Miranda Lambert in rare Birmingham gig
Country sensation Miranda Lambert will play a rare West Midlands show when she headlines Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena tonight.
The gig is one of just four UK dates from the multiplatinum and international award-winning country superstar.
It follows the release in November of her sixth studio album The Weight Of These Wings.
The Grammy winning singer-songwriter is on the road with her Highway Vagabond Tour, giving fans the opportunity to hear such Billboard chart-topping hits as Mama’s Broken Heart, Little Red Wagon and Somethin’ Bad as well as new tracks from her new double album.
The new record looks at break-ups, booze and the future – having split from her husband of four-years, Blake Shelton, in a public divorce.
Miranda has looked at new beginnings and old scars across 24 ambitious songs. The release of the record coincided with her move to the home of country music, Nashville, after she had previously lived in Texas and Oaklahoma. She was running wild for a while after moving but has gradually calmed down. And, remarkably, even though she’s sold huge numbers of records she’s been left to her own devices by locals.
She has a theory, called RBF – Resting Blank Face – which she thinks explains why people leave her alone. So while other country stars are inundated with requests for selfies and autographs, Miranda gets to drink Miller Lite and hang out with her friends without being bothered.
Miranda worked with a strong team on The Weight Of These Wings, including songwriter Luke Dick, who co-wrote Highway Vagabond with Natalie Hemby and Shane McAnally. And as well as looking back at the unhappiness surrounding her split with Blake Shelton, the record also looked towards her current relationship with Anderson East, the rhythm and blues singer from Alabama, who is also based in Nashville.
Miranda dodged most interviews when she released the new record because she wanted to let the music speak for itself. While her ex, Blake, and his new flame, Gwen Stefani, gave interviews about their romance and divorces, she played her cards closer to her chest.
And that ploy brought comparisons with Beyoncé’s Lemonade record, in which Queen Bee also avoided the media and let her work speak for her.
Miranda has come a long way in a short space of time. The Texan released her debut album, Kerosene, in 2005 and enjoyed four Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Country chart. Her second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featured three Top 20 hits – Famous in a Small Town, Gunpowder and Lead and More Like Her – as it pushed her toward the mainstream.
Better was to come with her third album, Revolution, which featured two number one country hits, The House That Built Me and Heart Like Me.
And she broke into the mainstream with her next record, Four the Record, which was a number three hit on America’s main Billboard chart and earned her a platinum disc. That paved the way for Miranda’s first number one, Platinum, which came out in 2014. She co-wrote eight of the record’s 16 songs while working with a host of session musicians and songwriters, as well as guest performers Little Big Town, The Time Jumpers, and Carrie Underwood. The record debuted at number one and earned the singer a Grammy Award for Best Country Album, as well as a CMA and ACM Award in the same category. It was a critical success, too, as country music writers hailed it as her most daring and clever record, offering a sophisticated radical and wry take on country music.
Though Miranda has endured good times and bad and is busy on the road, she looks forward to time out. As well as her mansion in Nashville, she also owns a $3.4 million farm near Tennessee, which has 400-plus acres and three houses.
