{"id":364830,"date":"2026-10-05T14:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T14:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364830\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T14:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T14:44:07","slug":"miranda-lambert-interview-country-disco-drag-shows-and-ella-langley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364830\/","title":{"rendered":"Miranda Lambert Interview: Country Disco, Drag Shows, and Ella Langley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMiranda Lambert<\/a> has won just about every country-\u00admusic award in existence, but her barometer for success is rather simple: Do drag queens want to perform your songs onstage?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf someone dresses like you and covers you in a drag show, to me, you made it,\u201d Lambert says, settling into a couch in the Rolling Stone offices in denim, a brown suede jacket, and, lest you forget where she\u2019s from, a Texas-shaped turquoise ring big enough to double as a weapon. Lambert loves a drag performance so much that when she first teased her new album, Crisco<\/a>, this past summer, she did so with an event that she called a Crisco Disco Drag Brunch<\/a> in Nashville.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a more joyful place on Earth than a drag brunch,\u201d she suggests. \u201cIt\u2019s just, like, mimosas and people being their full selves and no-holds-barred. It felt like it would set the tone for this record.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tCrisco gets its name from that same tone \u2014 a perfect blend of country and disco. Think \u201cIslands in the Stream\u201d-era Dolly Parton, lush and layered strings, and rhinestone cowboys. At a point in her career when she\u2019s arguably never been more lauded, Lambert just wanted to have a little fun. \u201cI felt like now more than ever, what\u2019s to lose?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the past few years, Lambert, 42, has taken what was already one of country music<\/a>\u2019s most celebrated careers into powerhouse, multi-hyphenate mode. She\u2019s a producer, most recently helping Ella Langley craft her breakthrough album, Dandelion<\/a>. She\u2019s a label owner, a fashion entrepreneur, and now, as co-writer of Langley\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas,\u201d partly responsible for the most successful song in Billboard Hot 100 history. She\u2019s nominated for seven trophies at the Nov. 18 CMA Awards, in a year when she didn\u2019t even put out an album of her own (Crisco won\u2019t be eligible till next year\u2019s awards).<\/p>\n

\n\tLambert realizes that disco influences might feel left field for some country fans, but she had such a good time dabbling in Seventies sounds on the groovy, glistening \u201cA Song to Sing,\u201d her collab with Chris Stapleton last year, that she and co-producer Jesse Frasure thought they\u2019d try writing a few more in that vein. It\u2019s a part of the genre that Lambert hadn\u2019t really explored before \u2014 a little less cool than the Outlaws, a little less trendy than the Nineties. \u201cThe Seventies is such an inspiring time in music in general, and especially in country music,\u201d Lambert says. \u201cGreat songs were great songs, and it didn\u2019t have to live in a box.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\t\t\u2018I never took the easiest path\u2019\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCrisco does have a delightful pop sheen. Listen to the crescendoing \u201cTo Everything,\u201d or the Langley duet \u201cSnakeskin Boots,\u201d<\/a> which opens the album with that familiar Lambert fire. But there are also straight-up country ballads like the Patsy Cline-inspired \u201cTwo Things Can Be True,\u201d which happens to be a good reminder that, on top of all of those other accolades, Lambert is one of the best vocalists in the genre and beyond. She\u2019s also as saucy as ever, never one to tone down a woman\u2019s sexuality, like on \u201cWhiskey Business,\u201d where she\u2019s \u201cgonna go all night and sleep all afternoon.\u201d She probably won\u2019t be riding any literal disco testicles onstage like Kacey Musgraves has, though. \u201cI\u2019ll have some disco balls, but they won\u2019t be balls, if that makes sense,\u201d Lambert quips.<\/p>\n

