E537 Miranda Lambert

36:18Come on. God, put my fucking feelings in a wheelbarrow. We need to go to that horse therapy place immediately. Yeah, what else would I listen? Oh, Lee Bryce's I Drive Your Truck. That one's a heartbreaker. Oh, man, my friend Jesse Alexander wrote that song. Really? Yes, she did, and she's amazing. She wrote it. I don't know who she wrote it with, but I know she wrote it. That's a great song. She, yeah, oh, it's so good. Lee's delivery is like insane. See? But that's a song that he didn't write. Right. Right? And that's why it takes a group. It's like, but you also, if he doesn't perform it, if somebody else does, who knows if it works the same?

36:53It could. It all has to land in the right basket, right? Like the right song finds the right artist at the right time. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The House That Built Me, too. I saw some, the writers of that song, it took them like, they wrote that song for like seven years. Alan Shamblin and Tom Douglas, yes. They rewrote it and rewrote it. It's seven years of writing it. But that is such a lesson. I'm not good at that at all. I'm kind of millennial about my, like, I know I want to come into this co-write today and then I'm going to leave with a song. In four hours, you get a song or two hours or whatever it is.

37:34I don't know that I could have stuck with it for seven years. It's a lesson to all of us to be patient until it's right. That song is perfectly written. Yeah. Yeah, they made like a real Sistine Chapel with that one. Dude, I remember. It's kind of weird maybe, but like I grew up in like a pretty traumatic youth, you know, and I heard that song, this was a couple years ago, maybe two years ago. It was like Christmas time. I was in my town where I grew up, and I went and got like an orchid or whatever from a flower place, and I took it back to the place that I grew up at. And I went, this sounds really bizarre now.

38:16I wasn't doing peeping Tom or anything. It was like I knocked on the door and I gave him that. I was like. I think that's really cool. Yeah, I said something nice should grow here. That's what I said. Wow. And I gave him that. That's a song. You said that to the songwriter, so. It was interesting. You don't have to write it down. But honestly. But it's funny what a song can do to somebody. Yes, because I didn't write that song, but I was like, how did they know my story? But my guitar player that was with me for forever, since I was 17, we lost him two years ago. But he said, that song hits me because it's what I wish I had.

38:56And that sounds like what you're talking about. And I never thought about it from that perspective. Oh, he wished he'd had those things at his home. He wished he would have had the house that built him. Right. But he didn't have a healthy childhood. Yeah. So, you know. But I just, I love a song like that. And the fact that they waited it out and just stayed with it is like goals. I got to work on it. I got to work on it. Yeah, that is. Yeah. Yeah. Who knows like what things and that's what's the one thing that's nice about life. It's like you don't know the little things you're doing now, how they'll merge with like the things you're doing later on and how to help you form like wherever you're supposed to be.

39:34Like sometimes it's so hard to get through just the moment, you know, but you don't realize at the moment are the stairs that are going to get you to the place you're supposed to stand, you know? Yeah. Anyway, sorry. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. And those people must have thought I was batshit crazy. No, but it's not. Like the house I grew up in was an old tobacco farm and it was a house built in 1905. And it was just a farmhouse. No central heat and air. one bathroom like not like like a farmhouse like we didn't have a lot growing up but people constantly stopped by there specifically older people seniors and were like you know I they would cry they would just be standing on the front porch crying and I was like 10 like hiding behind my mom going like trying to eavesdrop like what are they saying you know that they had so many memories there and those handprints were there that's why I thought when I heard the song I was like have they been eavesdropping on my whole life like because Because it was such an old farmhouse that had so many stories in it.

40:34Yeah. And it touched so many people's lives, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think that's one thing that's amazing about art is that it can do that. I mean, I think you could – it's just powerful, you know? Yeah. The beats and the words, and you put it all together the right way, and it unlocks something. It does. And it's like everybody feels like, okay, I'm not alone in this world, and this – whatever's happening to me, good, bad, or ugly, I'm not the only one. Yeah. That's the beauty of a song or any art, really, truly, but especially songs. I love I'm I'm I'm in awe of songs. I'm a songwriter.

41:10I'm a song lover. I'm a music lover, like especially country ones, because we just tell the sad truth no matter what. Like you get in your feels, you know? Oh, yeah. So what do you listen to when you're like wanting to like rage or like rock out? I mean, I'll put them before. Well, I mean, before I go on stage, I listen to FGL Dirt. It's a little up-tempo for me, but it's also kind of chill. Yeah, and like down-home and grounding. And then I'll put on a little bit of Boosie Badass and listen to him, so I'll turn it the other way, you know? I might even go some Sexy Red or something like that. I don't go anything too crazy.

41:44I mean, sometimes I'll put on maybe like Soundgarden or like – I've been listening to Stephen Wilson Jr. recently. I'm obsessed with that record. God, it's so good. Golly, it's great. I actually have a rock coming up with him. You do? Yeah. Oh, my God. What are you going to wear? I know. It's like hard not. I wrote with him and Natalie Hemby recently, and we wrote this song called, well, the hook is, I don't want to see the movie if the dog dies. Like, all of us are sitting there crying. It was just like the most magical ride, and it was Stephen's idea, obviously, shows up with that. Yeah. And my dogs were there, and they're seniors, and I was like, oh, God.

