OK, let’s get this straight. Miranda Lambert is glad she didn’t win the 2003 edition of “Nashville Star,” the country music variation of “American Idol.”
Yep. The Texas native knew a victory meant making an immediate album. That worked out fine for Buddy Jewell, the winner of the competition, who already knew his way around a studio. Although a prolific songwriter, Lambert, now 21, knew she simply was not ready to cut a record.
“I wasn’t ready at all,” Lambert said. “I mean that sincerely. For Buddy, it was perfect. He had already made demo recordings. I had never done anything like that. I didn’t even have my songs finished. I just thought, “Oh my gosh. If I win this thing I’m going to be scrambling.’ Had I won, I simply would not have been able to make the record I wanted to make and keep my integrity the way I’ve been able to.”
So with Jewell the victor, Lambert (as runner-up) won the two things she most prized: time and power. She picked her producer (Frank Liddell), selected the singers and players (which included such all-stars as Buddy Miller and Randy Scruggs) and wrote or co-wrote 11 of the 12 songs that would wind up on her debut album.
The resulting record debuted at No. 1 on the country charts, cracked the pop Top 20 and spawned the radio hit “Me and Charlie Talking.”
“They let me, a 20-year-old kid, go into the studio with songs of my own and a producer and musicians I had chosen,” Lambert said. “They just let me go. I thought, “You people are crazy.’ But it’s a good thing they were.”
Lots of life experiences have gone into Lambert’s songs, though the singer is the first to admit very few are her own. Many of the downcast storylines were inspired, quite indirectly, by her parents – both of whom are private investigators.
“They’ve shown me so many things in my life. Even though I’m young and haven’t experienced them personally, I’ve seen a lot of broken relationships, a lot of heartbreak and a lot of what the real world is about. And a lot of it is about pain.”
Don’t expect Lambert to find much grief in her upcoming work schedule. Following a busy summer of her own performances, she will hit the road in September as opening act for an arena tour by Keith Urban.
“That’s the kind of fun that will make all of my girlfriends jealous.”
—
(c) 2005, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).
Visit the World Wide Web site of the Herald-Leader at http://www.kentucky.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
—–
PREMIUM PHOTOS for separate purchase can be viewed at http://www.krtdirect.com/photos/preview/photoadvisory.htm (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): “Miranda Lambert”
AP-NY-07-08-05 0927EDT
Comments are no longer available on this story