Miranda Lambert Blends Country and Disco on New Album, Citing Dolly Parton as Inspiration

Texan Miranda Lambert is known for her fiery songs and heartbreak ballads — but when she wrote and recorded the duet “A Song To Sing” with Chris Stapleton last year, she was just aiming to create a song with the sultry, fun vibe and glittery style of the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton collaborations she loved.

“It’s something I’ve never tried before, honestly,” Lambert tells Billboard . “I’ve never explored that part of country, even though I love it.”

In the video for “A Song To Sing,” Lambert wore hoop earrings that belonged to Parton, while Stapleton wore a necklace that belonged to Rogers. “We went fully ‘70s and down to the Brentwood Skating Center [in Brentwood, Tenn.] to film the video — and who knew that Chris can skate really well, by the way?” she recalls. “I mean, that was not on my bingo card, believe me.”

That collaboration sparked Lambert’s passion for songs that blend equal parts glitzy disco and classic country. Initially, Lambert thought she would create a shorter EP, but she and producer Jesse Frasure instead built a musical world inspired by the era of countrypolitan and Studio 54, with her album Crisco , which came out Friday (Oct. 2) through MCA.

“Jesse made me a playlist called ‘Miranda-politan,’” she says of the playlist, which was filled with classics from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s — including Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights,” Ronnie Milsap’s “Smoky Mountain Rain,” the Bee Gees’ “Too Much Heaven,” and songs from Parton, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley and Louise Mandrell.

Tracks on the new album like “Crisco” and “Two Things Can Be True” are soaked in many key elements of that 1960s-1970s countrypolitan sound: lush harmonies, piano, and layers of strings. “I’ve never recorded with strings in my career, which is crazy,” she says. “When I think about that, I’m like, ‘What the heck was I waiting on?’ I think it was serendipitous, because I met Jesse, and this is absolutely his wheelhouse.”

“Two Things Can Be True” and “Cowgirl Curtsy” both nod to Cline’s polished, refined vocal style, but the full album is brimming with nods to other late women country music legends Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and of course, Parton.

“Dolly’s all over this, energy-wise,” Lambert says. “I feel like Dolly’s one of those people who will be here forever, even if it’s not on this Earth, but she’s always been an angel, anyway. I feel like she’s going to show up even more in our music and just keep influencing and blazing the trail even from up there.”

Lambert recalled meeting Parton for the first time when the two country artists sang Parton’s song “Dumb Blonde” together for the soundtrack to the 2018 film Dumplin ’.

“I got to the studio, I walked in and there’s cameras and lights everywhere. She grabs my shoulders and says, ‘Honey, find your good light. Always find your good light,’ and she turned my shoulders to the pretty light. I use that every single day when I’m doing camera stuff. I was like, ‘Thank you, Dolly.’ But in general, ‘Find your good light’ meant way more than that. I live by that… I mean, that’s her first words to me, so of course, I’ll never forget them.”

Crisco ’s ending song, “Sunset Marquis,” is a tribute to the classic West Hollywood hotel that opened in 1963 and has been a favored spot for musicians, artists and celebrities ever since, thanks to its dreamy, open-air vibe, lush palm tree landscaping and the feel of freedom. [The song also plays at the end of the newly released documentary about the hotel, If These Walls Could Rock. ]

“I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles back in 2010, 2011, and I had to navigate that — because I’m definitely a country girl from Texas, so it’s a very different world,” Lambert recalls. “But Sunset Marquis was always a place where you go in the doors and you feel safe. You feel like you’re in this cool, rock n’ roll space. It feels like you are in 1971. I’ve run into everybody from [Aerosmith’s] Steven Tyler to the original Marlboro Man, [Green Day’s] Billie Joe Armstrong, CeCe Winans. Anybody could show up, but everybody is able to be themselves.”

As she’s whipped up Crisco , Lambert has also played a key role in the massive success of Ella Langley’s Billboard Hot 100 record-setting song “Choosin’ Texas,’ which Lambert wrote with Langley, Joybeth Taylor and Luke Dick, and co-produced with Langley and Ben West. While co-producing and writing for Langley’s Dandelion , Lambert also penned “Snakeskin Boots,” with her husband Brendan McLoughlin, Frasure and Natalie Hemby. Langley and Lambert join forces on “Snakeskin Boots” as Crisco ’s swaggering opening number.

“We wrote it with [Ella] in mind, to be honest,” Lambert says. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a vibe that if Thelma and Louise didn’t drive off the cliff, what were they doing after that?’ We hoped she would like it. Then all of a sudden, ‘Choosin’ Texas’ took over the world. So having her on [“Snakeskin Boots”], it’s even more special because we’ve gotten to share some of the biggest moments of her career together.”

Lambert says that though she’s been able to share career lessons with Langley, she emphasizes that she’s learned plenty from Langley, too.

“She’s very smart, and that’s why I love the friendship. And with Lainey [Wilson] too — we have a close little group, and those girls are out there helping women, too, every day. They’re bringing them on tour, and it’s kind of this network that I feel was much-needed. I didn’t really have that coming up, because there weren’t many women coming out when I was coming up. It was kind of [just] Carrie [Underwood] and I for a long bit. So I think it’s so important to be there for the good, bad and ugly — because something nobody tells you is that the highs come sometimes at the same times as the lows. It’s important to have somebody to bounce that off of, and who better than somebody that lived exactly through that.”

Lambert says she feels proud of the women in country music who are seeing successes across the board.

“I’m so happy for the girls. I see them fighting for what they believe, but also lifting each other up, and that’s important,” Lambert says. “The way I see it, there’s all kinds of ways to consume music now. I feel like it opened up the world for a lot more room.”

She adds, “I love writing with other artists. It brings me so much joy. It’s fun to see a song like ‘Choosin’ Texas’ live out in the world and I can enjoy it [as a writer] and it’s great to see it through different eyes. I’m trying to soak it all in.”

Beyond music, Lambert, 42, has been spending more time in equestrian sports. She began riding and showing horses at 30, and took up the fast-paced mounted shooting sport a few years ago in Arizona.

“You basically shoot revolvers at balloons off horseback, going as fast as you can, so what’s not to love?” she says, adding that she hopes to bring Langley and Wilson with her at some point to try the sport.

“[Ella’s] got some time off in the winter and I was like, ‘You’re coming to ride with me. Lainey, too. We’re going to go out there and blow off some steam. And they’re very good horsewomen. They know how to ride well, so that part’s handled, and they both know how to use guns, so I’m like, ‘You’re just going to step right in it.’ What I love, too, is that we have a group of women, I think the youngest one is only 38 and the oldest one is 70, and it doesn’t matter what you do for a living, how old you are, where you’re from, we’re all just on horseback, enjoying the experience.”

“Enjoying the experience” is her chief aim for Crisco ’s listeners, too.

“It’s one of those records where you could put it on doing just about anything. My only goal is for people to feel like they want to do something fun — whether that’s roller skating or taking a Sunday drive.”

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/music/country/miranda-lambert-blending-country-disco-album-crisco-1236353273/)._