42:21And they're scared. They're like, hey, let's don't finish the song. No, he's so great. I love him, but I also love that he said Soundgarden, because mine is audio. like that's my really yeah girl what do you wear while you listen to people like what do you what people be surprised to know about you i'm like huge audio slave yeah i just like now in my head i just get all ragey yeah yeah female rage is a thing you know it's like my bread and butter yeah no i definitely notice that some of it's in you you know and yeah i've been victim of it for sure dude i've got a couple angry women in my text in my d am i dang and you ding dang dms yeah but yeah it is it's just interesting i'm a song will get you activated to get you ready for like a certain moment or something did you ever have to play at a funeral or anything do you ever get asked to do something oh god i can't like i'm not good at it at all i just i get too emotional did you ever have to or not yeah i had to sing at my grandma's and i had to sing at a friend that was like my age.

43:21That was the worst one. Oh, God. Was it the first few you ever went to? It was the first like, like reality check, like teen years, high school friend. You know what I mean? And her family asked me to sing and I did, but it was, it was just one of the hardest things I've ever done. I really, I know. I know. So I, but you know, when you're given a gift, like, what are you going to say? I'm not going to use it to celebrate someone that was amazing, you have to do it. Yeah, get on up there, Miranda. Yeah, who floored? My good God. Yeah, man. Oh, one time I was at a funeral and the person that sang, it was a girl, and she was so nervous, she started singing the Star Spangled Banner.

44:06On accident? Yeah. Oh, man. Well, you shouldn't sing that. Somebody had to go and kind of grab her. Hardly anyone should sing that. Let's just talk about it. It's time to talk about it. Especially if Kenny's right there in the casket and she's just like, Like, who's? People were like, we can't even be here right now. Honestly, like, there's like four people on earth that should sing that song. And that's it. And she made it to like this. And people wait. And some people started going like this. No, no. Yeah, because part of it is just you. I just feel so uncomfortable right now. I'm going to go down those spiral stairs and leave forever right now.

44:37Those only go up. Just thinking about it. Oh, and. They only go up. A lot of us were like, what? I thought, what happened? He wasn't even in the service. No. The whole thing got really confusing, man. I've been at some weird funerals. My dad was 70 when I was born. He was an older man. And so he had to get me a suit for a funeral one time, right? And it was around Halloween. He got me a Beetlejuice costume. Like the pinstrap. And like a costume version, though. Like not even – I don't even know if it was real textiles. Did they just think you were like stylish? I don't even know if it was real textiles or whatever.

45:14But anyway, so I go to this funeral, dude, in a dang Beetlejuice costume, bro. And I guess it was kind of hip, I guess. How old were you? I was probably 11 or 12. So like already awkward years, so that didn't help. It was horrible. Yeah. But, you know, I guess that's what happens when you send a senior citizen to the, it wasn't Rite Aid back then. It was called KMB was a store they had that had them a couple of costumes over there. But, God, it was, yeah, that was too much. But yeah, anyway, funerals are a lot. Yes, they are. So sorry I brought that up. I was like, I don't have anything to say to that.

45:52I'm sorry about that. It seems terrible.

45:59I heard a rumor that you got to meet Gypsy Rose when she was a Make-A-Wish kid. Is that true? I did. I met her several times. Do you remember it? Yep. There's a lot. There's, look at that hair, that crunchy hair. I got that Aussie scrunch spray going in my hair. The hair is coming along. as these photos go forward. I've met her several times. Super, super sweet girl. And what was her mother like? Like, I believed her. Yeah. I mean, I did. Like, when all that came out, I was freaking out. That's what I was wondering. How did you feel? Was somebody just tell you, oh, my God, do you see what just happened?

46:32Yeah, like somebody texted me and was like, have you seen this documentary? I'm like, what? What's happening? And I'm now, I've been down all the rabbit holes of it. I'm like in it. I'm 100 % now. She's pregnant. I watched all the things. seems to be thriving. Yeah, I mean, she's had a crazy childhood. The whole thing was crazy. That's what I'm just saying. I can't even imagine how crazy it was. Like if something like that would... Because you have these moments in your life. You're being supportive of somebody. They're dealing with a disease, a syndrome. And then... But it was real to her. I mean...

47:03Oh, totally. She was a child. She was a baby child. But then suddenly it'd be like a national thing and you're like, what is going on? I can't believe I was part of that, but I'm, you know, you don't know at the time and neither did she. So it was just like, you know, her, I mean, her mom worked the system and it worked because we have all met her, like the whole country music community. Like ask any of us. She was part of it. She was in it. Yeah. She was hobnobbing. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. A lot of us. That gets kind of crazy too sometimes, you know, but if that's what the child loves or something.

