Miranda Lambert's 2011 CD, Four The Record. Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

There’s always a bit of added pressure when an artist follows up a critically acclaimed record that achieved successes like the Academy of Country Music’s Album of the Year award. However, what sort of pressure exists when an artist’s last two albums won that illustrious prize, as Miranda Lambert’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (ACM Album of the Year Winner 2008) and Revolution (Winner 2010) both did?

Working again with Producer Frank Liddell, and welcoming Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf into the studio, award-winning singer/songwriter Miranda delivers controlled chaos on her new album Four the Record. The project, due in stores next week, toes the line between traditional country and Americana with loose arrangements and well-placed modern rock distortion.

Songs like “Mama’s Broken Heart,” with creative percussion and vintage guitar sounds, builds through the verse before becoming unhinged in the chorus. Can’t get revenge and keep a spotless reputation, Miranda sings with calculated anger about the song’s pregnant teenage subject being abandoned by her boyfriend. On “Fastest Girl In Town,” Miranda’s rebellious nature is front and center. You got the bullets, I got the gun/ I got a hankerin’ for getting into something, she sings seductively.

With each album, Miranda continues to evolve her sound, and Four The Record is no exception. Tracks like “Fine Tune” illustrate that the 27-year old Texan is more than willing to take risks. Miranda uses a sexy R&B groove, fuzzy slide guitar and distorted vocals to push through the metaphor of getting a love tune-up. She sings of her engine of a heart that would not start before a big hook noting symptoms like, my pulse was nearly gone/ I was almost in need of a defibrillator. Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert's Four The Record album cover. Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

When Miranda Lambert moved to Nashville and landed her record deal, she made it clear her music would be on her terms. It was a bold move for a newly signed artist, but Miranda wasn’t willing to be someone she wasn’t. Gary Overton, Sony Music Nashville chairman/CEO, was the head of EMI Music Publishing’s Nashville division when he first met Miranda. At a lunch meeting about signing her as a songwriter, she told him exactly what  kind of music she would be recording.

“She said, ‘I can tell you this: They’re not going to tell me what music to record. I’m going to do it my way,’” Gary told Billboard. “I said, ‘Well, that’s kind of not the way it happens on Music Row,’ and she goes, ‘Well, that’s the way it’s going to happen with me, or I’ll just go back to Texas and make my living. I’m not going to change my music or anything else.’” Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert on the cover of the March issue of Ladies Home Journal. Photo courtesy of the Meredith Corporation.

Fresh on the heels of hearing her name called for seven Academy of Country Music awards nominations, Miranda Lambert graces the cover of the March issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. Miranda opens up to the magazine about her relationship with Blake Shelton, her weight, and her family. She contributes her newly found sense of humor to Blake.

“Blake is outdoorsy, outspoken and really funny,” said Miranda. ”I used to have no sense of humor.  Everything was a big deal.  I’ve gotten so much better about not taking things too seriously—and Blake is the reason why.”

She also talks candidly about her weight, revealing that she is trying to make a lifestyle change, but it is hard to do when she also likes food that taste so good, but is so bad.

“I’ve gone through a lot of weight issues and spent my 20s going up and down,” said Miranda. ”I called my trainer a month before the CMA Awards and said, “I’m ready to make this a lifestyle and not crash diet.” Every time an event was coming up I was trying to figure out how to lose 10 pounds in two days. I’m trying to learn to cook healthy things.  But I like hamburger and meatloaf and mac-and-cheese, stuff I can’t have if I want to fit in my jeans.”

As her career skyrockets, Miranda is quick to remember her parents, who drove her to radio stations around Texas in hopes they would let her on the air. With the success she’s found, she goes out of her way to show them her gratitude. Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton on the Black Carpet at the 44th Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 10, 2010 in Nashville. Photo by Brian Kaplan Photography.

Next year is a decade since Blake Shelton released his first album, and there were years of grinding it out in Nashville even before that moment arrived.

This year was seven years since Miranda Lambert first popped on the national radar in the TV contest “Nashville Star,” and while she was able to work as a developing and mid-level artist with her first two albums, it seemed as if she might never meld her critical acclaim with a similar level of commercial appreciation.

All of that changed over the last 12 months for Blake and Miranda, who got engaged in May, then became the first couple in a decade to win Male and Female Vocalist of the Year in the same evening at the Country Music Association Awards in November.

Blake and Miranda’s arrival as country’s “it” couple makes them the No. 3 entry as GAC counts down the one dozen biggest stories in country music from 2010.

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Shopkeeper Management.

Miranda Lambert’s third album, Revolution, launched her from a highly regarded country artist to one of the top acts in the business. It went platinum, won Album of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and spawned her first two No. 1 singles.

Of course, Miranda can’t bask in Revolution forever. Only in the last couple months has she started thinking about a follow-up album. And she’s making a point to not let the sales and trophies distract her from doing good art.

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Miranda Lambert at the No. 1 party for her song, "The House That Built Me," on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, in Nashville.

When Miranda Lambert won Album of the Year from the Country Music Association last week, it represented a huge amount of support within the industry for the creative results in Revolution.

But her creative success is also a result of the changes she made in her approach to the work. Miranda had plenty of time to cut her first album, but when it came time to do her second, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, her life had become a bit of a blur. She had to fit the recording sessions in between a bunch of tour dates, and the whole process was completely stressful.

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Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton on the Black Carpet at the 44th Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 10, 2010 in Nashville. Photo by Brian Kaplan Photography.

In a night that was short on surprises, Blake Shelton had one big moment that injected a shocking new name into the proceedings at the 44th annual Country Music Association Awards and helped keep some parity in his future family.

As expected, Blake’s fiancee, Miranda Lambert, won Album of the Year from the CMA for Revolution, and she added to her first-time haul by picking up Female Vocalist and the Music Video trophy, for “The House That Built Me.”

Not surprisingly, Blake’s “Hillbilly Bone,” a collaboration with Trace Adkins, also swiped the Musical Event of the Year. But when Blake took Male Vocalist of the Year in the show’s final hour — well, who the heck saw that coming?

Certainly not Blake, who stood in a surreal state of disbelief before he stomped up the steps at the Bridgestone Arena to claim his prize.

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Shopkeeper Management.

If Miranda Lambert is unhappy at the moment, it’s her own fault. She’s got a ton of stuff going for her — her Revolution album just went platinum, she’s engaged to fellow singer Blake Shelton and she’s got nine nominations for next month’s Country Music Association Awards.

It appears Miranda does indeed understand just how fortunate she is, and her hot streak has her energized.

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Chris Young photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Chris Young was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, the Zac Brown Band took Breakthrough Artist and four people associated with Miranda Lambert’s current hit won producer and songwriter honors as Music Row magazine handed out its 22nd annual awards Thursday during a ceremony at BMI’s Nashville office.

Chris rearranged his travel plans to attend the event, where he played an acoustic version of “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” which became his first Top 10 hit as a writer. He told the crowd of several hundred people that he used to visit BMI when he was in his teens with an eye toward finding someone — anyone — who might write with him.

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Miranda Lambert photo by Randee St. Nicholas, courtesy of Front Page Publicity.

Miranda Lambert’s single “The House That Built Me” is taking up semi-permanent residence at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as it spends a second week at No. 1.

It’s a great moment for Miranda, who had a tough time just cracking the Top 10 with songs from her first two albums. Following on the heels of “White Liar,” she’s now had two that have peaked at No. 1 from her current album Revolution.

The public isn’t alone in its praise of “House.” When Billboard asked four different songwriters what song they wished they’d written, each of them cited “The House That Built Me.” And Miranda’s heard about the performance from several of her artist peers.

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