\n\tMusgraves recently featured Lambert on her song \u201cHorses and Divorces,\u201d<\/a> a hilarious burying-the-hatchet moment between two stars who were rumored to have beef for years. In a genre where female artists rarely receive more than 10 percent of country-\u00adradio airplay and are constantly forced to battle for one or two top spots, Lambert wants to focus on what she can do to elevate other women instead of competing with them.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe need to do this together,\u201d she says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to be best friends all the time. We don\u2019t have to be a sisterhood all the time, but I think it\u2019s really important to lean on each other when we need to, and to support each other, because we know what it takes to do this. And it ain\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Lambert released her debut in 2005, she didn\u2019t have a lot of women around to help guide her through the early stages of fame. Being that person for newer artists like Langley \u2014 a mentor, a sounding board, a creative partner, and a cheerleader \u2014 is a motivating force behind so much of what she does now.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWorking with Miranda was special because she\u2019s someone I\u2019ve looked up to long before I ever imagined getting to make a record with her,\u201d Langley tells Rolling Stone. \u201cAnd beyond that, she\u2019s so generous and honest, and she brings that into the way she works. She gave me the confidence to trust my instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was a collaboration that paid off in spades with \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas,\u201d<\/a> which has not only commanded the charts but also the discourse this year, as critics and fans have tried to figure out why and how it broke through the noise so resoundingly. What those conversations sometimes missed is that Lambert\u2019s legacy, in part, is what made \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d possible. Her hits like \u201cThe House That Built Me,\u201d \u201cWhite Liar,\u201d and \u201cMama\u2019s Broken Heart\u201d introduced a certain kind of Texas twang to radio, while 2021\u2019s The Marfa Tapes, recorded in her home state, kept the focus on sturdy songwriting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI hope that some of the trails that I was able to blaze are the reason that some of this is happening,\u201d Lambert says. \u201cBecause it was hard work, and I never took the easiest path. I took the authentic path, and it feels like those doors that were open have stayed open and people are blazing through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCrisco feels authentic to exactly who Lambert is now. She\u2019s as serious about songcraft as ever, but happier too, and willing to get a little loose on the dance floor. Lambert likes being many things at once, even if convention finds it unsettling. One day, she\u2019s shooting pistols on horseback; the next, she\u2019s shimmying at the gay bar. She can make acoustic albums in the Texas desert, or she can add in a string section and take it to Studio 54.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s time to head out to another Crisco playback, this time at a queer-friendly Lower East Side spot called HiLot, so Lambert ducks into a room to change into a shirt decorated in rhinestones that once belonged to Parton \u2014 she affectionately dubs them \u201cDolly drops.\u201d Lambert wore Parton\u2019s hoops in the video for \u201cA Song to Sing,\u201d and she has a lot of \u201cDolly nuggets\u201d in the new house she\u2019s building in Tennessee with her husband, former NYPD officer and now sometime songwriter Brendan McLoughlin. \u201cWould I be sitting here without [Parton]? Probably not,\u201d Lambert says.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike Parton, Lambert prefers to stay out of partisan politics, but that doesn\u2019t mean she won\u2019t defend some of her Lone Star traditions (and icons). Last year, at the Kennedy Center Honors<\/a>, where she paid homage to Texas legend George Strait, the security measures irked her. The bar at the hotel closed early, and Lambert had gotten word that Strait (a.k.a. \u201cThe King\u201d) wanted to have a little bit of a post-gala afterparty there. McLoughlin, ever the dutiful partner, sprung into action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy husband, he had just enough of a buzz,\u201d Lambert says. \u201cSo he goes, \u2018I\u2019m taking this the fuck over!\u2019 He goes up to our room and orders a cart of all the things, bottles. Rolls it back down, and starts moving chairs to rope off an area. Going, \u2018Excuse me, this is for the King.\u2019\u201d At one point, McLoughlin even snubbed Sylvester Stallone, another Kennedy Center Honoree who had wandered into the bar. \u201cBrendan was like, \u2018I would rather Sylvester Stallone kick my ass than the wrath of you for me not taking care of the King.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tIt had already been a long day. The sewage system in the backstage bathrooms had been backing up (\u201cIt was a shit show, literally,\u201d Lambert says), and, worst of all, she wasn\u2019t allowed to bring in any aerosol cans.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI mean, we have to have hair spray,\u201d she proclaims, clutching a Tito\u2019s vodka after we\u2019ve made our way downtown to the party. \u201cI\u2019m from Texas!\u201d<\/p>\n

Production Credits<\/p>\n

Styling by\u00a0 TIFFANY GIFFORD. Hair by JOHNNY LAVOY. Makeup by Dee DALY.
Clothing Credits
Studio
Jacket by DZOJCHEN and INGLESIDE DESIGN via BROOKLYN PR. Vest by TECOVAS. Hat by STANDARD HAT WORKS.\u00a0 Jewelry by JENNIFER FISHER, ESTABLISHED, NECESSARY EXCESS and MUD LOWERY.
\u00a0Bar: Shirt by H BAR C via INGLESIDE DESIGN. Jeans and belt by IDYLLWIND via INGLESIDE DESIGN. Belt buckle by RICHARD SCHMIDT. Jewelry by \u00a0TENNESSEE TURQUOISE COMPANY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miranda Lambert has won just about every country-\u00admusic award in existence, but her barometer for success is rather…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1613,135254,19812,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-364830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-country-music","tag-crisco","tag-miranda-lambert","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}