47:40But she did, and Gypsy was very genuine. Yeah. Really, truly. That's just such a – I heard that. I was like, this can't be true. It's just so crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Has she reached out to you since – No. I mean, that was so long ago. She might have just put all that behind her, which I would if I were her, you know, the whole thing. I don't know. Some of y 'all's songs are so good. I don't know how you could put it all behind you. Well, we'll see if she comes to a show. There you go, dude. Yeah, that's just a crazy thing that I heard. So I was like, is this the truth or not? It's the truth. It's on Google.

48:13It's got to be true. Well, now you know chat GPT is kind of getting better than Google because there's not advertising on it. Oh, yeah. My brother's like super smart, like really a techie. And he's telling me all about this stuff. When he first said it, I was like, who's Chad? He kept talking about chat. And I was like, who's Chad? And then he asked it to write a song at Father's Day. We had Father's Day in New York with my husband's family. We're sitting around, you know, with like forced family fun. You have to like think of things to do. and so my brother's like I'm gonna ask Chad to write a Miranda Lambert song and I was like okay and it did and it didn't have a melody but it's just the lyrics and it was called Whiskey and Wildflowers and it was kind of good and I was like oh god my career's over, it's happening do I get a royalty, will it go on tour tell me all the answers Chad GBT, there it is dude that's definitely the redneck version of Chad GBT is Chad GBT I was like, who's Chad?

49:10He was like, I'm saying chat. And I was like, oh. And it's like, how do you get to New York City? You put in there, and it's like, how much gas money you got? You know what I'm saying? I know. Like, it has a different voice. Like, it has like a Hick voice. Yeah. That'd be funny. That'd be great, having Chad GPT. That'd be so good. Hey, Chad. How do I fix this two-stroke motor, bub? That'd be so good, dude. Somebody has to come up with that. Yeah. Whiskey and Wild Heart sitting on the porch, sun sinking low. memories of you like a river flow your laugh still lingers in the evening air but love's a wild ride why is it talk about drinking when it's my song and I'm holding on with care Chad's judgy and then the pre-chorus got a bottle in my hand and a heart full of scars that sounds like Trace Atkinson well it also sounds like you're a pirate so that's the crazy part of this it's so stressful but this is also like Chad GPT is a newborn you have to think in a few years if it starts to really get like the ability to do some stuff.

50:12But I don't know if it would ever take over like the human ability to feel and stuff and actually create music that's based on real feelings. I don't think it could do it. No, and that's the, you know, it's all weird. Whatever, I'm trying to stay hip and cool, but it's weird. But I'm not going to be that hip and cool. That's weird. Why don't you have feelings anymore? Right. Like you have to go to a museum to see feelings. Like somebody's smiling behind a piece of glass. You're like, oh, remember that? Remember that? Oh, there's a tear. Yeah. This is a fossilized tear that you're looking at. Oh, wow.

50:37No, we don't even have those anymore. Yeah, I'm on the pill that makes it so you can't cry. Remember when people had those? But that could be a real thing one day. I know. But maybe we'll be long gone and doing something else by then, hopefully. I hope I'm in the dang stars or definitely just, I don't know. I hope something happens to me. I hope I'm in a dang time capsule. You live in Nashville and Texas for a bit. What was Nashville, how has Nashville changed over the years to you? um it's popular now like everybody everybody wants to come here it's the city which is awesome i think like the fact that country music is thriving right now and our town is a destination i love that because these honky tonks have been here for ages and kind of like it's the music of our lives you know of my life and so people are wanting to get a little glimpse of it i love that yeah i don't love that the roads aren't really made for all these people yet but we'll get there yeah some of these roads are damn homemade too i'm like what is somebody i you see somebody fill just put a damn cake batter in a pothole out there you know yeah it's just people are filling with anything i drove through something the other day cake batter oh i drove yeah people are using anything to fill them now there's so many potholes especially in january around that time yeah i drove through something the other day and had damn devil's food all over my tires I was like shit's getting weird out here was it Dolly's brownie mix those are good have you tried them the Duncan Hines brownie mix Dolly has everything and I bought them of course I bought them and I was like there it is of course I bought them because they don't have like oil in them you know how the box brownies have oil no she has milk and eggs and butter like real ingredients they're delicious I love that dude what I used to love was whenever our mom would make something dude and she would let us lick those things that were in the...

52:33The raw egg. She lets you lick the beaters. Lick the beaters, boy. Beaters. Now they're called kitchen mixers. But my mom had like the Walmart brand beaters. Yeah, kitchen mixers is a little bisexual for me, okay? Yeah. My husband has the KitchenAid and he's obsessed with it. He does all of the... He makes homemade pasta. He has all the... Every accessory you can have for a KitchenAid. He's like in it. He's in there. He's not doing like old school beaters. We don't even have those. Put them beaters on there, honey. Your mom was like, don't eat too much of it because it's raw eggs. And we'd be like.

53:09Bro, and the crazy thing was some of the whatever was in it, I mean, we eat them. It's like that grainy stuff. Granules. It had a little bit of like, yeah, it had like, I don't know what it was. Who cares? You didn't even give a damn. Who cares? But the crazy part was some of it, if you started licking the beater at the top, then some of the stuff would flow down in your hand. So you get all that. Then you're just licking your own hand with that still holding on that beater. And then somebody would like accidentally put soapy dishwater in the bowl and you're like, no, it's over. Because, dude, if you could get even part of your head in that dang bowl, you know, I just wanted to grow longer.

