My guilty country pleasure: Miranda Lambert

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You read right. Miranda Lambert. I actually like the country diva. I was familiar with her name primarily from tabloid headlines over her former marriage to Blake Shelton but little else. Channel surfing one night led me to her appearing “Austin City Limits” on PBS and checking her out to observe what the hubbub is about. I liked what I saw. Looks aside I thought she is pretty talented. Good voice. Plays guitar. Strong stage presence. Great Texas Y’all twang. Lambert became a subject of further research. Her career is rather interesting. There is a bit more to the country superstar diva with a bunch of #1 country hits and albums and zillion awards. She writes most of her material and her singing voice less “countrified” than her normal speaking voice. There is Texas Miranda who likes singing about her home state and covers ZZ Top. Traditional Miranda does faithful covers of idols like Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard. Finally the inexplicable rocker Miranda who drops the southern fried accent to perform rock covers. Her side project from from 2011 the Pistol Annies is something of a combination. Is there another country singer who can morph from Grand Ole Opry to rocking out? Not too many. Lambert could probably put together a total rock concert. In fact in an interview, she referred to her shows as “rock shows” so perhaps she considers herself a hybrid performer. This clip is from last night’s Elvis All-Star tribute on NBC celebrating the 50th anniversary of the King’s legendary TV special. Miranda as part of the Pistol Annies performs “Love Me.”