TBT: Miranda Lambert

Throwback Thursday This week, the legendary Miranda Lambert joins the show! She takes us through her rise from small-town Texas beginnings to becoming one of country music’s most influential voices—while also paving the way for the next generation of women in the industry. Miranda talks about her brand-new album Postcards from Texas, the excitement of her Las Vegas residency, and launching the Big Loud Texas label. She also shares the heart behind her charity, Mutt Nation, and how she balances it all with life at home alongside her husband, Brendan. Miranda Lambert: Website https://www.mirandalambert.com/| IG https://www.instagram.com/mirandalambert/ | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/66lH4jAE7pqPlOlzUKbwA0 | MuttNation https://muttnation.com/ | Idyllwind https://idyllwind.com/ | Postcards from Texas https://store.mirandalambert.com/products/postcards-from-texas-vinyl Watch Full Episodes & More: www.dumbblondeunrated.com

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Bunnie XO?

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• 1:31Bunnie XO?

  Hey guys, I need to ask you a question. I want to know, why in the hell are you not on Patreon? I don't think you guys even realize how much content we have on Patreon. Let me break it down for you. We have the Bunny XO Show, we have Meet the DeForts, we have Popaganda, we have more shows that we're adding, and not to mention, we have the visuals of the podcast. Not only that, we have four tiers that caters to everybody's budget, and everybody gets the podcast. There's no more excuses. Head over to www.patreon.com/dumblonpodcast and sign up. Stop missing out. We have built a huge community over there. Guys, I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people over there. We even have live chats,

• 2:15Bunnie XO?

  live chats that I actually am talking in every single night. Last but not least, we give away gifts every frickin' month. I'm talking like signed stuff from Jay and I lives. You just never know what kind of surprise you're gonna get. It's like a Cracker Jack box. I love the community that we've built over there at Patreon. If you are already a Patreon member, I freaking love you, dude. Thank you so much. You guys are my babies for life, my writers. If I could, I would literally make out with each and every one of you. I love you guys so much, and that's a lot of kisses, actually. Gotta go bye.

• 3:11Bunnie XO?

  Is this thing on? Hi, babies. Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today, we have somebody who I absolutely adore, my sister from another mista, my feminine rage soul sister over here. I mean, the music she makes is just speaks to your soul. It's Miranda Lambert.

• 3:30Speaker 03

  Hello.

• 3:31Bunnie XO?

  I'm so happy to have you here.

• 3:33Speaker 03

  Thanks for having me in your new pretty studio.

• 3:35Bunnie XO?

  I know. Did it, did it scare you when it came in here?

• 3:37Speaker 03

  No, I love it. It's awesome. It looks like you.

• 3:40Bunnie XO?

  Aw, I appreciate that so much. What have you been up to? You're like in and out of Nashville all the time. You guys just got back from Europe, correct?

• 3:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, we went to Italy. It was awesome. It was like the first time I've ever been to Europe without work. It's like I've never like just gone to Europe for fun.

• 3:59Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 4:00Speaker 03

  I mean, which works out usually when we're like touring over there. You stay for fun and make it a trip. But my manager, Marion, had a big birthday, so we went to celebrate her in Italy and... Ate all the pasta and took a brain break. It was nice.

• 4:13Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing. I don't know how to take a break without working either. So to be able to disconnect and like go to another country and just vibe out is like.

• 4:23Speaker 03

  I think to go into the other country is the ticket because the time zone is so like all of everybody here is asleep till like your five o'clock and then my five o'clock I'm already drinking wine. So I'm like, well, can't answer you.

• 4:36Bunnie XO?

  Catch me tomorrow.

• 4:37Speaker 03

  Exactly. So it was great. We just got back, but we have a record coming out. So it's like we had a busy year and then just took that two week gap of like reset before the rest. Yeah.

• 4:48Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. Where did you guys go?

• 4:50Speaker 03

  We went to Lake Como, which I'd never been to. It's beautiful.

• 4:53Bunnie XO?

  And that's in Italy, correct?

• 4:55Speaker 03

  Okay. And then it's like an hour from Florence and then we went to Florence. And then we went to Tuscany, like in the hills of Tuscany.

• 5:02Bunnie XO?

  That's so romantic.

• 5:03Speaker 03

  So peaceful and like they just do life better.

• 5:09Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, do they?

• 5:10Speaker 03

  They just are, it's just everything slowed down. Like it's not, we're just chaotic Americans chasing all of our dreams and doing everything fast, you know?

• 5:17Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 5:18Speaker 03

  Which I, I love that part about home and I miss it when I'm like somewhere really quiet like that. I'm like, it's fun for a few days. I'm like, okay, where's all the action?

• 5:27Bunnie XO?

  Is it hard?

• 5:27Speaker 03

  Where's the loudness?

• 5:28Bunnie XO?

  Is it hard for you to relax? Cause I know like whenever my husband and I go on vacation too, like the first two days will be like, oh, this is great. And then the third day we're like, all right, we'll, we'll get back on the phones or we'll like start posting and it's just so hard to, to break from that.

• 5:43Speaker 03

  I think it takes like three days to really like get in to like, or more.

• 5:49Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 5:49Speaker 03

  Sometimes just to calm down. You know what I mean? So two weeks we were, we kind of took just two weeks off. And so it was like a little panicky, but then once you settle into it, it's like, you really need to do it. You just don't know you need to until you get the chance, you know?

• 6:05Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. I think that's been my biggest lesson this year is learning how to relax and not pile on so much. Cause I'm, I'm, I think you're a lot like me too. We just go, go, go. We're just like trained to go.

• 6:15Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 6:16Bunnie XO?

  And this year I've been trying to teach myself to just kind of relax a little bit. Do you feel like that's how it's been for you this year?

• 6:22Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've reached a pretty high level of burnout last summer and I didn't. Realize what it was until I was like, I think this is what they call burnout. Like just from just not taking a break or like a long enough one, you know? Just a couple of days at a time just wasn't enough for like the amount of busyness. And so I've, I just feel like we have to learn to balance. It's really hard when you're so driven to like relax into doing nothing and but if you don't recharge, it's like then you're only operating at 50% anyway.

• 6:57Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely.

• 6:58Speaker 03

  You know, like the recharging is so important. It's just hard to do.

• 7:00Bunnie XO?

  It is. And I mean, you've been in the industry, what, 24 years?

• 7:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:05Bunnie XO?

  That's a long time. So for you to just have reached burnout last year, you're a savage.

• 7:12Bunnie XO?

  Like you are an animal.

• 7:13Speaker 03

  Well, I think it's like, and it wasn't like the like burnout where I'm like, I'm quitting forever. It was just like one of those moments.

• 7:19Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 7:20Speaker 03

  I've, I've had those over the years and honestly, a lot of it for musicians, as you know, because you're on tour is August. Like when you're doing summer tours, like I think y'all did last year.

• 7:30Bunnie XO?

  Mm hmm. We start, yeah, we started earlier last year.

• 7:33Speaker 03

  Yeah. And so by the time August comes, you're like, I've been hot all year. You're playing outside. You're just like, August is usually like the, everyone's like, I don't want to tour anymore. It's like, yes, you do. It's just August. It's just what we do in August, but and then you take a break and you're like, okay, I'm ready again. But yeah, it's, um, I don't know. I just think I'm starting to learn a better, how to balance. Like actually living your life because as a creative, if you don't let go live your life, there's nothing to write about. There's nothing to like, there's no fuel, you know what I mean? If you just constantly are going to the next goal, it's like not sitting in the success either of what you've already done, you know?

• 8:15Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. And I think it, that also comes with age too, because I'm actually four years older than you. And when I hit 40, I, my life was like, I've got to change something because I lived in chaos for so long. And I feel like from 40 to like 44, you kind of like learn to start stopping and smelling the roses. And it's like, you almost kind of like can taste life, if that makes sense. Like before, it's like, you're just kind of going through the motions. And then it's like, once you reach a certain age, you kind of get to a point where you're just like, wait. I enjoy doing this or I, you know, like you love doing your dog thing and like, you know, stuff like that. Like you start to like the little things you start to enjoy and appreciate a little bit more.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, and you sort of sit in it a little more. You just

• 9:01Bunnie XO?

  That's the word, yes.

• 9:02Speaker 03

  Yeah, you, my manager used to say, you don't sit in your life. It's like, I didn't know how to do that. And I've learned, I'm learning how to do that. And I agree, at forty, you just go, I really just wanna go after the good shit and not deal with any of the other noise that doesn't really matter in my life. And also spend my time, whether it be personal or professional, on things that really add to my life. Like, I do love what I do for a living. That's why I've done it for so long. But you can't love it all the time. You know what I mean? So it's like, taking moments and, and also chasing hobbies and like, doing other forms of art. Like, I need to just sit down. I don't paint. I'm terrible at it, but I should try. You know what I mean?

• 9:45Bunnie XO?

  I can't draw a stick figure, so it's okay.

• 9:47Speaker 03

  It's like, just, you know, I ride horses and like, I love that. And it's physical and it's so good for your mind and spirit. It's like, so taking time to do those things is important.

• 9:58Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. I want horses so bad. We just finally bought five hundred lakers, five hundred acres of land. And I'm like, the first thing, I'm like, I'm like, can we get, can we be like Noah's Ark? I want two of every animal. Like, I just want horses. Yeah, I'm ready. And

• 10:13Speaker 03

  It's gonna make it harder to leave, though.

• 10:15Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, exactly. Well, you know, I always tell my husband, I'm like, I love you, I support you, but you chose this life. I don't have to go on every single tour with you. He's like, yes, you do. I'm like, alright, fine. So we'll, we'll discuss that, you know, in another five years. But you had talked about hobbies. Besides riding horses, what do you do to kind of get away from all of the chaos and just the lights, camera, action besides riding horses?