53:45I would pray to God to make my tongue longer at night. Well, that's a whole different episode. Okay, yeah, sorry. That's for the Trace Atkins episode.

53:58Yeah, you're right. Things have changed. Some things never go out of style, like trust, reliability, and driving a Toyota. Take the legendary Camry and Corolla, designed for comfort, engineered for performance. Hurry in. Offers end September 30th. Toyota, let's go places. What's a place that you miss in Nashville that's not here anymore? I kind of miss Old Losers. like old losers was like I love losers still but like midtown it was like just one little shitty dive bar with like darts in the back and smoke and like a great jukebox and popcorn you know and now it's like three stories and the rooftop and all the things but it's still great but I kind of miss like the little like the the diveier the better you know yeah yeah now they still have the back porch over there you can go kick it at sometimes That little deck.

54:51I have a little sign up there. It says Miranda Lambert Way. It's hanging up there. Do you? Have you been on that VIP deck? Yeah, I have a couple times. Go look for it. John Daly's usually out there. I put in a lot of - Usually you're out there waiting for an ambulance. I put in a lot of late nighters to get that sign. Oh, I bet you did. I didn't even think about that. You have to drink a certain amount of Tito's out of a shitty plastic cup to get your sign up there. And I have one, so. And at least it says Way. Hey, it could have ended up being Miranda Lambert cul-de-sac. Oh, no. See, that wouldn't be as cool.

55:23No. But at least it's - Drive, way, road. I can do it. Not cul-de-sac. Yeah. I remember when somebody put a damn cul-de-sac. First time I ever saw one, I was like, what is this shit? What do you mean you can't keep going? Just fucking hurt my feelings, boy. I said, we'll see about that. I'm going to call the damn sheriff. We'll see about this. I can't find a picture. I have one on my phone. What else was I thinking about? Oh, if you had to travel back in time, right? If you had a time warper. And it could have a hemi on it or whatever. I don't know how you like to travel. But if you had a time warper, what time back in your life would you go to, do you think?

56:03Right now. I think I just stay right now. I feel like I've done it, but I'm still learning. Somebody asked me that the other day, like, what's your most fun era? And I was like, right now. like still young but like not dumb you know i mean yeah you know that that whole vibe where you learn a lot um early 30s were weird late 30s were fine but like now i'm like what we're doing right now you're like we're here we're here everybody's just like 40s is the best decade i'm like let's roll yeah we'll see yeah i believe it yeah here we go yeah um tell me something else that you think Oh, the new song is Damn It Randy on your new album.

56:48Who's it about, man? Well, it's about Randy. Oh, I see. It's about Randy. Everybody has a Randy in their life. Okay. Everybody has one. And it's about just a time where I was like, this is not good. It's not serving me anymore. I got to move on. And was it a real, like, was it serious? Or was it just somebody that didn't install y 'all's cable well or something? Well, it depends on the person. Everybody's got a Randy. Damn it, Randy. Right? And I wrote it with John Randall, who's one of my besties, and his real name is Randy, so I always say that to him anyway, so it's kind of funny. And that's the one that Brendan's a rider on.

57:27Oh, yeah. I was flying a kite in the middle of a hurricane. There it is, that little songwriter. What else was I thinking about? What drives you at this point in your career? I know this is kind of a general question, but you've gotten to have notoriety. you've had number ones you've won grammys you've won you're a household name you have um you can afford to pay your rent you know it's like what what goals are there still for you or do things evolve from goals into like just wanting to still do the job i'm just curious and it's stuff i go through in my own life too with comedy you know um i'm just i'm just curious what do you think about that you know i am lucky enough to have reached a lot of the goals i set when i started this journey i mean i was 17 when i was chasing music so i'm doing yeah um and people like fuck you'll be at a dairy queen in two months yeah and i was like okay see y 'all next time like i'll be singing in the drive-thru damn exactly i don't know i i feel like now i'm just like open i'm trying to be open to you know i don't i'm not walking around saying i'm gonna do this and this I'm just like absorbing what's around me and being open to new opportunities and meeting new people and like also saying no to the saying no to the right things.

58:50Like, I think that's a big part of it because you can save your energy for the right things if you just say no to the things that are not right for you. Like, that's kind of where I'm headed and where I've been living in the past couple of years. because I realize if you put all your energy into the wrong people and the wrong things, then you don't have any openness or any time or energy left for the right things, and then it's too late. So I think I'm just in this space right now where I'm like, what's next? I mean, this is new. I've just started doing podcasts. I've never done that before until this year.

59:23You've done a good job. I've watched some of them. Well, I'm new to it, and I'm not great at talking. I'm a singer. I'm in front of people. I'm actually an introverted extrovert. I have an extroverted job with an introvert personality. And so I'm trying to, I'm branching in that way. You know, I always, I'm fine to say my truths in songs. It's just harder to do just, you know, saying it out there. But I think it's important either way. So I don't know. My goals are like, what's next? Let's do something that scares us. Let's do something that's, you know, makes you grow and makes you learn. Yeah.

