Lindale, Texas about 80 miles east of Dallas, and about 75 miles west of Shreveport. In the past this small town was know as the blackberry capital of the world, now Lindale, Texas is also home to country music sensation, Miranda Lambert. She is the daughter of a country guitarist Rick Lambert who also was the owner of a detective agency, (On its website, Country Music Television states...) "she was raised in a house dedicated to country music." At the age of 16, Miranda started her career off by entering country talent contest, she even had an appearance with the Johnny High Country Music Review in Arlington, Texas. Throughout this process Miranda learned how to play guitar and starting writing her own music while continuing to perform in talent contest, one competition that landed her a spot in a potato chip advertisement. At the age of only 17, Miranda formed the Texas Pride Band and started to perform at music gigs wherever she could. Later in 2001, Miranda's father financially supported her by showcasing her songwriting skills by releasing a independent cd, called Miranda Lambert. To her surprise, two tracks "Texas Pride" and "Somebody Else" from her first released cd made it into The Texas music charts. This is huge to anyone who opens up and shares there musical talents for the world to hear, and also quite frightening at the same time, people will either love what they hear or they will hate it, and it is something people make brutally known especially in the music industry.
In 2003, Lambert successfully auditioned for "Nashville Star", Nashville Star was a reality TV series which was set up after the "American Idol" format. With her goal in mind she took a chance and headed to Nashville in order to appear on the show, at the end of it all she finished third in the competition. Even though she did not win the competition, Miranda scored a recording contract with Sony. At 21 years old and signed to a major record label, Miranda Lambert in 2004 released her first major-label single, "Me and Charlie Talking", along with her album, Kerosene. Lambert wrote or co-wrote ten of the eleven tracks on the album. Several of her tracks from the "Kerosene" album became popular singles on country radio, eventually "Kerosene" went platinum. In 2007, Lambert released "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" which accomplished similar fortune; (On its website, Country Music Television it states...) additionally this album created Lambert "as one of the country's newest "bad girls". Lambert received this title based off her "fiery," "don't mess with me attitude," which she gives off in her music. Miranda writes songs based off life experiences, such as cheating boyfriends and domestic abuse, these songs almost always ended with the singer bringing out violent, and impressive revenge on her provokers. After her release of the album "Revolution" in 2009, she branched off into other subjects which stemmed from a happy relationship she was experiencing with fellow country star, Blake Shelton. With her highly publicized relationship, Miranda started writing music based off love, regret and childhood. When I think about Miranda Lambert and her music the word "courageous" pops into my head. Lambert isn't afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself or others, Miranda is a mirror for her audience. Most of her following share similar interest with her such as hunting, fishing, drinking and tattoos; fans hear Lambert singing about these similarities and instantly make connections with her music. She is able to relate to the public and does not let her fame interfere with the values she was brought up on, Miranda portrays that she is just like any other "normal" person. She is real and that is something that has helped her create such success. For example, at the 2012 Grammy Awards, Miranda Lambert was looked upon favorably after Chris Brown won two Grammy awards. Lambert spoke out via Twitter, defending her belief on domestic abuse; she tweeted: "And Chris Brown twice? I don't get it. He beat on a girl…not cool that we act like that didn't happen." Speaking out on such a horrible incident that occurred between two other music stars shows how deeply Miranda feels on this topic. Lambert didn't care about the backlash she got for speaking up, she believes in standing up for yourself and not being afraid. What Miranda did was inspiring and showed true courage, and that right there is exactly what her audience longs for, they turn to Miranda and her music for strength. Some people within the music industry believe that Miranda Lambert songs are too violent, for example: In her hit song Gunpowder and Lead the chorus sings "I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun/Wait by the door and light a cigarette/ If he wants a fight well now he's got one/ And he ain't seen me crazy yet/He slap my face and he shook me like a rag doll/ Don't that sound like a real man/ I'm going to show him what a little girls made of/Gunpowder and lead." This song is in respondents to domestic abuse, some people hear her racy songs and automatically think that she is promoting violence and that is actually opposite of what she is doing. Lambert is a strong advocate for women who are in a domestic abuse situation. Miranda's following comes from mostly women, women who believe in being strong and standing up for what they believe in, these ladies are the kind of women that aren't afraid to shoot a gun while hunting or get a little dirty. Lambert is constant reminder to her fans that being strong and being you is the best attribute you could ever have.
Since 2001, (according to Pollstar Pro, its states...) Miranda Lambert has almost done it all, she has headline 85 shows and co-bill 5 shows she sells an average of 7,273 tickets per show and with that amount of tickets selling per concert she is making around $294,460. Lambert is signed to RCA Nashville record company, she is managed by ShopKeeper Management and she works with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agency.
Here is Miranda Lambert standing up against Chris Brown after his altercation with pop star Rihanna.
Citations:
(Country Music Television)
(Pollstar Pro)
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Miranda Lambert is one of my favorite female country artists. I think you put the perfect amount of information without being excessive. It was a good blend of her personal life and her music career. One of my favorite songs by Miranda Lambert is “Gunpowder and Lead.” I think Miranda is a strong woman, and I love that she sticks up for herself as well as for other women. One thing I did not know was that Miranda publicly tweeted about the Chris Brown situation, and I think it was a good thing to include in your blog. The reader learned a lot about her beliefs and personality through that story. It was helpful that you included lyrics, but would have been more helpful if you had links or videos for the songs you mentioned. There were many grammar mistakes throughout the blog, but other than that, it was informative and interesting.
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