• 10:38Speaker 03

  That's pretty much kind of the only one I have time for. Um, I also go in taking, like, I go to this place called Round Top. It's in Texas and it's twice a year and it's, um, like, literally miles and miles of just any kind of everything you can think of. It's like the biggest flea market ever in the world.

• 10:57Bunnie XO?

  That sounds like heaven. We need to go while we're on tour.

• 10:59Speaker 03

  It's fun. It's a girl's trip, though, for sure.

• 11:01Bunnie XO?

  Where is this?

• 11:02Speaker 03

  It's in, it's like two hours from Austin.

• 11:05Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 11:05Speaker 03

  It's, I'll, I'll Just, we gotta go.

• 11:08Bunnie XO?

  Okay, no, seriously.

• 11:10Speaker 03

  It's my friends, Junk Gypsies, they have, um, they're like a lifestyle brand and they sort of are the staple of this whole vibe and they have a bed and breakfast, it's beautiful. And, um, it's called The Wonder Inn, it's so cute. And so, it's a girl's thing, we like go and ride around golf carts and drink wine and buy old shit.

• 11:30Bunnie XO?

  Oh my god, no, I just got into antiquing, like, we've started doing that. We actually did a lot of the stuff that's in the studio, we went to an antique store and got. And I'm obsessed, my, my stepmom used to do it when I was younger and I was just like, why do you want old stuff all the time? And now I'm like, I crave it.

• 11:46Speaker 03

  It has stories.

• 11:47Bunnie XO?

  Yes, it does, it definitely does. And, I don't know, something about going to an antique store and just browsing through people's old things is like, so meaningful. Because you're like, where was this piece at? Or like, who, this was in somebody's home at one time and it actually meant the world to them? Or like, maybe it was a centerpiece that brought them together at dinner every night? Or, you know, like, it's just little things like that.

• 12:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's just like, I don't know, just something that's simple, that you don't have to think.

• 12:12Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely, couldn't agree more. I love the fact that you and your manager are so close, because that's the same with my manager and I. And one thing that I admire about you too, is you are so girl power. I'm the same way, and I don't think a lot of people get to see that side of you in the public eye, but behind the scenes, like, everybody knows that Miranda is just female empowerment. Where does that come from? Where do you think that stems from?

• 12:37Speaker 03

  Well, thank you for saying that, it is. I, I just think it's like, there's room for all of us. And we don't have to be best friends, or, um, fake friends. We can just sometimes lift each other up from afar. Or sometimes we can really dig in and kind of join together as a team. I mean, it's hard for women, in a lot of ways, to do a lot of the things we're doing. But we're doing it and we're being great at it. And I, you know, my manager, my whole management office is women, and I feel like... Um, it's our job, especially when you get, when you've been in something a long time and you've kind of honed in on your craft. I feel like it's our duty to like, help the next generation and like, be there to mentor them and

• 13:23Speaker 03

  to learn from them too, like to stay in the know of like, the new ways to do things. Yeah. That in the music business, I mean, it's changing every single day, like how music is consumed, how the business works, how the fans are consuming the music. Like every single part of it is so different from when I first started and it's changing every day. So I'm trying to learn of like, you know, how everything works and to stay in it and to keep growing and to be inspired. But I can't do that alone, you know what I mean? Yeah. I feel like it's important for us to like, support each other and respect people that are really being their authentic self. Like, that's my favorite thing about any human is when someone's authentically themselves and

• 14:07Speaker 03

  really chasing after goals and being who they are, but also lifting up others, which you're great at too. You are really about lifting up other women and we figured that out right when we first met and had dinner and I was like, you can feel it from people. Yeah. And we were in Italy, we were celebrating Marianne's birthday and she has a friend named Elizabeth who's very, very like, I want to be her when I grow up, parts, parts of her, she's just this most classy, beautiful woman and super smart and um, we were talking about this exact thing with women of all ages at the table, just talking about, you know, the competition between women and how it can get really ugly. And not so much in Nashville, but just in life, you know? Mm-hmm. In Nashville, we're lucky because the country music community is pretty supportive and So supportive.

• 14:51Speaker 03

  and lovely, especially the women. Um, and, but she was saying, you know, there's a difference in wanting to win and wanting to beat everybody.

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• 15:45Speaker 05

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• 16:16Speaker 03

  That really struck me. I thought, I'm gonna take that with me because, you know, we can all win. We can all win. We're not all trying to get the same trophy anyway. We're all in our lanes, doing our thing. But it's when you start to go, I want to beat that person, that it becomes a different game.

• 16:31Bunnie XO?

  That becomes an inner competition. So yeah, that's actually beautifully said. And thank you for giving me my flowers. I really appreciate that. That's one thing that I've always just loved about you. I remember the first night that we met, I went home and told Jay, I was like, I love her.

• 16:45Speaker 03

  Well, you had a great dinner and you're just so down to earth and obviously really smart and you know who you are. And I just appreciate that about anyone, especially someone successful that brings other people along, you know? It's really important.

• 16:59Bunnie XO?

  No, I love that. Do you think that stems, we're gonna swing back, we're gonna go travel back in time to Longview. What was the name of the city that you grew up in?

• 17:07Speaker 03

  Longview, Texas.

• 17:08Bunnie XO?

  Longview, Texas.

• 17:09Speaker 03

  It's fairly a city, but...

• 17:11Bunnie XO?

  Isn't there like a little one that I cannot?

• 17:13Speaker 03

  Lindell is my hometown.

• 17:13Bunnie XO?

  Lindell, yes. Okay. The Yaya's. That's your grand, your meemaw. Can you take me on that journey?

• 17:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, I got on a tangent. I didn't actually answer your question.

• 17:22Bunnie XO?

  No, you're fine. You're totally fine.

• 17:25Speaker 03

  To answer your question, the, I think the lifting up of other women comes from there. That's where, that's where it all started was the yah yahs were my mom's mom, Wanda Coker. Um, she was my nonny. She had this group of girlfriends and they were like, drinking, smoking, gambling, like yah yahs, like, but they were so strong and they raised me. I mean, they were just constantly lifting each other up and being there for each other's families. And fun and so many stories and so many recipes and it just, but it was like, they're not like the, the boring kind of like grandma hang. It was like, they were wild,

• 18:07Speaker 03

  but they were so inspiring because they were just who they were. And they would come to my shows and stand in the pit, like at the front, like the first ones on the bike rack.

• 18:15Bunnie XO?

  That's gonna be us. That'll be all of us.

• 18:16Speaker 03

  It'll be us, yeah. And I'm like, I just, that was the first generation of the women that I grew up around. And then my mom and her best friends, who are basically my aunts, I have a very small family. So we have chosen family and um, that was the second generation of just all very successful and very driven and very strong. Um, and then now I have my own circle of really great gal pals that are all following their own passions and their own dreams, but are there for each other. And so, you know, um, since I don't have children of my own, I want to use that like part of what I've learned for, you know, younger generation, especially of artists, because nobody tells you how this goes.

• 19:00Speaker 03

  Like, nobody sits there and gives you a handbook of like, well, when you make it to this level, this is what's gonna happen. And then you're gonna have your first breakdown on week four of this tour. Like, no one tells you like.

• 19:12Bunnie XO?

  Those tour breakdowns are ruthless.

• 19:14Speaker 03

  They're rare, they're real. And no, no one tells you like what. Also what to do like

• 19:19Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 19:19Speaker 03

  If you've made it.

• 19:20Bunnie XO?

  Or like, yeah, like it's, it's a crazy world that you can literally go from one minute, nobody knowing who you are to being thrust into the spotlight and like, you know, nobody sees the years of work it took for you to get thrust into the spotlight though. And nobody tells you how to handle that or what to say, or, you know, we don't all have marions in our corners. So.

• 19:40Speaker 03

  Right. So I, we started, so I'm part of a label, um, founder of a label called Big Loud Texas. It's a branch of Big Loud, which I love working with Big Loud in Nashville. They're just amazing team. And, um, they approached John Randall, who's one of my best friends and, um, you know, co-writer and just, we've worked together for 20 years. And, um, about sort of keeping that outlaw movement from Texas going. I mean, so much of the music that, that influenced all music is Willie and Waylon and the boys. I mean, think about how, how much music came out of Texas that has influenced music over the years.

• 20:17Bunnie XO?

  And it's so important to keep that going. And so I'm really excited about it for so many reasons, but mostly because

• 20:26Speaker 03

  I've been through so much in this industry and, and personally in my life. And I feel like I can be there for the 2:00 AM call. Or I can be there for the, hey, I'm met with this new manager. What do you think? Or just, I want to just be an artist for the artist. You know what I mean?

• 20:44Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing though, because not, so not many people and many females in your position, especially your position of power, are willing to give back to the, to the new generation like that. And I think that you're setting an example and actually setting, creating a standard for the OGs and the country music to, you know, be there and kind of be like a, um, I don't want to say coach, but like a mentor.

• 21:09Speaker 03

  Yeah. And like a sounding board too. And, um, and also seeing, you know, we, we only have one artist signed so far because we're brand new. But his name is Dylan Gossett. He's from Austin and he's out there killing it. But like, just seeing the fire in the eyes of like someone just starting. It reignites your fire. You know, it's like, oh man, I remember the day of like, it's all right. It's all in front of you at this point. And like, the world is waiting for you to just.

• 21:38Speaker 03

  Coming, coming to the world and fly and I feel like being around that kind of energy reminds me of that I need to still have that energy.

• 21:47Bunnie XO?

  Hmm.

• 21:47Speaker 03

  When I, so when I do reach a level of burnout or I'm exhausted or, you know, when you do something for a really long time, you can't love it every day, like we said, but

• 21:54Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 21:55Speaker 03

  Um, I think being around that new fire and young people that are so hungry and so inspired is, is like, I want some of that. You know, and I want to give them some of the, the wisdom and some of the, uh, reminders of enjoy the ride.

