Miranda Lambert - The Weight Of These Wings

[Farawayhills]

Back to the present - Miranda sang "Don't Come Home a-Drinking with Loving on Your Mind", and the Pistol Annies sang "Fist City", at Loretta Lynn's All Star Birthday Celebration Concert, at the Bridgestone tonight. (Clips can be searched for on Twitter, but I won't repost without the owner's permission).
The multi-artist concert is an early celebration of Loretta's 87th birthday (actually due on Apr 14th)

 

[lizcarlo]

Hope they put full version on YouTube. I bet Miranda and Pistol Annie's slayed it.

 

[Farawayhills]

Miranda has announced another "Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars" tour, with 26 dates, so far, in the coming Fall. Like some her previous ones, it will be another all female vocalist tour. It will also again adopt a revolving line-up, so anyone hoping to support particular artists will need to check venues individually when details become available. The women taking part with Miranda this time are the Pistol Annies, Maren Morris, Elle King, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes and Caylee Hammack

The Annies (obviously) and Tenille have toured with Miranda before, and Maren is part of the seven woman link-up of the Annies with the Highwaywomen (which also involves Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby) so friendships there are well established. I'm not sure off-hand whether she's appeared with Elle King or Ashley McBryde before, but they should be a good fit stylistically. Caylee is a newcomer to major tours, though she's been working the club scene since an early age - perhaps rather surprisingly she seems to be a recent signing to the UMG group, rather than Sony.

One obvious question is whether this tour might coincide with a new Miranda solo album. That's possible, but I don't think it can necessarily be assumed. Her web pages still seemed to be concentrating on the Annies last time I looked, and Miranda's tours often feature a wide mix of songs from different albums, together with covers that interest her. More clues about any possible future work may emerge in time.

 

[Momin]

Yeah I think she wants to give the Annie album its due time and space to live.

In other news, she is performing a medley of her hits of the previous decade at the ACMs. I'm wondering why she or the ACMs chose for her to do that.

 

[Farawayhills]

Officially, she chose it because her new music isn't quite ready yet,,- but it wouldn't surprise me if Marion Kraft, her manager, didn't also recommend it, as a way of reminding radio, and the industry of her relevance ("The Weight of These Wings", and the Pistol Annies project are labours of love - but they push her further into the Alternative/Americana sector, and don't really gel well with radio's agenda).

The songs she's chosen for the medley, though, seem to be “Kerosene,” “Gunpowder and Lead,” “Mama’s Broken Heart, “White Liar” and “Little Red Wagon”, which reached 15, 7, 2, 2, and 16 on Billboard Airplay (thereby missing out all three of her number ones). The reasons she gives is that they represent milestones in 14 years of struggle, and that "People have to remember a hit isn’t a position on a chart, it’s what people sing along to.” So I think her approach to it is still personal and tather unorthodox.

There will be less than a minute for part of each song - I'm afraid I'm not usually keen on medleys of this type - I was one of the few, it seems, who wasn't too keen on the one Carrie performed at the end of the "Blown Away" era, and I'm not greatly looking forward to this one.

Miranda, though, still seems to be showing a streak of satirical fun about the whole process. She posted a spoof medley on Twitter, consisting of clips from the "Glam Jams" she records backstage. The regulars in these are her hairdresser, Johnny Lavoy, her dress designer, Tiffany Gifford, and her make-up artist Moanie Lee, often with her backing singer Gwen Sebastian, Blu Sanders , a singer and writer who sometimes acts her crew chief on tour, and other friends from time to time.
https://twitter.com/mirandalambert/status/1114615062822621188


Meanwhile the promise of new music seems real - she's mentioned June this year as the first song release. Of the new music she says “I’m happy and I’m healthy, and I’m ready to kick ass again. I feel like I’m taking some risks and not being afraid. I’m going into fearless mode musically and heart wise. I feel like they go hand-in-hand. I’m jumping out there and taking risks, and I feel good about it. I’m going in and we’re making it, and we’re putting it out as fast as we can.”

https://eu.tennessean.com/story/ent...lambert-tour-new-music-acm-awards/3391154002/

 

[lizcarlo]

