Miranda Lambert was part of the star-studded tribute at the 2024 CMA Awards, honoring George Strait, who received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Lambert, one of the most-awarded artists of all time in country music, admits that without Strait, she might not have ever had the career she has had.
“George Strait is one of my biggest influences I feel like,” Lambert tells the CMA. “Especially growing up in Texas, he’s the King of Country, but he’s been the king of me since I heard him on the radio at two years old. George has been somebody that’s so consistent and constantly being authentic, but reinventing himself, and has had one of the most incredible careers. And, not only that, he’s really a nice person, which is just like the cherry on top.”
Lambert paid tribute to her Texan roots with her latest album, Postcards from Texas, out now. The 14-song project, her first release on Republic Records, is a record that clearly shows Strait’s influence in her life and career.
“Postcards from Texas, I would hope it would be an album that would make George Strait proud,” Lambert says. “Just going home to make the record, after 20 years in the business, I felt like, I got a new record label, and I just wanted to start fresh and go back to the well, where it all started. All of the music from my home state, that really influenced me and sort of made me who I am as an artist. So I’m really proud that I could just have the opportunity to go home and kind of reflect and make the music that started it all for me. It’s really honky tonk, and that’s where my heart lives at the end of the day anyway.”
Lambert currently has a top 40 hit with “Wranglers,” the debut single from Postcards from Texas. The song was written by Audra Mae, Evan McKeever and Ryan Carpenter.
“‘Wranglers’ is a classic tale of a woman taking her power back,” Lambert said when the song was releaed. “I think we can all identify with the character in this song, because we have all had a time in our life where we needed to find our strength, and also get a little revenge on someone who did us wrong or hurt us. This offers such a cool, raging take on how something like this unravels; I think the songwriters nailed it.”
Lambert was honored earlier this year with The Country Icon Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards.
“To me, an icon is who I grew up listening to my daddy play — Jerry Jeff Walker, Merle Haggard, John Prine,” Lambert said when accepting the trophy. “Those are my icons, So the fact that I’m getting this award tonight is just blowing my mind. It’s a lot of years, tears, beers and Titos, if I’m being honest … Some days I feel like I’ve done it 200 years, and some days I feel like I’m just getting started. So thank you so much.”
Find Postcards from Texas and all of Lambert’s music and upcoming shows at MirandaLambert.com.