• 22:10Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 22:10Speaker 03

  Because there's a lot of things that I don't remember because I was just going so fast, you know?

• 22:15Bunnie XO?

  It's crazy.

• 22:17Speaker 03

  Have to stop sometimes and like, like you said, like we're just now going, oh, I could just look around and absorb what, and, and like live in what I'm doing right now. It's a big moment or a small moment, whatever it is, but I want to just be there for anybody that just needs a sounding board of like, cause I've been there, you know?

• 22:35Bunnie XO?

  I think whoever you bring under their wing, under your wing is going to fly because I mean, who better to have, guide them through this industry than you? Cause you have been through everything that you could possibly think of in this industry. Your life is played out in the public, your music is just beautiful and like no matter what, everything you touch turns to gold. Like it, it, you are just, um, you're an artist that every other artist should strive to be like, because it's like you pour your heart and soul on these pages. And it resonates with everybody. It doesn't matter if they're a country fan, pop fan, like all genres, everybody knows who Miranda Lambert is. So I think that for you to have the attitude that you do and want to help these people that are coming up, they're just so lucky to have you.

• 23:20Speaker 03

  That's so sweet of you to say. I appreciate that. And I know because I know you and your husband, I know you see. All that goes into the, the art part of it. Everything else is the business like,

• 23:32Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 23:33Speaker 03

  But the art part of it is where it starts and ends and that takes almost everything out of you if you're doing it right.

• 23:38Bunnie XO?

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:39Speaker 03

  You know, and then the work begins.

• 23:41Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 23:41Speaker 03

  So it's like, you know what I mean? And so I, I, I know you see it day in and day out with, with Jason and like just everything y'all having to do. And I, you know, I don't, I don't think people understand um, that the, the pouring out of the heart and the living, like a lot of the stuff we write, that's the songs that resonate with you. Especially the sad, like the sad heartbreak ones. We had to live through that to get that on the page.

• 24:10Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 24:11Speaker 03

  And so, you know, sometimes I don't think people realize like this became a song because it was a life moment.

• 24:18Bunnie XO?

  Is it hard for you to relive those life moments time and time again? Like if you've had to write a song about heartbreak or something that you've gone through, you know, when you're going through it, I know that it's the, from pillar to post, like it takes some time, months before, sometimes years before songs come out. Do they still affect you the same way they did when you wrote them?

• 24:37Speaker 03

  You know, I think it's interesting, like on this new record, um, it's called Postcards from Texas and it's, I went home to make this record because I just felt like I needed to go back to the root of it all because I was, I just, um, left a label that I'd been on for 20 years and signed with Republic and with Big Loud. And, um, Republic New York. And so I felt this like new energy of like a whole new team that was so excited about the art and, and you know, after 20 years in the business, they're like more excited than anyone's ever been that I've worked with. So it reignited my fire, but I really wanted to go back to like the root of what, where I started and what,

• 25:18Speaker 03

  like the honky tonks in Texas are how I got my grit. It's where I learned my chops. You know what I mean? So I wanted to like go back and start there for this new, start there again, I guess. Um, for this new chapter of my life and career. Um, but I have learned like some of the songs I cut, like one of the toughest songs on the record that. That I was almost ten years old. It's called Run and it's very raw and it was a a moment in my life and it's a solo write. So with a solo write, you can't hide anywhere. Everybody knows it's you. You know what I mean? You can't be like, what was my co-writer's story?

• 25:53Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, you can't blame it on, you can't gaslight.

• 25:55Speaker 03

  Exactly. So like, you know, that part is like, I felt like it, that song is just an example, but it's one that I wasn't ready to sing before. But I also know that you don't have to live every song you write. I feel like once you get to a certain point, I take that back, every sad song, like I, I think I've been sad enough that I can revisit, like, if that makes any sense, I don't think it's healthy to try to stay tortured so you can be good.

• 26:25Bunnie XO?

  No.

• 26:25Speaker 03

  You know what I mean? I think at the beginning, you think that in your twenties, you're like tortured artists and there is an element to that, that, that is true. And um, also when you're young, you have to like live out some stuff to be able to write about it.

• 26:37Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 26:38Speaker 03

  And really sell it.

• 26:39Bunnie XO?

  Life lessons.

• 26:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, you have to be able to, when I hear your stories, I know that you lived them. Like,

• 26:44Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 26:44Speaker 03

  It's you can, you tell it with your truth. And so, um, but I did learn like in the last, I don't know, probably decade that like, okay, you don't have to go and like find the sadness and the pain, just you have your art. Like if you've been through enough, you can revisit that. And it's interesting to me too, because sometimes I'm reminded as I'm singing in the studio, which is hard for me sometimes. Like when you're going, when you're tracking in the studio and like, you're in the moment. And then two months later, you gotta go back and stand in a vocal booth and like, revisit that emotion, whatever song it was, you know what I mean? So you have to go back there. Um, but then I remember reminded, that's why they call it a recording artist, because

• 27:29Speaker 03

  you gotta get in character of whatever that song is. Funny or sad or burn their house down or whatever you're doing, you gotta kind of sell it in that moment.

• 27:37Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. I always call it turning trauma into art.

• 27:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:40Bunnie XO?

  Cause literally that's what you guys are doing. And I think that's what any creator, whether it's mu- music, online influencer, which I hate that frigging word, but um, I think anybody who pours themselves out on any sort of platform, you're turning whatever trauma you've gone through, big or small, into some sort of art.

• 27:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, I agree with that. And I think it's important because it makes people feel not alone.

• 28:02Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 28:02Speaker 03

  Whatever they're going through. Like it makes everybody be on the kind of same playing field, you know, it's like, Everybody has a life. Everybody has horrible stuff that's happened, have broken relationships. They also have a lot of highs that we can talk about.

• 28:18Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely.

• 28:18Speaker 03

  And, you know, I think we learned that too is, um, it's really good to sit in the, in the high moment. I don't think I sat in any of it for a while. I just didn't, I didn't take time to really, you know, like spend enough time in the pain or spend enough time in the joy.

• 28:37Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 28:38Speaker 03

  And I'm learning to do that a lot better now.

• 28:40Bunnie XO?

  Isn't it crazy how we do that as women? Being a woman is such an evolving journey.

• 28:45Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 28:45Bunnie XO?

  It's wild. Like, I, if I could give any advice to 25 year olds, it's just stop. Stop and soak it all in. Like, just enjoy every frickin' moment of it because it goes by in such a blink of an eye. Um, can we go back to your parents? Because I heard a really cute story that your parents took you on a stakeout when you were like three years old?

• 29:08Speaker 03

  My parents were private investigators.

• 29:10Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 29:11Speaker 03

  My dad was a police officer and my mom was a P I.

• 29:13Bunnie XO?

  Hmm.

• 29:14Speaker 03

  And my dad, my mom talked my dad into being her, um, partner. So they were Lambert and Lambert. I'm like, real clever guys. Like, do better. I'm a songwriter. That's not acceptable. Um.

• 29:26Bunnie XO?

  It's like Alpha and Omega.

• 29:27Speaker 03

  Exactly. They were, um, so they had a P I for my whole childhood and they mostly did divorce and child custody, which is where I think I got a lot of my early songs because I'm like 17 writing divorce songs. It's like, you know what I mean?

• 29:41Bunnie XO?

  You had so much, you know, product to go, yeah, material.

• 29:44Speaker 03

  So, but yeah, my mom took me on my first job. Her, she had a job that was like going to, I think it was Padre Island, which is like the beaches in Texas.

• 29:53Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 29:54Speaker 03

  And, um, she needed, she had to be, make friends with this like. Um, lady and her three year old. So she was like, well, perfect. I have a three year old. And so she's like, brings me on. That was my first plane ride and like, I guess we got the, I guess the person they were working for won the case because I became best friends with this three year old and my mom like knew all the, all the dirt on this lady. So it's, I mean, all my whole life, I, one time I was, I think I was in high school, I had to be in high school and I was a cheerleader and my mom took me on a job where I had to put my cheerleading uniform on and pretend to sell cookies for the cheerleading squad. And she was like, when you get in their house, um, ask to use their bathroom when they're getting their money out. And then when you get in there, see if there's any liquor.

• 30:37Speaker 03

  Cause they're not supposed to be drinking. I'm like, I'm fifteen.

• 30:41Bunnie XO?

  You're like, mom.

• 30:42Speaker 03

  I know. I'm like, I should be at cheer practice right now. She's like, no, this is what we're doing. So like, it just was normal for us. And when I tell people all that, they're like, it's so interesting. Cause it was, but she would pick me and Luke up from school and her like tinted window shady suburban and like.

• 30:57Bunnie XO?

  Not the shady suburban.

• 30:59Speaker 03

  Yeah. And she'd be like, here's your coloring books and a snack. We're gonna be staking out for about five hours.

• 31:04Bunnie XO?

  Could you get anything past your parents?

• 31:06Speaker 03

  Oh, absolutely not.

• 31:08Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I would think having P I's as parents, you, there's nothing you could do.

• 31:12Speaker 03

  No, I tried to sneak out one time to go to like a bonfire party. Cause we live in B F E Texas. Like that's what you do.

• 31:18Bunnie XO?

  I went to a pastor party one time.

• 31:19Speaker 03

  Same thing.

• 31:20Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 31:21Speaker 03

  And my mom was there.

• 31:25Speaker 03

  I was like, well, that's, that, there goes that.

• 31:27Bunnie XO?

  Did she know that you were going there? That's why she was there?

• 31:29Speaker 03

  Yeah. And then she was, yeah, she was like, I mean, there's just no getting away with anything, which I didn't really try. It was a really good, I grew up in like Little Baptist, Lindell, Texas, like football Friday nights, church on Sunday mornings. You know, like real.

• 31:45Bunnie XO?