59:59Yeah, that's true, huh? yeah sometimes it's so weird so i i feel like when you're involved in some part of the arts kind of you know people call them and some people just call them music and comedy and painting or whatever but um it's weird to also kind of evolve because it's like you age right we age and and you're like well if i some songs i can't even really sing anymore some jokes i can't even really I could tell them still but is it really going to be true to where I'm at you know I find that that's interesting about art itself is you have to and then you're but then you're like but if I change will I still have the people who like this thing yeah it's like how do you keep the common thread and keep reinventing it's a tiny little fine line you have to walk yeah and it's scary because what we do is very public and like what we signed up for and what we started saying or the jokes we told at 20 or the songs we wrote at 20 are not the same.

1:00:56We're not in the same life space and we're not in the same lane anymore. So it's like figuring out how to do that gracefully, but still keep that common thread of where you've been and where you're going, but kind of walk this line of staying authentic to the true you that started this whole journey. And comedy is the hardest thing in the world. I think that would be the literal hardest part of the arts of any art. I really do. Really? Yeah. I just respect it because it's the most vulnerable. Like standing up there in front of people and just telling jokes and hoping that it lands, you know, and there's no band.

1:01:36It's just you. Yeah. Oh, God, I wish somebody would pull up with a drum sometime. Just like. You start playing a drum solo immediately if you're like, no, this one didn't happen. Take it away, Henry. you know you just don't have anybody to like lean on yours up there by yourself like emotionally naked like it's scary and it's so scary i think god i can't even believe something you think back and i don't mean it like i'm not trying to fill my own ego but but when you think back like i don't know if i'd go do it now but yeah you get up there that first time and you're just like this is gonna this is gonna be good you know you don't even believe yourself you're just screaming that to yourself in a car like you know in a ford tour you're like this is god like in your best chris cornell voice yeah but beefing yourself up i don't i don't the fact that you said you don't know if you do it now like i think about i knew like three nervous i know i just got anxiety i think about like i knew three chords and i was like walking in these bars like can i play at the set change like i just i gotta get some experience and you know it's that thing of like how do i get experience if you don't let me play and then but but then you say i can't play because i don't have an experience like just put me on set change then and i'll play my three songs that i just learned yesterday like not good but just being brave anyway i don't know we did it that's a good point yeah i know the ones that hurt too do you ever show you remember that really just kind of burned you when you're just like god this is hard oh yeah like a birthday or anything like you ever get played one of those era birthdays or something you're like private parties i'm so thankful for private parties.

1:03:10I love them. I would love to play your private party. But some of them can be hard. Yeah. You know? I played a Sweet 16 one time. And this thing was the most extravagant party I've ever seen in my life. And it was a bunch of 16-year-olds. And they only wanted me to do four songs. Michelle Branch was part of it, Leanne Rimes, and me. And we each did four songs. And like, this thing was like legit. It was in Washington, D.C. and these kids were dressed to the nines. They all had on like everything designer. I was like, I was working at Bells when I turned 16. I want to rob those bastards. We were dressed to the threes, honey.

1:03:51Okay, I'll tell you that. The three of us combined, we was a nine. I mean, that was one that sticks out in my mind. I'm like, oh, Lord, this is bougie. Oh, yeah, we remember I had hand-me-downs from damn women and I was like, I don't have an older sister. I was wearing shit. I was like, whose shit is this? You know? Stuff that whatever was around. My mom was like a big thrifter. So, big thrifter. I'm like, I found, but this is awesome. So, like it was in the Doc Martens, like heyday. And we couldn't afford those. Those were very nice. They were very nice. God, that's where Mother Hubbard lived in one of those.

1:04:28I heard they were fancy. We went to Goodwill a lot. And, like, I found a pair of Doc Martens for$7. And they were, like, new. and I went to school and my mom's like, just tell everybody you got them at GW's and say it's like a nice store in Dallas. So I forever was like, these are my Doc Martens I got at GW's. It's a nice store in Dallas. Just flat out live and I was like, $7 Doc Martens, like that's a score. That's$3.50 a foot, honey. Let's party. That's the rest of the threes. Oh, that's like putting damn each foot into a dang Sheraton. That's really nice. Sheraton's have pretty good beds. You know what I do notice says after touring and going to hotels and stuff, I get one thing that bugs me now is if the mattress is too soft.

1:05:13And I don't mean it in a negative way, but it's like your back starts to fall apart and you start to realize how many bones you have in your body as you get older. And you're like, this isn't holding anybody up. You figure out what, but is your continental breakfast just Froot Loops or is it hot breakfast? It's those things you start to like really appreciate on the road like do y 'all have real eggs are they powdered eggs because you can't say hot breakfast if it's powdered eggs that's doesn't count that's fair doesn't count yeah that's more mres like it's like mres but with a television that's on espn you know they'll have that set up yep yeah god i think yes i remember we used to go to um the continental breakfast and uh we would pretend like the people there were waiters whatever we weren't even supposed to be there we weren't staying there at the holiday inn and we would go up there and eat up there.

