Lambert enjoys success

The Texas native is busy
touring with Toby Keith this summer.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Just as Garth Brooks sings in his song “Unanswered Prayers,” Miranda Lambert looks back at her 2003 appearance on “Nashville Star” and thanks her lucky stars.

As a runner-up, the young singer escaped the baggage that comes from winning a reality television show.

“It’s perfect because I got all of the exposure of the winner, Buddy Jewell, but I didn’t have to have that ‘Nashville Star’ title on my albums for the rest of my life,” said Lambert, calling from St. Louis. “I didn’t have to put an album out in a month. I had time to really put the music together that I wanted and finish writing the songs. I felt like I was in a perfect place in third place.”

By taking her time, Lambert was able to put together one of the strongest debuts in recent memory. Her 2005 album, “Kerosene,” of which she co-wrote 11 of the 12 tracks, debuted at No. 1 on the country charts and eventually went platinum. Hit singles “Me and Charlie Talkin’,” “Bring Me Down,” “Kerosene” and “New Strings” made her the talk of country music, resulting in tours with Keith Urban and George Strait, and also earning her a Grammy Award-nomination.

In fact, her name was recently called as “Best New Female” at the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Sophomore album

Lambert is now in the delicate sophomore album phase of her career, having recently released her second album “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which includes lead single “Famous In a Small Town.”

“I just want it to at least be as successful as ‘Kerosene,’” said Lambert, who is currently dating country singer Blake Shelton. “I’m really happy with the place that I’m at and how steady my career is building. I’m definitely not an overnight success, and it’s really taken me a while to build this career, but I want to be around for a long time. I think this second album is really a good solid steppingstone to where I’m going to be in my career hopefully.

“And I’m proud of it, because I think it shows where I’m at as a 23-year-old and where my writing is. It’s a really personal album, and I hope that people listening to it go away from it knowing a little bit more about me.”

Summer tour

Lambert can be assured people are getting to know plenty about her this summer as the Texas native is getting the primo opening slot on Toby Keith’s current tour, which makes its way to the area for a Saturday show at Post-Gazette Pavilion in Pittsburgh and an Aug. 23 date at Blossom Music Center. 

“I’m in front of 7,000 to 15,000 people a night, and it’s really a good feeling to go out there,” Lambert said. “I feel like I can hold my own with someone like Toby Keith. It’s cool because I think we’re different, and I bring something to the table as far as being a younger crowd that might not ordinarily go to a Toby Keith concert.

“And the other part is he has some of the older rowdy crowd that may not really know who I am but go away saying, ‘We really like what she does.’ I think it fits. Our music is different, but our shows are both really high energy and my job as an opening act is to get the crowd going for Toby, so I think we try to do that every night.”