  All American.

• 31:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, all American childhood and. Although my parents were PIs the whole time, like that's that was the difference, but.

• 31:53Bunnie XO?

  It's kind of like the dou- the double life.

• 31:54Speaker 03

  It really was, cause my mom would be like on a surveillance all night and then we'd come home, she'd make us cookies like from me after school, you know what I mean? So it was seems normal, even though the dinner conversations were like literally all about child custody and divorce and it was all these high powered like attorneys in Dallas and all this stuff. But at the time Luke and I were like, we don't really, it's just our parents' job.

• 32:17Bunnie XO?

  Literally, so it's like, it's just like what you just grew up with, that's why it just didn't even pay as you.

• 32:20Speaker 03

  As an adult though, people were like, they were what? They were proud of this? You know, so it was interesting and I do think I got a lot of, a lot of material. We, we also took in, um, when I was about fourteen, my parents started taking in abused women and children. Um, that were, you know, victims of bi- domestic violence situations. Cause with my dad's law enforcement background, it just kind of made sense. And, um, so from like fourteen until out of high school, I've shared my room with moms and daughters of whoever was in need at the time. And I really think that I learned a lot about life. I mean, because I was kind of sheltered in a way. And I had this like really sweet, small town childhood.

• 33:04Speaker 03

  I saw the ugly up close and personal, you know, in our own home. Like my parents, I would wake up in the morning, my parents had been out all night, like rescuing this mom and their kids or whatever. And so I feel like my early music, gunpowder and lead specifically, um, I really absorbed a lot, like I was old enough then to like really understand like, oh man, this, this world can be a really, really bad place. And, um, you know, see women that were just really at the bottom of their barrel and still have the strength to like get out and try to pick themselves up and get back on their feet. And so I think a lot of the early songwriting stuff I had came from the stories and the experiences that I had with those families.

• 33:48Bunnie XO?

  You've done it so wonderfully, though. I feel like you have embodied, when I said, when I was introducing you, you know, queen of like feminine rage, but it's like you make rage so hot. Like, it's crazy.

• 34:00Speaker 03

  I love that.

• 34:01Bunnie XO?

  You know, seriously.

• 34:02Speaker 03

  That needs to be on a t-shirt.

• 34:03Bunnie XO?

  No, literally, you do. And it's like, you know, because you have this sweet, like, just sugary voice, but you're packing a powerful message. And I remember the first time I heard Gunpowder and Lead, what I was just like, this, I hadn't even gone through a domestic violence relationship at that time. I think Gunpowder and Lead dropped when, like, 2006, '07?

• 34:22Speaker 03

  Maybe, yeah, '07.

• 34:23Bunnie XO?

  Eight?

• 34:24Speaker 03

  I think '07.

• 34:24Bunnie XO?

  Okay. Yeah, so I hadn't even gone through it, but I know when I went through my domestic violence relationship, that was my anthem, dude. I was like, I'm gonna burn this motherfucker down, Pookie. It used to get me hype all the time.

• 34:35Speaker 03

  I love that, and I'm glad. And I think that also the ones I saw, like, and we, you know, this is a whole situation, but that go back, I think that's where my fire started. Because I was like, I literally am gonna go burn your husband's house down for you. Like, the stories I would hear would be so awful, and then they would try to give it another chance. And I know that's such a, such an issue and such a case-by-case situation. But at 16, I couldn't understand then, like, why, why we, you got out, like, can't, we wanna keep you here. And so I think my, like, as you say, my rage started when I was like, well, then I'll just go burn the house down, then she can't go back.

• 35:16Speaker 03

  You know what I mean? It's like, I think, like, I didn't know, I didn't know how to process all of that. But living with those women and their, their daughters that were just like, like I said, just in the most horrible situation. And like, it also made me really thankful for a, a family that, that was fine with Luke and I being exposed to that. Like, you know, my mom didn't try to shelter us to the point where we couldn't handle that. And it taught us both a lot.

• 35:44Bunnie XO?

  I think it's beautiful because you know, some people might have looked at that and been like, you know, some kids don't know how to deal with so much emotion coming into their own home. But for you to be able to look at it and use it kind of like as your muse for music is actually a testament of how big your heart is to be able to see people that are suffering that your parents brought in and to be able to just kind of like make an anthem and music and just paint a picture of a life that you hadn't lived, but you got to witness.

• 36:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, and I actually wrote gunpowder and lead with a good friend of mine, Heather Little, and she had been in a domestic violence relationship. And so that was, I actually wrote down the idea when I was taking my concealed handgun class. When I was 18, my dad's a gun safety instructor, police officer and all that. So he was like, "You're gonna get your concealed." He was teaching the class and all the things.

• 36:39Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 36:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, and so, you know, and they teach you all the parts of the gun. We were right in the middle of having those families at our house. And I had started writing songs with this girl named Heather Little, and she was amazing. She is amazing. And she, you know, had two babies and she was like just living in a little farmhouse. But she was an amazing songwriter and I met her at a songwriting competition. And I was like, "Can we make music together?" Like especially when you're little, small towns and you don't really know what you're doing yet, you know? And we, I was taking my concealed class and they were like talking about the parts of the gun. I was like, "Gunpowder and lead, not sugar and spice. That's what we're gonna write."

• 37:22Speaker 03

  You know what I mean? And so it was really, it was really special to get to write that with her because it was her story and I had seen it so close with other families.

• 37:31Bunnie XO?

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• 39:54Bunnie XO?

  Writing music has been a huge part of your life because you write, you've been writing songs with your dad since you were little, correct? Yep. You guys, I think I read something where like he would take out the guitar and you would literally fall asleep in between him and the guitar. When did you know that you were gonna take this serious and like, college wasn't your thing? When did you know that you were just gonna be a star? That you wanted to be a star? Or did you ever set out to be a star?

• 40:22Speaker 03

  Well, uh, dad was, dad is a singer songwriter. He's really good. He had a, he had a band when he was a cop. They were all cops in the band and they called it contraband, which is ridiculous. They were narcotics officers.

• 40:34Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 40:35Speaker 03

  So it was like pretty freaking clever.

• 40:38Bunnie XO?

  I gotta, we gotta Google this.

• 40:39Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 40:39Bunnie XO?

  Is there anything on Google with that?

• 40:41Speaker 03

  I don't know. It was way back in the day. Uh, probably not.

• 40:44Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, we'll look and see if there is.

• 40:45Speaker 03

  And so he, so I really think, I mean, I got my kind of, grew up with just thinking like, I thought all this hag songs dad would sing were his songs. You know what I mean? But he's a great singer songwriter and um, and I guess I just wasn't very good in school. Like, I wasn't, I barely made it on grades. I didn't like it. I'd learn differently. I'm a creative. Like now, looking back, like I needed Adderall or something.

• 41:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no same.

• 41:14Speaker 03

  But my mom's like, don't put her on medication. Let her be creative. Like, back then it was like, we didn't know what all that was. You know what I mean?

• 41:20Bunnie XO?

  I know, and I, I appreciate parents like that, not saying anything to parents who do put their kids on medication. But I'm one of those parents now too. I just don't believe that, you know, let your kid be creative and see how their brain develops. And then if, you know, once they're old enough, then let them decide that on their own, you know?

• 41:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, I'm thankful my mom, cause now I know, I'm just like, over here doing this. You know what I mean? Um, but I just was like, starting to think like, I, what am I gonna do? Like, I live in this small little town and I don't wanna go to college. I'm not gonna be good at college for sure. And I entered this contest called the, it was called the True Value Country Showdown. And it was in Longview. It's this club called the Rio Palm Isle. And I just heard an ad for it on the radio when I was working in the garden and my mom, I went inside and was like, I was 16 and I was like, I wanna, um, I wanna enter this contest. And I, I'd always just been like, they always tried to get me to sing and needed to be my idea.

• 42:21Speaker 03

  Cause I was a teenage girl, so like, anything's their idea. I was like, no, absolutely not. You know? Um, and so I just decided to do this contest and people were like, she's really good. Like, like she has something. And it was the first thing that ever came naturally to me. Like, like really good. I say that lightly. I was sixteen, but I had something. You know what I mean? Especially for like the small town little competition. It was like, oh, people were paying attention to it. So it wasn't just like mom and dad going, you can sing, girl. You know what I mean? Um, and I think that's what just started it. I was like, what if I could do this? Like, so I started, um, playing guitar. My dad taught me three chords. It's all you need in country music.

• 43:04Bunnie XO?

  I've heard that too. I think Jay's told me that too.

• 43:07Speaker 03

  And I, I wrote my first song and it was like, it was like my end of my junior year. And I just went to my parents and was like, I, I really want to chase this. Like, I don't, I don't want to go to college. And dad's like, well, if I use the money that I save for college for you, that's all there is. And there's no plan B. So like, you're gonna have to make this work because if not, you're on your own. Like, we'll put that money we set aside towards this career that you want to chase, but then it runs out. That's it. So you gotta make this, like, if you're serious, you know, and I was. And so my mom started being my booking agent.

• 43:46Bunnie XO?

  I love, I love how supportive they were though.

• 43:49Speaker 03

  They were, they were the kind of parents that were like, you can be anything you want to be. And I'm so thankful because my brother is like brilliant and he is a techie and he went to UT and he's valedictorian.

• 43:59Bunnie XO?

  Oh, we love that.

• 44:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly. And I'm over here like, I'm gonna play some country tunes. But I started playing bars in Texas, anywhere that would let me play. My dad would pay people to let me play. I would play during set changes. I mean, my mom drove me around in an expedition. Like, have you ever seen Colm Monahan's Daughter, the movie?

• 44:15Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I haven't seen it, but I do know.

• 44:17Speaker 03

  Okay, well, it's Loretta's story. And they're like driving around in a car and she's going to radio stations. That's exactly what it was. Like bologna sandwiches, like just trying to, trying to figure something out and, um. And then, you know, so my dad saw that I was serious and it was like, okay, we're all doing this as a family.