1:06:03My stepdad would take us up there. But you're not staying there. And we'd go in that bitch and dine, honey. And when they have happy hour, and it's in a box, but I'll take it. It's fine. Box wine. Sounds great. Let's do it. Do you have a favorite party, like birthday party that you ever had so far? I think it was this one. Was it? Yeah. Did y 'all go back to the casino? No. We went to Billy Bob's on a Monday. Billy Bob's like the biggest. Oh, in Texas. In Fort Worth. Yeah, in the stockyards. My friend Gwen, she sings with me in my band for 13 years. And she was like, where do you? Because I was like, I don't know what to do.

1:06:39There's so much pressure on that birthday. Yeah. You know, like the big, those zero ones. You're like, I don't, I just would rather do nothing. Like I shut down. And she was, we were getting our hair done. And she was like, it was typical getting your hair done in the foils. So she's like, where do you want to turn 40? And I was like, she was like, I feel like you want to turn 40 at home in Texas. go back to the root full circle and I was like I do I think and so um Billy Bob's gave me the bar on a Monday because they're closed and we had barbecue and a bunch of my Texas friends uh Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen Adam Hood played and it was just a big old honky tonk night and it was like it felt like man this is like why I loved why I started this in the first place like I just I've been playing Billy Bobs for so long and going there to see shows.

1:07:26And so I think that was my favorite birthday so far. That's perfect. Well, that's the most recent one, you know. What else was I thinking about? Anything in the news that we could think of? Let me just pull it. We'll get you out of here soon, too, Miranda. I know you guys have a show. You have a show tonight? No, I don't. Tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow night? Yeah. Oh, lovely. Tomorrow night. Yep. Singing for the doggies. Oh, for your pups? Music for mutts. Yeah. It's a benefit for Mutt Nation. Music for mutts. And what qualifies a mud, actually? Just us. Probably.

1:08:02I don't know. I have just rescue animals, and they're just all mixed little puppers. I started a foundation in 2009 called Mud Nation Foundation with my mom. With your mom? Yep. That's her. And we've raised over$10 million since then. $10 million? $10 million. Wow. We raise awareness for adoption, for spay-neuter, for adopt-don't-shop. And like right now with the Hurricane Helene, we're doing a lot of work with Tractor Supply Rescue Relief and with Greater Good to, you know, people are first, obviously. But there's tons of shelters down there that were already overcrowded and got hit. And so just there's a lot of moving parts.

1:08:42So really what our foundation does is kind of meet the need, whatever the need is. You know, whether it's lifting up shelters, giving them grants for renovations, natural disasters, we kind of run the gamut. But our main focus is to encourage people to adopt. And once someone creates something like this, this foundation, right? Yeah. So this is a nonprofit organization. How do you raise funds for it? Obviously, you can do fundraiser shows. You can put your own money into it. and then how does, I'm just curious, how does a nonprofit even, well, I guess those are the ways you put money into it or you do fundraisers.

1:09:18Yeah. We've done fundraisers. I've, I sing for the pups. I mean, we haven't done a music one, but like for my Vegas residency, we gave a dollar a ticket and I was there for two years. So a dollar ticket, we've done that on tour where a dollar ticket goes to Mutt Nation. And then this is our first benefit show in a couple of years. So excited. I got some friends coming out to sing, some surprises. Really? Yes. It'll be fun. Can any of the animals ever tune in? Any of them ever hit a B sharp or something? Have you ever trained any? No. My mom has this terrible shitty dog, though. His name is Rhodey.

1:09:50Oh, God. I know. My dad found him on the side. Was he held back in school? Yes. And he has an underbite, and he's a Chawini. It's like the worst of all the world. What is that? And he's like my little shitty brother now, and that's what she calls him, because me and my real brother are like, God, sibling of ours is terrible. And he will sit there. My dad plays guitar and writes songs. And it's specifically George Jones. He stopped loving her today. When dad starts singing that, that thing howls. And it's like this screeching, awful noise. And you have to put it away. Like you have to put the dog in the house and it's still, you could hear it howling.

1:10:24And then that part where they go, ooh. He stopped loving her. That thing howls. And it's just like, and my parents think it's cute, which is even worse. Oh, God. I know. It's the worst. So, yeah, they could be some dogs sing. Do you want them to? Absolutely not. But if you could organize them. Well, yeah. We could do like a family choir. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Get you a little batch of hounds in those church gowns or whatever. Yeah, we could do it. I mean, anything can be done. We could ask Chad. Yeah. Chad will do it. Ask Chad GPT. Hey, organize these mutts, guys. Was there two pieces of news?

1:11:04Anything else in the news? What were the top two news stories that we had in there? Oh, yeah. And we don't have to talk about this either if you don't, if it's an awkward thing. Yeah, Garth Brooks got accused of harassment. Did you ever know him as a bad guy? I always heard the nicest things about him. I don't know him. I just heard this today, so I have not been down the news rabbit hole of this. So it's fresh off the press. I have nothing to say about it, but I want to read it. I mean, I'm going to read it like everybody else. I'm going to read it. I want to know. Yeah, no, I've always heard the nice things about him.

