Miranda Lambert

Miranda lambert first exploded onto the scene as a finalist in the 2003 season of the nashville star television series. She didn?t win ? A result she has described as a blessing. ?i was hoping not to win,? She once said. ?the winner had to go in right after the contest and make a record in a couple of weeks, and I wasn?t ready.? Instead, she got the best of both worlds ? Columbia nashville, which had right of first refusal on the show's performers ? Signed lambert to a deal, but she had the time and opportunity to make the album that she really wanted to make. Her confidence and firepower were evident in kerosene: it debuted at number one on the country charts (only the sixth time a new artist entered in at the top), and went on to earn lambert nominations for the cma's horizon award and the acm's top new female vocalist award. It also earned her a grammy nomination. Kerosene garnered critical praise from countless outlets and was named one of the best albums of the year by new york times, rolling stone, blender magazine, itunes, tennessean and many more. When it came time to start work on a new album, says lambert, she quickly realized that she really wanted an extension of, rather than a different direction from, the debut. ?we really didn?t want to change anything because kerosene worked,? She says,? And, you know if it ain?t broke'so we kept the same studio and the same producers, frank liddell and mike wrucke? The songs on crazy ex-girlfriend reveal a blossoming songwriter whose gifts continue to expand, as well as a singer with impeccable taste in material. Lambert again wrote or co-wrote the bulk of the album's songs ? Eight of the eleven tracks ? But she also interprets the work of some of the world's finest writers, including gillian welch, patty griffin, and carlene carter. Possibly the biggest advance for lambert, though, is an intimate song called ?more like her?. It expresses a fragility that she previously kept under wraps. ?it almost scared me to put it on the record. It was so personal and introspective,? She says. ?but my fans deserve that from me, so I just need to go for it.