• 44:35Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 44:36Speaker 03

  And my little brother was fourteen and he built me my first website. He still runs our website today. So it was, it was really like, I don't know how people, I don't know how people without supportive families do it. It's gotta be that ten times harder and I'm so thankful that I had a family that was behind me, you know?

• 44:52Bunnie XO?

  That's where your loyalty comes from.

• 44:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 44:55Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, you're like, you have such, you're such a loyal woman and I think it stems from just your family, just rallying and just being there for each other. So take me on this journey. When did you decide to come to Nashville? Cause you know, I know you're a Texas girl. I'm a Texas girl too. I was born in Houston, but you know, we all eventually leave, but we always come back. When did you make that big decision? I mean, you're, you're driving around with mom shopping songs, I'm assuming to radio stations. When does that click that you're like, you know what? I think I'm gonna go to Nashville.

• 45:28Speaker 03

  Um, I got auditioned for, well, American Idol was happening at the time. It was the first season, so it was Kelly Clarkson. She had just won and she's a Texas girl and mom was like, you could do that. You can, you gotta go try out for Idol. And I wasn't interested in it because I wasn't a pop singer and back in those days of Idol, it was like pretty pop driven and they didn't let you do originals and I was writing songs. And I'd been playing the bar scene for almost three years and I had a little independent album called Miranda Lambert.

• 46:00Speaker 03

  That I had, that I made in Dallas.

• 46:02Bunnie XO?

  Lambert and Lambert.

• 46:03Speaker 03

  Yeah. And it was like ten, it was ten songs and we made it in Dallas. It was just a little, I was still on the back of my mom's car. We printed three thousand, like.

• 46:11Bunnie XO?

  Let's not brush over the fact that you're playing in Texas bars, okay? Like the Texas bar scene was rowdy back then.

• 46:17Speaker 03

  They don't, they weren't letting girls play at all.

• 46:19Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 46:19Speaker 03

  That's why I was playing during set changes or. Like until I started being like, that's how I learned my chops though. Like I learned immediately how to deal with a drunk asshole. And immediately how to sing way louder over clanking beer bottles.

• 46:34Speaker 03

  I'm gonna have to quit doing ballads. I'm gonna have to do some rockers. You know, so I learned a lot in those days of like honky tonking because that is not a glamorous scene and it's not a female. Uh empowering scene.

• 46:46Bunnie XO?

  It's way different than Nashville honky tonks. I feel like Nashville honky tonks are a little bit glamorous. And the ones in Texas are a little bit more, a lot more seedy. I don't know if you ever watched, um, I rode the bullet Gillies. That's kind of like what it reminds me of.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  I'm wearing a ghillie shirt on the cover of my record.

• 47:01Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I grew up wearing one. Not I wrote, not the movie. Uh, what is it called? It's Urban Cowboy with John Travolta. That was my, that I grew, that was my love story growing up. You know, like people, girl, little girls grew up watching like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I grew up watching Urban Cowboy.

• 47:17Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, same, same. But it was gla- that was glamorous to me though. That's the funny part, you know what I mean?

• 47:24Speaker 03

  So I, I knew a little show popped up, um, called Nashville Star. And I auditioned. My mom was like, I think you should audition and. I was like, I don't know, cause like those things are rigged and will I be like some little, I don't know. I just wasn't sure of like what. And contests, all the contests that I'd ever done were like weird and shady. And I was just like, I don't really. I can do this. It's just gonna take me a really long time. I can do this. I can grind this out. And. My mom's like, well, what if though? What if you got, could get seen by like the person you're supposed to be seen by to get you further in your career? Cause I'm playing for like two hundred dollars a night, you know what I mean? And so I auditioned in Houston. I did not try cause I had a terrible attitude.

• 48:07Speaker 03

  And I just did the wrong song and it showed up with a shitty attitude. And my mom was like. We got, and I didn't make the top thirty. Actually, that was Dallas. I tried out in Dallas. Didn't make the top thirty. And

• 48:20Bunnie XO?

  Why did you have an attitude?

• 48:21Speaker 03

  I just didn't want to be there.

• 48:22Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 48:23Speaker 03

  And we got in the car and my mom like didn't start the car. She's like turned and looked at me, you know, like when no one wants their mom to do that ever. She like turned and looked at me and it's like silent in the car and we're like this close. She's like, that was terrible. You wasted my time. I drove all the way to Dallas for you to audition and you wasted everybody in there's time. You wasted your time. You wasted God's time and my time. And we're not doing that. She goes, and I know you don't want to do this, but I also don't want to drive you around in this expedition for the next 10 years. So like, so you're going to go to Houston and you're going to give it your go. And if you give a hundred percent, I'll never mention it again. And I was like, okay. So we drove to Houston and I had a, I had to do adjustment.

• 49:04Speaker 03

  And I sang an Emmylou Harris song and I ended up winning the whole thing for Houston and um, got a national star and um, so that was at college. Like I was almost 20 and, or I was 19 and like my mom dropped me off at DFW. I'd never flown by myself. Like ever. And so I was like crying and I had like my comforter, like I was going to some dorm somewhere.

• 49:29Bunnie XO?

  Emotional support blanket.

• 49:30Speaker 03

  Cause I was like moving to Nashville, pretty much. You know what I mean? And so

• 49:34Bunnie XO?

  So when you won that and that meant you had to move to Nashville.

• 49:36Speaker 03

  When, when I won for Houston, um, I went on to regionals, which were in Nashville and got the top 10 for the contestants. So I got on the show. And we all lived in a house. It was a reality show. We all lived in a house together. And I'm like 19 from Lindell, Texas. I, I was the youngest by 10 years. I was like, I don't even know what I'm getting into, but

• 49:56Bunnie XO?

  They just thrust you into the spotlight.

• 49:57Speaker 03

  Kinda did. And I'd never been on TV before. And so that was my like intro and I got third in the competition, which was better because um, the contracts for those things aren't the best.

• 50:10Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 50:11Speaker 03

  So like getting first, you're like locked in. So third was good, but I got a record deal out of it with Sony that I was on for 20 years. So.

• 50:18Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing. I never knew, I never knew the reality story part, but

• 50:22Speaker 03

  Yeah. Well, it, the show didn't last and it's not, you know, it was really didn't, all it did for me was exactly what I wanted it to do, which was. Tracy Gershon was um working at Sony and she was like, this girl has something, this is authentic. And you know, that's my favorite part about anyone is authenticity. And so um I was just my true self on that show and it really got me exactly where I needed to be. And then it was through another three years before I had a record deal or any, I had a record out or anything, but.

• 50:54Bunnie XO?

  When did your first album drop? Two thousand five?

• 50:57Speaker 03

  Two thousand five.

• 50:57Bunnie XO?

  And that was Kerosene?

• 50:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 50:59Bunnie XO?

  You came out the gate swinging.

• 51:01Speaker 03

  You did your homework, girl.

• 51:02Bunnie XO?

  Listen, baby, I, you know, you're one of my favorite humans. I wanted to learn about you. So Kerosene drops. I mean, you are literally just pretty much thrown into country music and it takes off from there. How are you feeling? Like, was, is dad happy, first of all?

• 51:20Speaker 03

  Oh, my parents are like, still, I mean, they're so proud. They're all, they're proud, but it was, I mean, it was a ride. It was a journey. Like, it was scary. Because we didn't really know what we were doing. I mean, you know what I mean? It's like, Texas has its own scene and we kind of knew what to do there, but like this was, we're make, we're doing it. And yeah, Kerosene did really well. I mean, it sold a million copies and um it just kind of launched me into it. And then I just went on the road forever.

• 51:48Bunnie XO?

  Forever.

• 51:49Speaker 03

  As soon as that happened, I went on tour with Keith Urban in two thousand five.

• 51:52Bunnie XO?

  We love Keith. Keith, it was so funny because we saw Keith at one of the award shows and I was like, I don't get the appeal of Keith. And then I saw him on stage and I was like, get, I get it. I get it now.

• 52:03Speaker 03

  That guitar in his hand, girl.

• 52:04Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no, totally get it.

• 52:06Speaker 03

  Ballgame.

• 52:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I totally get it.

• 52:08Speaker 03

  He taught me, like, we came straight out of like the bars in Texas to Keith Urban tour and their show is incredible. Like, he's an incredible artist.

• 52:16Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, and a showman, a showman. Yes.

• 52:18Speaker 03

  And I was like, the first show, I called my whole band, like, we had a band meeting. And I don't even think, we had like this broke down bus and I was like, meeting on the broke down bus right now. Like, we have to watch his show every night because this isn't just like, the bars in Texas anymore. This is like, the big guns.

• 52:34Bunnie XO?

  Was it arenas?

• 52:35Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 52:36Bunnie XO?

  So you went straight from bars in Texas to arenas?

• 52:39Speaker 03

  First tour and I was like, oh, this is how it's done.

• 52:42Bunnie XO?

  Goodness.

• 52:42Speaker 03

  And so we watched Keith every night. Like, we had to, we just had to really. I literally found my band at Guitar Center in Greenville, Texas. Like, we came out of nowhere. So like, it was like, oh, we have to, this is the big stage. This is it. And so, and then I went on tour with George Strait and I mean, I just was on the road. Literally, well, still am.

• 53:06Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no, literally.

• 53:07Speaker 03

  I mean, that's, but that's what launched it. And I, I literally just

• 53:12Speaker 03

  did it like old school. Like, we just, we opened, opened, you know, we had fifteen minutes and then we'd get in the middle slot and then finally became a headliner. But I mean, it's just been the road since then.

• 53:22Bunnie XO?

