because that's what it takes to really sustain.

Absolutely. I've been doing my podcast six years, and I'm in season eight, and it's just now getting the notoriety the past two seasons that I've been praying for and manifesting. So it's definitely a work in progress. Let's talk about your Vegas residency. You were just in my city. We got to go out there and see you perform. The show was amazing. Thank you. I took so many notes from your show that I wanted for our set and for the opening of my podcast and stuff, the lights, just everything. I was just like, I want that. I want this. I want that.

It's fun in Vegas because there's no such thing as too much of anything, which can be a really bad thing, but it also can be a good thing when you're talking about fringe and rhinestone.

Yes. I mean, you can never have enough fringe and rhinestone. Give me all the fringes.

Exactly. So that was really fun to get to put We got together. It was two years. We wrapped it in March.

That's a long residency.

It was long. Everyone was like, How was it? I'm like, It was amazing. But it's a different hard than the road because you're still away from home, but you're in one spot, and the party comes to you instead of you taking the party to them. So it was a good break from the road. When I got back on Elvira, my bus, which you met her, it was like, I missed this, and I didn't ever think I would say that. At the end of a tour, you're like, I don't want to see this bus again.

No, we're clamoring to get back on tour. We can't wait to get back on the bus.

You miss it, but it's good to miss it. And Vegas helped me do that. And it also just was so fun with the production stuff because you could just take it to a whole other level because you're not putting it in trucks every night. So I'm really thankful for it. And I got to love your city. I mean, the strip isn't Vegas. No, it's not. And that's all I knew of it from going to the ACMs for 18 years in a row. But I really learned to love the outskirts. We stayed in the burbs, and I walked my dog every day and made eggs and had a real life there. And I love the desert. I really I went to a night's game. I loved it. It was my first hockey game to ever go to. It was really fun. So I found the things of Vegas that aren't...

How beautiful are the sunsets?

The sunsets are incredible. The weather in December is amazing. Yes. And the food scene is amazing, even off the strip. So I just really love the locals, too. I made friends with a lot of people that I've seen there for work, but they live there. So we go to their house for dinner, and it felt like, oh, this is just a really great community. Not that I don't love the strip, but for two days and you're good.

Yeah. Because we're selling our house out there now. But whenever I would go out there, people are like, Do you live on the strip? And I'm like, Absolutely not. No one lives there. I will not go to the strip unless there is a reason. My husband has to be having a show or I'm going to see you, or I'm never going to step foot on that strip unless I have to. The house that built me, by the way, when my dad passed away in May, was the only song that got me through. I think I cried my eyes out for a month straight with the house that built me playing in the background.

That song is such a blessing. It's just one of those songs I'm so thankful to have.

It is beautiful. If you listen to the words, you literally paint a visual in this song, and you just walk people through just a moment in your life, a snapshot in your life. And thank you for that. Lastly, can we talk about Mut Nation?

Yes. Tell me all about it. I know what your pup was here.

I know. Me too. I'm so upset you didn't get to meet Chachi.

He's being a diva. He's He's not getting groom today.

Well, he got sprayed by a skunk two months ago, and he still smells like shit.

It stays forever.

Nobody told me that you're not supposed to put water immediately on a dog when they get sprayed by a skunk or else it locks the stuff in. I've done that. Yeah. It's been a nightmare. I use Douche. I've used Maranera. I've used everything on this dog, and he still smells like shit, Miranda. I cannot.

It's the worst. My dogs now, when I kiss them on the nose, I swear it was six months. Oh, don't tell me that. I know. I'm sorry, but good luck.

But the tour bus is going to smell like skunk. Oh, man. It's rough. So tell me about Mut Nation.

Mut Nation is my heart and soul and passion. Music and muds are my passion, and luckily, I get to mix them a lot. But we're actually doing a show in Nashville on October fifth. You'll be on tour at Ascend to raise money for Mut Nation. But we started it in 2009, just me and my mom, honestly. It was a little mom and pop operation because I just I've grown up with rescuing dogs. I guess that's what our family does.

You guys rescued humans and dogs. Come on in.

