Get ready for the hot country chick herself: Miranda Lambert is ready to light up the stage and rock your boots. The 2012 American Country Music Album of the Year winner is riding through the country on her “On Fire” tour.
“(The) tour is going great,” Lambert said in an email. “My shows are always a mix of songs from all my albums plus some rocking cover songs. It’s always exciting having new material, though, so we will be incorporating a lot of songs from _Four the Record_ during this tour. Fans can probably expect to hear my newest song, ‘Over You,’ but also my older hits like ‘Gunpowder and Lead’ and ‘The House That Built Me.'”
Lambert is touring with fellow artists Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann. Being the only girl on the road can get a bit rough, she says.
“I enjoy hanging out with my guest artists, band, and crew, but sometimes I miss having girls around too,” Lambert says. “That’s why I love it when the other Pistol Annies decide to come out with me.”
There are many benefits to getting to perform in front of a packed crowd, but Lambert has a favorite one.
“Being on stage performing and having your fans sing every word of every song with you is a natural ‘high’ for me,” Lambert says. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else with my life. Of course there are days when I would rather be home and hang out with my dogs and husband, but I think that’s the same for everyone.”
Songs with particular meanings behind the words have a larger effect on audiences than others. This is the case for Lambert’s new single, “Over You.” This song has a special place in her heart.
“Over You” was written by both Lambert and her husband, fellow country star Blake Shelton. At the time of its release, Lambert’s father-in-law and one of her childhood friends passed away, so the song has taken on a lot of meaning for the star.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Blake and I had this song to fall back on during these difficult times,” Lambert says. “We both cried when we wrote it, and it was the most emotional songwriting experience either of us has ever had, since it’s about the tremendous loss of his brother in a tragic car accident.”
Lambert recently took home the Album of the Year award from the 2012 American Country Music Awards for her album, _Four the Record_, and even now she’s still in shock.
“I am still blown away by the other albums that were nominated for ACM Album of the Year,” she says. “They are all amazing pieces of art, and I am so humbled that mine was eve in the category with those, let alone that it won. Winning awards is a huge thrill and honor, especially winning Album of the Year, because it means that my record was embraced by my peers in the industry while my fans paid hard-earned money for it to help make it so successful. I am so blessed to get to do what I love for a living, and winning awards just puts it over the top.”
Singing and performing for crowds of thousands isn’t the only passion that Lambert has in this world. She also started the MuttNation Foundation in 2009, which raises funds for abandoned and abused animals.
“I started raising money several years back for the Humane Society of East Texas, the shelter where I used to hang out and walk the dogs,” she says. “I have seven rescue dogs — two of them, Delta and Cher, travel with me on the road, but the others are too big to be on the bus with me full time — so it’s a cause that’s very dear to my heart.”