  It's been amazing. It's been beautiful to watch because I've been around watching your career since it started. So I just, I just think it's amazing. Um, can we talk a little bit about your new album, Postcards from Texas, Damn It Randy? Somebody made a special contribution to this, to the lyrics on the album?

• 53:43Speaker 03

  They did. Somebody, um, my husband got his first cut on this, on a record, first cut on any record ever.

• 53:51Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 53:52Speaker 03

  And disclaimer, my husband is a retired police officer, not a songwriter.

• 53:54Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, and we're gonna get into how you guys met in a second, but I just, I want to hear this story.

• 53:58Speaker 03

  Literally, so during twenty twenty, we like, obviously everybody's at home bored and I'm a songwriter, so I'm like, let's write songs. Like, and so he was like, I don't know how to write songs. So I was like, yeah, you can, you can do it. You know, so we start, I get the guitar out, we start writing. And he's actually really good. Like, he, he has some really good lines. I mean, being a New York police officer, he's lived enough life to like have some good lines in there, you know? Um, and so we would write a little bit. We probably wrote like four or five just little tunes during COVID. And then, um, and then, like, one day he was just talking shit and our friend Jesse Frazier, who is your friend too?

• 54:40Bunnie XO?

  They, they come on tour with us.

• 54:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, I know.

• 54:42Bunnie XO?

  Those are the writers that he's up with all night.

• 54:44Speaker 03

  Jesse Joe, yeah.

• 54:45Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love Jesse Joe.

• 54:46Speaker 03

  And Jesse Alexander.

• 54:47Bunnie XO?

  Yes, all the Jesses. We love all the Jesses.

• 54:49Speaker 03

  Um, he was talking shit to Jesse Frazier. It was like, you know, he was like, writing's not that hard. It's easy. Jesse was like, oh, okay. So he made Brendan come in and do a literal write with me and Jesse and Brendan, like. Like he had tracks pulled up and he made Brendan sit there. He came from the golf course. He was in his golf outfit. And he was like, we were there for like four and a half hours. I mean, it's, it's a lot. And he was like, oh, it is really hard.

• 55:16Bunnie XO?

  No, it's work.

• 55:17Speaker 03

  He taught him a lesson.

• 55:18Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. When you sit in a, or like when my husband does those writers camps, like, I'm like, how does your brain, my brain would explode.

• 55:24Speaker 03

  It does sometimes. And it's exhausting.

• 55:26Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. I wouldn't be able to put two words together by the end of the day. Like,

• 55:30Speaker 03

  You can't.

• 55:30Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 55:32Speaker 03

  I mean, I can't. I'm just like, but anyway, so that happened and we got a great song out of it. So now he's just like, I'm a songwriter. Okay. But,

• 55:41Bunnie XO?

  We love that for Brendan.

• 55:42Speaker 03

  Exactly. He's one of those people that's down for anything. And he also is good at everything, which is annoying. Um, and so getting ready for this record, John Randall and I were co-producing it and, um, we're sitting there doing like pre-production, which we were drinking tequila, talking about the music really is what we were doing. And he got the guitar out. Every time that happens, we're gonna write a song. It's just how our chemistry is. And we kind of started talking about like, you know, leaving Sony and signing with a new record label and really just like talking about having a situation that doesn't serve you anymore and moving on from that and what a fire it lights under you and like, how you know when you need to close the door on something.

• 56:24Speaker 03

  And John Randall's my buddy, but his name's actually Randy. And so we always say, damn it, Randy to him.

• 56:30Bunnie XO?

  That's a great merch too, by the way.

• 56:33Speaker 03

  And so we started writing this song and Brendan kept popping in while he was watching football. And I was like, are we doing this? Or are you like in or out? You're gonna have to turn the game off. Like, you pick a side, pick a side. And so,

• 56:43Bunnie XO?

  You're a songwriter now, dude.

• 56:44Speaker 03

  Exactly. You're a songwriter. So get your pen out.

• 56:46Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 56:47Speaker 03

  So he, we started writing it together and he wrote some of the greatest lines in the song. I mean, he really, and JR was looking at me like, dang, he's killing it. And so it was, it's really special actually, because also the situation I wrote this song about Brendan is my husband. So he's had to hear me bitch about it for so long that he kind of knew the story better than I did.

• 57:09Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 57:09Speaker 03

  You know, so he had the same emotion in it that I did. And so I'm real proud of him and he's super excited about it too. Like when we cut it in the studio, he didn't, he wasn't there all day. He came in in the afternoon and I was like, I want to play you something. And so the whole band like knew he'd written it. So we're all just staring at him. I went push play, we pushed play. He's like, he won't say it, but he got a little misty eyed. He was like, you got my song? Like, it was awesome. So it's, it is one of my favorites on the record.

• 57:39Bunnie XO?

  I love that. What can we expect from Postcards from Texas? Is there anything different? Or are we gonna get, you know, the spicy Miranda? Are we gonna get the lover girl Miranda? Cause your ballads are just as beautiful as the spicy stuff. Like what, what is, what does this embody on this album?

• 57:56Speaker 03

  You know what? It's in country especially, like we kind of do like every two or three year album cycles. So I feel like every record I've ever made has been like kind of a, um, a snapshot of like where I was in those two or three years. Sort of like as life progressed. But this record feels like two decades worth of information a little bit. It's why I called it Postcards from Texas because number one, it felt like home. It sounds like home. It's very honky tonk. It's like back to the root of everything I've ever loved and that has influenced me. But it's also, there's all of it. Like I, I put Damn it Randy and Wranglers in my set.

• 58:38Speaker 03

  Um, the last couple of weekends and it feels like right up next to kerosene or gunpowder or Mama's Broken Heart. It feels like those songs could have been on any record I ever made. So I feel like there's something from every kind of period of my life in a way. Um, and some of the songs are old, you know? I've written about a decade ago and they just needed to find their home now. Cause I'm ready to sing them now. Um, some are songs my friends wrote and you know, I think there's an emotion for every, or there's a song for every emotion on this record. There's fun, there's nostalgic, there's heartbreak, there's burn your house down.

• 59:16Bunnie XO?

  I'm excited.

• 59:17Speaker 03

  Frustration with Randy. Like there's just, everybody's got a Randy in their life.

• 59:22Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I'm excited. And it drops, uh, September 13th, correct? Yeah. So everybody listening to this podcast, go get that album. I wanted to circle back to you and Brendan. How did you guys meet? Take me on this journey with your love story because I know the world is so curious about you guys. Latte for Keenan?

• 59:41Speaker 07

  That's me.

• 59:41Bunnie XO?

  Hey, you're

• 59:43Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 59:43Bunnie XO?

  buying a car online on Autotrader?

• 59:45Speaker 07

  Really? But unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online or at the dealership.

• 59:51Bunnie XO?

  Cool. Enjoy.

• 59:52Speaker 07

  Buy your car online on Autotrader. Really?

• 59:55Speaker 08

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• 1:00:55Bunnie XO?

  And I've got to see you guys in person and I think it's adorable. I feel like you guys are like yin and yang and just kind of like balance each other.

• 1:01:02Speaker 03

  We really are. We're really, we're really best friends, honestly. And it's, you know, a girl from Lindell, Texas and a guy from Staten Island, New York. It's like just happenstance that we even crossed paths. We met in the city. Brennan was a cop and I was doing Good Morning America and we kind of crossed paths and we met up after our show. I was there with Pistoleannys.

• 1:01:23Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love them.

• 1:01:24Speaker 03

  My gal band.

• 1:01:25Bunnie XO?

  I love the Pistoleannys.

• 1:01:26Speaker 03

  We were doing a song called "I Got My Name Changed Back"

• 1:01:28Bunnie XO?

  Love it.

• 1:01:29Speaker 03

  from when I had to change my name back from when I got divorced, which takes a very long time. And so we wrote a song about it and we were doing it on the show and on Good Morning America and We just crossed paths and he came to the show and.

• 1:01:43Bunnie XO?

  When you guys crossed paths, did, did you check him out like?

• 1:01:47Speaker 03

  Well, my friend Angelina, my bandmate, she was eight months pregnant and she was wearing giant heels. She was towering over everyone and she was like, standing there like frustrated because she's like in heels pregnant on the street in New York. And she was looking around and she was like, oh, there's a cop over there and he's hot. Hot cop, everyone, hot cop. Like, like tapping us on the shoulders and we're like, yeah, he's cute, but it's eight in the morning. We've been up doing glam since three thirty.

• 1:02:11Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, Miranda's like, I can't be bothered.

• 1:02:13Speaker 03

  All I care about is my, looking in the back of my eyelids right now because we had a show that night. And my security invited him, they kind of knew some of the same people. So my security team invited him to the show. And we gave him one ticket, no plus one.

• 1:02:28Bunnie XO?

  I love that and he still came.

• 1:02:30Speaker 03

  He came by himself and we met up after the show. I didn't even see him before the show. We met up after and just kind of hung out and talked and I didn't really know. There wasn't like an agenda really. It was just like, hey, nice to meet you. I was wearing like a Waylon Jennings T-shirt and he's like in his.

• 1:02:44Bunnie XO?

  You look hot though.

• 1:02:44Speaker 03

  Gold cross. Like, I'm like, this is gonna be weird, but he was super cool and um. We talked and then we just kept in touch and we wrote each other literal letters like, like old school and um.

• 1:02:57Bunnie XO?

  That's sweet.

• 1:02:58Speaker 03

  It is. It's like.

• 1:02:59Bunnie XO?

  That's actually really brought me on.

• 1:03:00Speaker 03

  I was like, do you want to be pen pals? He was like, like write letters with a pen. And I was like, yeah, he's eight years younger. So that was like really mind blowing to.

• 1:03:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. Jay's five years younger than me, so I get it.

• 1:03:10Speaker 03

  Yeah, sometimes people actually write things down on paper and put them in envelopes in them.