Those are good songs. I like that she is doing older songs. Now I'm excited for her new music. I wonder what she is taking risk on. Sounds interesting. Selfish fan in me wants to hear it now. Lol

 

[LilUnderwood]

I’m excited about her medley too! I love her sassy music! I am disappointed that she isn’t coming to Nashville for her new tour! It seems like she NEVER makes a stop down here

 

[Farawayhills]

This is a pure guess - but I wonder if one reason for not including her three number ones in the medley might be that she wouldn't want to revisit "Over You", which has strong emotional links to her former marriage, but also wouldn't want it to appear a pointed snub to her ex-husband, so decided to leave out all three chart toppers. (The other two were "Heart Like Mine" and "The House That Built Me", which remain popular with many fans.)

On the question of the risks she plans to take with the new music - it's very much an unknown at this point. As I said, I think TWOTW went quite far into the Alternative Country direction (though that was also apparent in her earlier work, especially in parts of both Four The Record and Platinum.) She could be planning to cut even further adrift from the Mainstream sector - some of her comments suggest she's already achieved enough of what that sector can fulfill for her, and she now has her own label imprint. She may aim for a sort of career "reinvention", somewhat along the lines of Emmylou's "Wrecking Ball", or Patty Loveless's "Mountain Soul". Another possibility is more cross-genre experiments - she's been friendly with Brandi Carlile (who sang at her first wedding) for some years, and they've recently been working together. Also, she was paying tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe at concerts, even before Rosetta was belatedly inducted to the Rock Hall. She's also friendly with Maren Morris, who enjoys a lot of Soul and Pop influence. (There's also a possibility that she might get a little more into political controversy - which some critics and media channels have been hinting they would like her to - but I think this is less likely, as it would tend to split her fan base, and she has previously said she wouldn't).

At this stage, clues are sparse, and it's all conjecture - but it's certainly raising expectations!

 

[lizcarlo]

Miranda was awesome at ACM

 

[lizcarlo]

Miranda looks so beautiful

 

[gocountrymusic]

I thought the medley was nice. It won't be remembered as one of her greatest performances but all those songs were significant for her in her career that made average listeners (like me until Dead Flowers/ White Liar) take notice even if they didn't hit number one (. The one glaring omission would have been THTBM but I'm not sure if it would have fit with the other songs.

 

[Farawayhills]

I like her dress - great colour choice, and that very unusual handbag tones in so well.


Going by the Twitter clips, she wore a striking black trouser suit for the medley. Only a small frame view, but it looked great

 

[lizcarlo]

I like her dress - great colour choice, and that very unusual handbag tones in so well.


Going by the Twitter clips, she wore a striking black trouser suit for the medley. Only a small frame view, but it looked great

She did look great. Its very cute outfit.

 

[Farawayhills]

The song she's singing with George Strait is "Run". Very brief rehearsal clips have been posted on Twitter.

It's from his 2001 album, "The Road Less Traveled" - and it has a pretty innovative musical arrangement, which seems ahead of its time. It's a slower number, about a man urging his lover to get back to him as quickly as possible, with a gentle mandolin line gliding through an interesting progressive composition. The female backing vocals on the original were, I think, performed by Liana Manis, a prolific studio session singer.

 

[gocountrymusic]

Miranda sang beautifully in this duet and the production was heavenly. I knew I was gonna like it once she started.

 

[Momin]

This is a pure guess - but I wonder if one reason for not including her three number ones in the medley might be that she wouldn't want to revisit "Over You", which has strong emotional links to her former marriage, but also wouldn't want it to appear a pointed snub to her ex-husband, so decided to leave out all three chart toppers. (The other two were "Heart Like Mine" and "The House That Built Me", which remain popular with many fans.)

