Country Superstar, Miranda Lambert, talks touring and new album with New England Country Music leading up to stretch of three shows in New England this week.
In many ways, Miranda Lambert is considered to be one of today’s queens of country music. She has released seven albums, with the last six reaching the top spot on the country albums chart. The most recent album, ‘The Weight of These Wings,’ was released last November and was a double-album that featured 24 tracks, including 20 of which that Miranda had her hand in writing. Before Miranda’s tour buses pulled into New England for the three stops on her 2017 Highway Vagabond Tour, the songstress took some time with New England Country Music to talk about her new music and touring.
Miranda has been a staple in the country music scene in New England for many years. She’s played at nearly every major venue in the region drawing huge crowds with every show and Miranda expressed her affinity for the fans and New England by saying, “It’s always great playing up in the New England area as I found even early in my career there are tons of very loyal country fans. I heard that they will drive across 3 states to see a concert. I have been hoping to get to come as a tourist at some point, so I can see what the region has to offer, other than a great view out of my bus window.” This past summer, Miranda made two stops at Gillette Stadium as direct support of Kenny Chesney- someone that she has a lot of admiration for. “It was amazing of course. He is such a great performer and one of the best to tour with. Kenny treats his band and crew and guests with so much respect. I am so glad he invited us to come along for the ride.”
With all the experience that she has gained over the years, her live performance has changed drastically especially in the production aspect. But for Miranda, her new music is one of the biggest things she considers when she’s planning a tour. She explains, “We’ve had a couple of shows already under our belt now and so far so good. The production this year as well as the lights and video content all really compliment the music, without it being a distraction. Mostly I’m happy being able to play some new music off my album ‘The Weight of These Wings’. Every time I make a new record I try and add a lot of new material into the setlist, hoping the fans there will love it and sing along.” On this tour, Miranda will be bringing country’s hottest band, Old Dominion, along with rising talent, Aubrie Sellers, and explained her decision to bring them along by saying, “I am very happy to have Old Dominion and Aubrie Sellers out on the road with me on this Highway Vagabond Tour. Besides them all being really nice people to tour with they bring some great music with them.”
Following the release of her 2014 album, titled ‘Platinum,’ which coincidentally was certified Platinum by the RIAA, fans were yearning for more music from Miranda. And with smash hits from that album, including ‘Little Red Wagon,’ ‘Automatic’ and ‘Somethin’ Bad’ – a song that also features fellow country superstar, Carrie Underwood – fans’ expectations were high. After nearly two and a half years, Miranda delivered with her critically-acclaimed album, ‘The Weight of These Wings.’ She recalls, “Thinking back to the beginning of this project when I walked into the studio with having written over 70 songs, I am glad that we managed to put a cohesive project together with the final 24 tracks. You always hope the fans are as excited to hear the music as you are to finally let it go. It’s nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. So wonderful when it landed at number one on the Country Album chart, very grateful for my fans support.” With a whopping 24 tracks, Miranda surely made up for lost time between records but the double album concept wasn’t originally intended, it just happened. “I didn’t intend for ‘The Weight of These Wings’ to be a double album at all, it just became one. After going through the 78 songs that I had written for this project with my producer, we were able to dwindle the selection down to about 28 after editing and working through the process of letting the story develop. The final 24 songs eventually revealed themselves after we started recording and mixing and it was clear that every song was needed in order to tell the story.”
Album artwork courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
As previously mentioned, Miranda had a dominant role in the songwriting for the record. She wrote or co-wrote 20 of the 24 songs on the album. The four songs that she did not pen were ones she wanted to include because they fit the story she was trying to tell with the album. “It’s never easy choosing one song over the other, especially when they are all my babies and all were crafted with the intention of appearing on the album. The final selection of songs I wrote just sort of made themselves known. And the other “outside” songs that were included belonged to the story I wanted to tell.” Last summer, Lambert released ‘Vice’ as the first single leading up to the album’s release and fans immediately attached themselves to the single which was clear after the capacity crowds at Gillette Stadium sang along to every word last summer. She followed that single up with ‘We Should Be Friends’ – a song that she released to country radio on December 12th of last year because of the way it makes Miranda feel… “It just feels fun and happy, and real. Also my first single “Vice” was more serious, so I was ready to sing about a lighter subject. One night I was at my house playing guitar and ended up writing “We Should Be Friends” by myself. It started off a bit sad at first but then turned into a really fun song reflecting who I am and the people in my life. It’s one of my favorites to perform live because everyone has a great time and the fans are very engaged and sing along to every word.”
Miranda is set to play three shows in New England this week with Old Dominion and Aubrie Sellers – February 2nd at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, February 3rd at the Mullins Center in Amherst, and February 4th at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. With nearly an entire new catalog of music at Miranda’s disposal along with her years of experience as one of country’s elite entertainers, these shows are not to be missed. Links to purchase tickets for these shows can be found below.
February 2nd: Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, RI)
February 3rd: Mullins Center (Amherst, MA)
February 4th: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, CT)
You can purchase Miranda’s ‘The Weight of These Wings’ on iTunes here.
Main photo credit: Photo credit- Daniela Federici