• 1:03:14Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:15Speaker 03

  So all texting and so um, we just hit it off. Like we're just very, we're very different, but we come from the same. Background, like he's from law enforcement and first responder family. All his family's cops and firemen. And so was mine. And so that just felt like homie, like that felt like we came from the same, cut from the same cloth.

• 1:03:34Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:34Speaker 03

  Even though we're from like New York and Texas.

• 1:03:36Bunnie XO?

  Yankee and southerner.

• 1:03:38Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly. But also I feel like we have the same mentality from both of those places, like. Super sweet, but like, don't mess with us. And if you don't like us, we really don't care. You know, and so our attitudes sort of like they aligned and he's someone in my life that is not a yes person. I don't believe in surrounding yourself with yes people at all, and I don't do that. I mean, my friends and family and my management team and everyone in my life is like truth tellers and they don't. I don't, I don't think it's healthy mentally.

• 1:04:10Bunnie XO?

  It keeps you honest.

• 1:04:11Speaker 03

  It sure does. I don't like that, that, you know, I just don't think it's healthy for people to surround themselves with people that are disagreeable or not in it for the right reasons or something, you know?

• 1:04:22Bunnie XO?

  I wouldn't want that anyways. I want somebody to be like, no, you're fucking up right now, or you could do this better, you know?

• 1:04:27Speaker 03

  Hundred percent. I think it's important and Brendan's just very honest. I mean, he's a harsh New Yorker and I like that because he just tells it like it is. He doesn't sugarcoat. He doesn't, he calls me on my shit and I want someone like that in my life. But he's also super supportive.

• 1:04:44Bunnie XO?

  It's also essential to growth, you know, you're never gonna grow if somebody's just letting you do something.

• 1:04:49Speaker 03

  No, and you and Jay seem that way. Like you really balance each other. Like when I've been around y'all together and just even seeing from afar, I just feel like it's really, it's genuine and it's honest.

• 1:05:01Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:02Speaker 03

  You know?

• 1:05:02Bunnie XO?

  Well, it's like you said, we're best friends. Him and I have been through so much shit and it's like half of it's not pretty. And you know, I talk about it on my podcast all the time. Like we've been through some shit and there's nothing that that man could do that I would ever just never, you know, wanna work through with him.

• 1:05:20Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:05:21Bunnie XO?

  Like I just love him. That's my person. And I feel like that's how you and Brendan are too.

• 1:05:25Speaker 03

  It is. I told him like, I'm, I'm an ninja for you. Like I will fight through anything with you. And I feel like that's so important. And I think, you know, Going through other relationships, you learn through those things and you learn what's important and you learn about communication.

• 1:05:41Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 1:05:42Speaker 03

  And what you did do and what you didn't do. And so I think, you know, I came into this marriage with such a, a, a strong sense of like what I want and what I want to be

• 1:05:54Bunnie XO?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:05:54Speaker 03

  For someone and a partner that I want to be and the partner that I need him to be.

• 1:05:58Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:58Speaker 03

  And, you know, voicing that, number one, and communicating all of the things right away and not, not harboring resentment or not telling them right away is like something that's so important to us.

• 1:06:09Bunnie XO?

  It, it's important in any relationship because too many relationships harbor resentment and then that just creates a distance. And when you have distance in a relationship, that's when people drift apart.

• 1:06:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure. And also when you have distance physically, like Brennan's back in New York a lot and I'm on the road and it's like you, you can't have distance emotionally and physically. That's not gonna work.

• 1:06:29Bunnie XO?

  No. Jay and I have a two-week rule.

• 1:06:31Speaker 03

  I like that.

• 1:06:31Bunnie XO?

  Where like we don't go more than two weeks without seeing each other. Um, we've been, we've had that rule since we first got together and we've stuck by it. There's been a couple of times where I've had to like go over two and a half weeks because our schedules have been busy, but as soon as, you know, I can, I get straight to him and it just.

• 1:06:46Speaker 03

  It's important to, to really reconnect, you know?

• 1:06:49Bunnie XO?

  It is. I just want to bring up the fact that you were the first, uh, female that had a Broadway bar open.

• 1:06:54Speaker 03

  Yes, ma'am.

• 1:06:55Bunnie XO?

  I mean, come on, girl.

• 1:06:56Speaker 03

  Yes, girl.

• 1:06:57Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, we, that's.

• 1:06:58Speaker 03

  I'm very proud of that. I really am.

• 1:06:59Bunnie XO?

  That, you should be. That is something to celebrate because in a world full of men, it's like, here's Miranda Lambert.

• 1:07:07Speaker 03

  It was really cool to have, to get to open Casarosa, um, because it was like all the guys and I love, the, the guys in country music are always so supportive of the women. They really are.

• 1:07:17Bunnie XO?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:07:17Speaker 03

  Like, I know that conversation always happens about just the, you know, the, the harder time we have and the uphill climb that it is, but we have, the country music community is always super supportive.

• 1:07:29Bunnie XO?

  So supportive.

• 1:07:30Speaker 03

  And I love that.

• 1:07:30Bunnie XO?

  I preach that on this podcast because, you know, coming from the, the arena that my husband was in, like the country rap or whatever it was that he was in. It was so drama filled.

• 1:07:40Speaker 03

  Whatever he was doing.

• 1:07:40Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, like, I don't know, I don't really, because I just always felt like my husband was more than that, you know? And I don't ever want to put him in a box. But when coming into the country scene, it it has blown our mind how so sweet and supportive and loving and like, we did not think it was going to be so accepting as it has been. So.

• 1:07:58Speaker 03

  It is.

• 1:07:59Bunnie XO?

  To know that the men support you too, and they're just out there like, hey.

• 1:08:02Speaker 03

  Yes, they do. And I appreciate that, but I I was really proud to like, on that row, on Broadway of all those boys bars, it was like, alright, but I mean, you know, it, like you said earlier, I meant to bring this up, but you said, you know, people don't see what it took to get there. Everybody, anyone that's really found their success and like really hit their stride, probably spent 10 years getting there.

• 1:08:26Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely.

• 1:08:26Speaker 03

  Pretty much.

• 1:08:27Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 1:08:27Speaker 03

  It's like, overnight successes are 10 year successes.

• 1:08:30Bunnie XO?

  Yes, absolutely.

• 1:08:31Speaker 03

  It's it's it's worth the work, but I just think sometimes people this day and age, because of all the platforms and socials and everything that we have, that's like, so everything's right now.

• 1:08:41Bunnie XO?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:08:42Speaker 03

  You know, I still think on either side of that, you got to put in the work.

• 1:08:46Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 1:08:47Speaker 03

  So even if you blow up on a social media platform or whatever, that's awesome, but get ready for 10 years of work, because like, that's what it takes to really sustain.

• 1:08:55Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. I've been doing my podcast six years.

• 1:08:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:08:57Bunnie XO?

  And it's, I'm in season eight, and it's just now getting

• 1:09:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:09:01Bunnie XO?

  the notoriety, the past two seasons that I've been praying for and manifesting, you know, so.

• 1:09:07Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:09:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no, it's definitely a work in progress. Let's talk about your Vegas residency. You were just in my city. We got to go out there and see you perform. The show was amazing.

• 1:09:18Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:09:18Bunnie XO?

  I took so many notes from your show that I wanted for like our set and for like the opening of my um, my podcast and stuff, like the the lights, just like everything. I was just like, I want that, I want this, I want that.

• 1:09:29Speaker 03

  You know, it's fun in Vegas because there's no such thing as too much of anything.

• 1:09:33Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:34Speaker 03

  And so like, which can be a really bad thing, but it also can be a good thing when you're talking about Fringe and Rhinestones.

• 1:09:40Bunnie XO?

  Yes, I mean, you can never have enough Fringe and Rhinestones. Give me all the Fringies.

• 1:09:44Speaker 03

  Exactly, so that was really fun to get to put that together. We, it was two years, we wrapped it in March.

• 1:09:49Bunnie XO?

  Um, that's a long residency.

• 1:09:51Speaker 03

  It was long, you know, that, it's, it's like, everyone was like, how was it? I'm like, it was amazing, but it's, it's a different kind of hard than the road.

• 1:09:59Bunnie XO?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:09:59Speaker 03

  Because you're still. Away from home, but you're in one spot and the party comes to you instead of you taking the party to them. So that's, it was a good break from the road and it really, like when I got back on Elvira, you know, my bus, when you met her.

• 1:10:12Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 1:10:14Speaker 03

  It was like, I miss this and I didn't ever think I would say that.

• 1:10:17Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:18Speaker 03

  You know, so, you know, like at the end of a tour, you're like, I don't want to see this bus again.

• 1:10:21Bunnie XO?

  No, we're, we're clamoring to get back on tour. We can't wait to get back on the bus.

• 1:10:25Speaker 03

  But you have to, it's good to miss it and Vegas helped me do that. And it also just was so fun with like the production stuff because you could just take it to a whole nother level because you're not putting it in trucks every night, you know, so. I'm really thankful for it and I got to love your city. I mean, the strip isn't Vegas.

• 1:10:41Bunnie XO?

  No, it's not.

• 1:10:42Speaker 03

  And that's all I knew of it from going to the ACMs for 18 years in a row, but I really learned to love like the outskirts. We stayed in the burbs and like, you know, I walked my dog every day and made eggs and like, had a real life there and, um, and I love the desert and just, I really, I really, I went to a Knights game. I loved it. It was my first hockey game to ever go to.

• 1:11:05Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:05Speaker 03

  It was really fun. So I just, I found like the things of Vegas that aren't like, you know.

• 1:11:11Bunnie XO?

  How beautiful are the sunsets?

• 1:11:12Speaker 03

  The sunsets are incredible. The weather in December is amazing.

• 1:11:15Bunnie XO?

  Yes, yeah.