On the question of the risks she plans to take with the new music - it's very much an unknown at this point. As I said, I think TWOTW went quite far into the Alternative Country direction (though that was also apparent in her earlier work, especially in parts of both Four The Record and Platinum.) She could be planning to cut even further adrift from the Mainstream sector - some of her comments suggest she's already achieved enough of what that sector can fulfill for her, and she now has her own label imprint. She may aim for a sort of career "reinvention", somewhat along the lines of Emmylou's "Wrecking Ball", or Patty Loveless's "Mountain Soul". Another possibility is more cross-genre experiments - she's been friendly with Brandi Carlile (who sang at her first wedding) for some years, and they've recently been working together. Also, she was paying tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe at concerts, even before Rosetta was belatedly inducted to the Rock Hall. She's also friendly with Maren Morris, who enjoys a lot of Soul and Pop influence. (There's also a possibility that she might get a little more into political controversy - which some critics and media channels have been hinting they would like her to - but I think this is less likely, as it would tend to split her fan base, and she has previously said she wouldn't).

At this stage, clues are sparse, and it's all conjecture - but it's certainly raising expectations!

I think she left out her number one hits is also because they are relatively slower, mid-tempo numbers. And since she went chronologically with the songs, they would have disrupted the tempo of the performance. So it made sense to include the songs that she did. Otherwise she would have included "Tin Man" as well, I would think. That's a song that I've seen people at her concerts sing along to and one that marks a career highlight. (Also, during "Gunpowder and Lead", the camera briefly showed Carrie singing along to it.)

As for experimenting for the new album goes, I think she might incorporate some Pop or R&B elements with her Alternative/Americana sensibilities. Maren Morris' music isn't necessarily what Miranda does but, being inspired by Maren and/or other fellow female artists (including Carrie, especially on her last album), she might want to put her own spin on it as well.

 

[lizcarlo]

Miranda looked beautiful in red carpet and both performances. She sang so well. I enjoyed her at ACM. I would not mind R&B and pop elements to Miranda music. She is such gifted writer she could pull it off well.

 

[Farawayhills]

Miranda's hairdresser posted this lovely shot of her, getting ready for her medley performance

https://www.instagram.com/johnnylavoy/p/BwDTYekgz_1/


Thanks to Hil, I've now seen a video of that performance. As I said, I'm not too keen on medley's, as i like to hear a whole song unfold - but I have to hand it to Miranda for her fantastic stage presence. She really is in her element as a live performer, and she can convey the mood of a song in a few lines.

(There was a guitarist in the band (second from left) that I didn't recognize, by the way. I asked on Twitter, but got no replies - I guess we'll see whether he's a regular addition)

 

[Farawayhills]

This is the video of Miranda's ACM duet of "Run", with George Strait (posted by King George himself, so I should think it's likely to remain up for a while)

I think this is probably my favourite Miranda collaboration - she seems really in her element here. She has known George for a long time, doing one of her first major tours with him. (I think I've told the story before how George smoothed the ruffles when she got her first tattoo. She was sharing a bus with her father, and he was pretty angry about it, and she was upset and wore long sleeves, until George persuaded the whole crew - including Miranda's father - to wear fake tattoos for the end of the tour)

Miranda looks great in this clip - I try to comment as little as possible on artists' personal lives, which are their own business - but it seems impossible for fans not to notice how much healthier, trimmer, and more at ease she's looked in the last few years.

George, I believe, took some criticism from traditionalists for "Run", because the gentle, rippling melody was seen by some as going too far from honky tonk and swing. But I don't agree - it's a musically progressive song, that conveys a mood, and blends styles effectively. Gene Elders' mandolin, and Mike Daily's pedal steel anchor it in the stream of tradition, and work well with a more forward looking arrangement. I see this song as both ahead of its time, and a refreshing change from some of the current efforts to convey a rather phony tradition through exaggerated beats and grating vocals, peppered with a few token references to country stereotypes. In the other direction, some go full on Pop - while this song, I think, proves that you can make music acceptable to a range of tastes, without losing its underlying identity. What George did with this song strikes me as not that far removed from what Carrie aims at in some of her stylistic blending.

You can see some good audience reaction in this clip, including Luke Combs going into raptures!

 

[Farawayhills]

Sadly, Miranda's grandmother, Wanda, has passed away. Fans may recall that Miranda called her road van "Wanda the Wanderer" after her, and Wanda herself appeared in one or two of Miranda's videos, and was photographed with her ladies' circle, helping to promote TWOTW.

Condolences to Miranda and Luke, and their mother, Beverley, and the rest of their family

https://twitter.com/randalourita/status/1120707406479134720