1:11:37He's always seemed kind of mysterious to me in a way. He always seemed like he's done his own thing, I guess. He was the biggest artist when I was a kid. He was my first concert. Was he? Yep, when I was 10 years old. Night two at Texas Stadium. And he flew in. He dropped out of a helicopter. When he did standing outside the fire, and they lit the whole stage on fire. And I was like, okay, this is bad. I had braces, but only two because I had a gap. So I had to do the gap, close the gap on the front two teeth. So just those two? Yeah. Who had? I haven't even heard of that. Well, this was a while ago.

1:12:12How does it even – They should never do this to a child ever again. How does it even work? Now they have like Invisalign. It's not fair. Kids these days don't have to be ugly. Like we were ugly. Like we had to just – I had scrunchy hair and Jesus and braces and all things. But I had the two braces when I saw that Garth Brooks show. And I had all my Rockies. Do you remember those jeans that were like real high-waisted with no back pockets? Oh, it's so— Everybody's butt looked real long. And it had a—the label was black and white lettering? Rockies, yeah. Yeah. And I had on those, and they were red.

1:12:39I had on my Roper boots. And I was so excited. My flame shirt. I was like my brush popper, like—and he came in and dropped out of that helicopter, and I was just like, God. And I was like screaming, and I was like waving, but I only had the two, and I had like pink rubber bands on them. Yeah. So just like totally—and it was in that area where you would like curl one bang up in one down and tease it and it would look like a big cloud. Oh, that was never an era, but tell me more about it. It was so bad. It was so bad. And I just was so excited and I was like, I'm going to be a country singer. It was epic.

1:13:12Standing outside. Oh, I was just singing all of it. And I would get so excited when I could say, damned old rodeo. My mom would be like, that's cuss word. And I'd be like, well, Gar said it. That's how I get to say it. Dude, the beaches of Cheyenne. So many good songs. So many. Yep. that No Fences record. I bought the tape. I'm older than you, but I had the cassette tape. I don't know if you are, and we used to play that tape together. Oh, we used to play, we used to, they used to have this thing called Crying, Loving, or Leaving on the radio. Do you remember that? Yes, I loved that. Did you record the countdown, Lux?

1:13:42Yeah. Same. And you had to push the button at the exact right time. Yeah, but for two years, the number one song was Whitney Houston. I always love you. I was like, gee, can we just do something? Can't Red Hot Chili Peppers do something? Like, we just had, there's, it was this. Why can't we do Scar Tissue? It was a number one song for so long. I was like, something's gotta happen, man. We need a war in this country. You know, I was just like, we got it. We needed something new in there. But yeah, that was, and that's when all the music, some of the channels, even it was all of the, it was all one, that top 40 was anything was in there.

1:14:17Yeah, everything. Cause it was Casey Kasem. Yeah. So it was like all of the songs. Like it wasn't just one genre. Crying, loving, or leaving was it though. hey Ernie where are you and he's like yeah I'm over here in Davenport Iowa first time caller he'd be like you crying loving or leaving Ernie and he'd be like I'm loving I want to see if we could like find that and listen to it like I wonder if it exists somewhere on YouTube or something I would totally listen to that yeah oh I called in I called in two times got through I called in 60 75 times what were you doing crying loving or leaving I was loving one time and then I was leaving one time, I was going to leave home.

1:14:53I was going to go to the post office and mail myself somewhere else. That was my goal. And they're like, you can't do that, buddy. You're going to mail yourself somewhere else. Yep. That'd be kind of cool. I'm here. I rode my bike all the way over there. And it was closed. I thought it was open 24 hours a day. I'm like, what the hell can you guys even... But I just learned a lot that year. But yeah, Crying, Lover, and Leaving. Play one of them real quick for us if you can. It exists.

1:15:25perfect one to pick by the way

1:15:31perfect

1:15:34perfect there's no way we did not that is so perfect I swear to God that was one of them we did not pick that on purpose I had no idea we would talk about that that was actually perfect my first wedding song guys let's play that was it really I'm sorry it was you believe me though that we did not do that on purpose I love it we just manifested all of that we're crying love it ain't leaving now bye leaving done left all three we need to do a new spinoff of it they should have it I wonder if Kicks Brooks does something like that I think he has a weekly show or something but that was it man when you were a kid waiting to hear if somebody was crying loving or leaving you didn't even know i'm gonna listen to these not that one particular where people were and if they did that on purpose i'm sorry i don't think they would do that it's pretty funny um they're too nice of guys to to actually do that um about the new album what else what like what's new about it what feels new to you about it obviously you have new tunes and um and that sort of thing but What feels exciting to you about it or anything different?

1:16:50Well, I made it in Texas. It's the first time I've recorded in Texas since I was 18. Okay, so back to your roots. Back to the roots, yeah. I wanted to go to Austin and just like really, it's a really honky-tonk record. I mean, it sounds like my childhood. It sounds like the music I grew up on. And I think it's just because I have a new chapter, a new label, a new decade ahead of me of like whatever's going to happen. and I wanted to like go back to the root of where the whole passion started to begin with, which was like playing those honky tonks in Texas. Like I think I had that sort of awakening when I had my birthday at Billy Bob's.