• 1:11:16Speaker 03

  Yeah. And the, and the food scene's amazing, even off the strip. So like, I just really, I grew to really love like the locals too. Like I made friends with a lot of people that, that I've seen there for work, but they like live there. So we'd go to their house for dinner and it felt like, oh, this is just a really great community. Not that I don't love the strip, but for two days and you're good, you know?

• 1:11:36Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, yeah. No, I had never, whenever, because we're selling our house out there now, but whenever I would go out there, people are like, do you live on the strip? And I'm like, absolutely not.

• 1:11:44Speaker 03

  No one lives there.

• 1:11:45Bunnie XO?

  I will not go to the strip unless there is a reason. Like my husband has to be having a show or I'm going to see you or like, I'm never going to step foot on that strip unless I have to.

• 1:11:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:11:54Bunnie XO?

  The house that built me, by the way, when my dad passed away in May was the only song that got me through. I think I cried my eyes out for like a month straight with the house that built me playing in the background. So.

• 1:12:04Speaker 03

  That song is such a blessing. Like it's just one of those songs I'm so thankful to have.

• 1:12:08Bunnie XO?

  It is beautiful. Like if you listen to the words, just you literally paint a visual. In this song and like you just walk people through just a moment in your life, a snapshot in your life. And thank you for that. Um, lastly, can we talk about Mutt Nation?

• 1:12:24Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:12:25Bunnie XO?

  I, tell me all about it.

• 1:12:26Speaker 03

  I know your pup was here.

• 1:12:27Bunnie XO?

  I know, me too. I'm so upset you didn't get to meet Chachi.

• 1:12:30Speaker 03

  He's been a diva. He's getting groomed today.

• 1:12:31Bunnie XO?

  Well, he's, he got sprayed by a skunk two months ago and he still smells like shit.

• 1:12:36Speaker 03

  It stays forever.

• 1:12:37Bunnie XO?

  I, nobody told me that you're not supposed to put water immediately on a dog when they get sprayed by a skunk or else it locks the, the stuff in.

• 1:12:45Speaker 03

  I've done that.

• 1:12:45Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. Well, it's been a nightmare. I use douche. I've used marinara. I've used everything on this dog and he still smells like shit, Miranda. I cannot.

• 1:12:56Speaker 03

  It's the worst. My dogs smell like when I kiss them on the nose, I swear it was like six months.

• 1:13:01Bunnie XO?

  Oh, don't tell me.

• 1:13:02Speaker 03

  I know, I'm sorry, but good luck.

• 1:13:04Bunnie XO?

  The tour bus is gonna smell like skunk.

• 1:13:05Speaker 03

  Oh, man.

• 1:13:06Bunnie XO?

  It's rough. So tell me about Mutt Nation.

• 1:13:08Speaker 03

  Mutt Nation is my heart and soul and passion. Like, music and muds are my passion and luckily I get to mix them a lot.

• 1:13:14Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:15Speaker 03

  Um, but we're actually doing a show in Nashville on October 5th. You'll be on tour, but, um, or Edison for, um, for the, to raise money for Mutt Nation. But we started it in 2009, just me and my mom. Honestly, like it was a little mom and pop operation. Um, because I'd just grown up with like rescuing dogs. I guess that's what our family does.

• 1:13:33Bunnie XO?

  You guys rescued humans and dogs.

• 1:13:36Speaker 03

  Whoever's like three-legged, one-eyed, come on in. Um, and so, you know, when I was like finally getting somewhere in my career, my manager, Marianne was like, now's the time for you to like pick your platform, you know, that you can, you can use your platform for something great. What, what are you thinking? And I'm like, for sure dogs. Like, and my mom and I had been involved in rescue and stuff. And so we started Mutt Nation and it'll be 15 years. It's 15 year anniversary this year. And we've raised over $10 million to, we, we're not a shelter. We, we work with shelters. That's kind of what we do. With mom's P I background, felt like was kind of perfect because she could vet all these organizations that we're able to give to. And when, you know, when I was just

• 1:14:19Speaker 03

  starting out, like in 2009, I was like, I'm asking my fans to give to something. I want them to know where their dollars are going.

• 1:14:26Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:26Speaker 03

  Not just like, we're saving dogs. Like, what does that mean? So I wanted it to be very personal and like for me and mom to kind of have our hands in everything that we gave, everybody we gave money to. And so. My mom uses her P I background to like vet all these shelters and all that. We still do that. We give fifty.

• 1:14:43Bunnie XO?

  Mom gets shit done.

• 1:14:45Speaker 03

  She, she, she also told me to tell you hello.

• 1:14:47Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 1:14:47Speaker 03

  She really wants to know you. And she said, I said, right before I came over here, I called her because it was her birthday yesterday.

• 1:14:52Bunnie XO?

  Oh, happy birthday, Mom.

• 1:14:53Speaker 03

  And she said, will you tell Bunny to keep Bunny in? I like her.

• 1:14:56Bunnie XO?

  Oh, my goodness. I love her. I can't wait to meet her.

• 1:15:00Speaker 03

  She's awesome. But she, uh, anyway, we, Mutt Nation is basically, we, um, we kind of support shelters. We really, we do disaster relief. When there's natural disaster, we send funds and resources to help the animals in crisis. Uh, we work with U S war dogs to pay for medication for the retired U S military dogs.

• 1:15:21Bunnie XO?

  I'm in. Who do I give my money to?

• 1:15:23Speaker 03

  We do so much. We do prison programs where we, with the prisoners and the pets where they can rehabilitate each other.

• 1:15:31Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 1:15:32Speaker 03

  And then the dogs are up for adoption and so much more. There's so much, but I now, like, I don't have enough time to tell you all of it.

• 1:15:38Bunnie XO?

  No, you're fine.

• 1:15:39Speaker 03

  It's, you can look it up, muttnation.com, and we have it all on there. But it's a really ama- I'm so proud of it. And that's another thing I'm trying to learn is the more time I could have room in my life, the more time I can spend on that. And it, you know, there's one thing to talk about it in interviews and do a show for it, but I really like to be boots on the ground. I really like to go to the shelters. I'd go to a lot in Nashville and just love on the dogs and try to post about anybody that's been there a long time. I'm like, show me your longest resident. So if you ever want to come with me when it's not so hot, um.

• 1:16:11Bunnie XO?

  I would love to.

• 1:16:12Speaker 03

  Come walk dogs. And, you know, that's another thing I encourage people to do is if you can't give money and you can't adopt a dog, you can always just go volunteer, even an hour of your time, just getting them out of their enclosures and walking them and human interaction.

• 1:16:26Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 1:16:26Speaker 03

  It's, it just increases their chance of adoption so much. So.

• 1:16:29Bunnie XO?

  I would love to get Bailey involved in that. That's, that's probably something that she would love to do.

• 1:16:33Speaker 03

  It'd be great. There's so many great shelters in Nashville that we work with. Metro was one of them and, um, Nashville Humane and also Williamson County here in Franklin. So we gotta get together on that. Cause I know that you love animals.

• 1:16:46Bunnie XO?

  No, for sure. And I'm definitely going to donate because I didn't know, I, I knew, but I didn't know like everything that you had involved with.

• 1:16:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's, it's, it's really, um, personal for me and it's really. We have a director named Nina who's, you know, updates us weekly on there's tiny things that we do to where it's just a little, a beagle needs a wheelchair.

• 1:17:06Bunnie XO?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 1:17:08Speaker 03

  We bought a beagle wheelchair, or we'll give like thousands of dollars to like Hurricane Harvey Relief where I actually went and was part of that whole rescue. So it's just, it's, we do, we run the gamut, but we get to pick everything. And so we, when we ask people to give money, they know exactly where it's going.

• 1:17:22Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love that. And maybe when, when we do start building on this land, maybe there's, we can start helping with the dogs or something. I would love that. That would be like just a life goal. I just love dog nose. You know, like any dog nose, I just want to kiss it.

• 1:17:35Speaker 03

  And horse nose is good, too.

• 1:17:35Bunnie XO?

  What is it?

• 1:17:36Speaker 03

  Horse nose.

• 1:17:37Bunnie XO?

  Listen, I am going to get some horses soon. I promise you, I'm going to talk daddy into it. But Miranda, it has been so fun sitting here with you and thank you so much for coming. Is there anything you, besides the album, that you want to plug before you, we sign off?

• 1:17:50Speaker 03

  I think that was it. We talked about my nation and the album and, um, I think we did. Oh, one more thing I was gonna, cause I was gonna tell you, I have a brand called Idlewind and it's in Boot Barn and I want to give you some boots.

• 1:18:03Bunnie XO?

  Let's do it. I need some. I need some for tour.

• 1:18:05Speaker 03

  Get you some. That's what I was gonna say. I thought you could have some boots for tour.

• 1:18:08Bunnie XO?

  That would be amazing. I would.

• 1:18:09Speaker 03

  I'll text you and get your size and, or you can go on there and pick out whatever you want.

• 1:18:12Bunnie XO?

  Okay, I'll, I'll get.

• 1:18:13Speaker 03

  It's some jeans. They're stretchy.

• 1:18:15Bunnie XO?

  I'll hook you up. Yes, I need that. Cause these hips, let me tell you, I'll hook you up with Mimi and she'll get that over to you. But I, I don't mind paying for it either. Like I would love to. I, listen, I support the cause, sister, right?

• 1:18:25Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:18:25Bunnie XO?

  Thank you so much. And you guys know where to find Miranda. If you don't, just Google Miranda Lambert and you can find all of her socials. She's on TikTok, Instagram. I think you're pretty much everywhere.

• 1:18:34Speaker 03

  All the things.

• 1:18:35Bunnie XO?

  All the things, baby. And I cannot wait to have you. Promise me you're gonna come back and see me.

• 1:18:38Speaker 03

  I will. I will come back. Promise.

• 1:18:40Bunnie XO?

  Yay. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.

• 1:18:48Bunnie XO?

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