Whoever's three-legged, one-odd, come on in. And so when I was finally getting somewhere, my career manager, Marianne, was like, Now is the time for you to pick your platform. You can use your platform for something great. What are you thinking? And I'm like, For sure, dogs. And my mom and I had been involved in rescue and stuff. And so we started Mut Nation, and it'll be 15 years. It's 15 year anniversary this year. And we raised over $10 million. We're not a shelter. We work with shelters. That's what we do with mom's PI background. Felt like it was perfect because she could vet all these organizations that we're able to give to. When I was just starting out, in 2009, I was like, I'm asking my fans to give to something. I want them to know where their dollars are going, not just like, We're saving dogs. What does that mean? So I wanted it to be very personal personal, and for me and mom to have our hands on everything that we gave, everybody we gave money to. And so my mom uses her PI background to vet all these shelters and all that.

We still give 50- Mom gets shit done.

She also told me to tell you hello.

She really wants to know you. And I said, right before I came over here, I called her because it was her birthday yesterday.

Oh, happy birthday, mom.

And she said, Will you tell Bunny to keep Bunny in? I like her.

Oh, my goodness. I love her. I can't wait to meet her.

She's awesome. But Anyway, Mutt Nation is basically we support shelters. We do disaster relief. When there's natural disaster, we send funds and resources to help the animals in the process. We work with US war dogs to pay for medication for the retired US military dogs.

I'm in. Who do I give my money to?

We do so much. We do a prison program with the prisoners and the pets where they can rehabilitate each other. I love that. And then the dogs are up for adoption and so much more. There's so much, but I don't have enough time to tell you all of it. No, you're fine. You can look it up. It's muttnation. Com, and we have it all on there. But it's really amazing. I'm so proud of it. And that's another thing I'm trying to learn is the more time I could have room in my life, the more time I can spend on that. There's one thing to talk about it in interviews and do a show for it, but I really like to be boots on the ground. I really like to go to the shelters. I'd go to a lot in Nashville and just love on the dogs and try to post about anybody that's been there a long time. I'm like, Show me your longest resident. So if you ever want to come with me when it's not so hot. I would love to. Just come walk dogs. And that's another thing I encourage people to do is if you can't give money and you can't adopt a dog, you can always just go volunteer even an hour of your time.

Just getting them out of their enclosures and walking them in human interaction, it just increases their chance of adoption so much.

I would love to get Bayly involved in That's probably something that she would love to do.

That would be great. There's so many great shelters in Nashville that we work with. Metro was one of them and Nashville Humane and also Williamson County here in Franklin. So we got to get together on that because I know that you love animals.

No, for sure. And I'm definitely going to donate because I didn't know. I knew, but I didn't know everything that you had involved with it.

It's really personal for me. And we have a director named Nina who updates us weekly on... There's tiny things that we do to where it's just a little... A beagle needs a wheelchair. Oh, my goodness. We bought a beagle wheelchair, or we give thousands of dollars to Hurricane Harvey relief, where I actually went and was part of that whole rescue. So it's just we run the gamut, but we get to pick everything. And so when we ask people to give money, they know exactly where it's going.

I love that. And maybe when we do start building on this land, maybe we can start helping with the dogs or something. I would love that. That would be just a life goal. I just I love dog nose. Any dog nose, I just want to kiss it.

And horse nose is good, too.

What is it? Horse nose. Listen, I am going to get some horses soon. I promise you I'm going to talk Daddy into it. But Miranda, it has been so fun sitting here with you. And thank you so much for coming. Is there anything besides the album that you want to plug before we sign off?

I think that was it. We talked about my nation and the album. I think we did. Oh, one more thing because I was going to tell you, I have a brand called Idlewind, and it's in Boot Barn, and I want to give you some boots.

Let's do it. I need some.

I need some for tour.

That's what I was going to say. I thought you could have some boots for tour.

That would be amazing.

I would love- I'll text you and get your size, or you can go on there and pick out whatever you want.

Okay, I'll get you.

It's some jeans. They're stretchy.

I'll hook you up. Yes, I need that because these hips, let me tell you, I'll hook you up with Mimi and she'll get that over to you. But I don't mind paying for it either. Absolutely not. Listen, I support the cause, sister. Thank you. Thank you so much. And you guys know where to find Miranda. If you don't, just Google Miranda Lambert and you can find all of her socials. She's on TikTok, Instagram. I think you're pretty much everywhere.

All the things.

All the things, baby. And I cannot wait to have you. Promise me you're going to come back and see me. I will.

I will come back.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.