1:17:24And I was like, I'm turning 40 at one of my favorite places on earth in my home state and a honky tonk listening to country music. And that's just where my heart lives at the end of the day is a honky tonk listening to country music. So it felt right to like make my own music that way this time, you know? Yeah, it's hard for your heart to kind of get back home when your life gets busy like that in a way, you know? It is. And I have Austin, Austin. I spend a lot of time in Austin. I love Austin. Me too. My little brother lives there. And I just, I don't know. I always say I'm a TNT state girl because my heart's half in Tennessee, half in Texas.

1:18:00But both places that I live revolve around music, and I love that. Yeah, it's like sometimes your life gets so busy, and then you're like, it stops at a certain point. there's a special day or a moment you're like okay I can get a look at where I'm at yeah it's good to like have enough time to stop and look at where you're at because I didn't for so long I mean when you're young and you start young following your dream and then you just sort of are a horse with blinders then you stop and you go okay I'm now what I made it now what you know and it's it's like it's kind of a weird spot to be but then once you embrace it which is where I I feel like I am right now just embracing like, look what I've done so far, but like, what else can we do?

1:18:44You know? Yeah. Still feel really inspired and excited. I mean, I'm, I definitely don't have the same energy for like long, you know, 150 dates a year on the road or anything, but I'm still so inspired to like write songs and you know, I love the music. I can't, it's, it's my life. I dedicated my whole life to it. It is funny. You kind of, yeah, you do when you get busy and your career gets busy. you a lot of you gets dedicated to what it is it's like i spend most of my time like i this i have some close friends i don't even get to talk to that much and i know it's sad to say people like well you work instead of talk to them but it's almost like you build up your dream and but then your dream takes a lot of responsibility yeah you know nobody tells you what to do when you have done it like there's not like a manual you can like there's not like a podcast you can like go back and look at and be like so now what happens at this point in my career at this age with this these accolades like what happens now you just figure it out as you go and you know um like working with younger artists now and like newer artists have a label called big loud texas oh yeah partnership with big loud and oh you're part that's your so you guys have a branch there now yep oh that's awesome and it's you know keeping that steven wilson jr on big loud too He's on Big Loud.

1:20:00Let's go. Yeah. So he's playing in Nashville. Patches on patches on patches. Yeah. Torn Cigarette. Oh, when he said, is this song called Torn Cigarette? It's called Patches. Oh, that lyric that he says? I'm a torn cigarette. My patches got patched. It's so good. But he is playing in Nashville. Here he won. December 4th. Tethered. So good. My father's son. Drain my blood. Dude, God. It's like the, it's one of the greatest records that's come out in a decade. That's our audio slave, man. It really is. Because it's all of it. It's hillbilly and it's rage and it's sad and it's funny. And even as a Native American, some of the beats, some of the drums that he uses have a very native sound to me.

1:20:41It's great. It blows me. And I keep finding new songs on it that I like. That's what's always amazing. Like you keep going back and re-hearing them. And you're like, oh, now this one I like. Now this hit me weird. Yeah. Let's get fucking weird, buddy. Anyway. I also like to do his little vest. He just wears his little vest in all his videos. He's just sitting there freaking slaying the guitar. He's just like his little puffy vest. Yeah. Just cozy. I love it. There he is. His puffy vest. I love it. He looks like a lifeguard at Woodstock kind of in a way. You know what I'm saying? He has a very safe but risque vibe, dude.

1:21:21And he's so sweet, by the way. Like the sweetest. You can tell, like, I've just listened to some interviews and stuff with him and just listen to his music. I got to see him play one night at Whiskey Jam. Yeah. At Whiskey Jam. And that was so cool. But yeah, it's amazing. Him, Red Clay Strays, I've been listening to. They're great. So much good music out there. So much. Yep. So many great. Lainey Wilson, I know you talk to her. I love her so much. God. Good gal pal. If they had 11 Lainey Wilsons. Good gal pal. You'd be in there in the donut box with 11 Lainey Wilsons. Because there would, dude.

1:21:52Yeah. Yeah. And you'd be the cop. I would. Well, no, well, look. Like, what are y 'all doing? Hey, what are you doing in there, huh? With the New York accent. I got to work on that. Hey, what are you doing in there? Anyway, Miranda Lambert, thank you so much for all the beautiful music. Thank you for spending time with us today and just sharing a little bit of your life. And yeah, and thanks for just like the inspiration and just being a space of like, hey, this is where you are. And now let's see where we are. And let's make the best stuff yet to come. And yeah, I just really enjoyed my time.

1:22:23Well, thank you. We got deep and it was good. I liked it. Yeah. We talked about some good songs, too. It's nice. Yep, we sure did. Your new album is out. It is? It is. It's called Postcards from Texas. Postcards from Texas. And yeah, we'll be listening to it. And you got to check out Aaron Reitier. Okay. You're going to like him. Okay, deep. Quirky one. Yeah? Yeah. All right. I'm in. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yep.

1:22:53These leaves are must be cornerstone Oh, but when I reach that ground I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones But it's gonna take...