Page 100 - OVATION Magazine (Issue 1)

I
MIRANDA’S RIGHT
if one believes the french philoso-
pher Albert Camus’s profession,“To
know oneself, one should assert oneself,” Miranda Lambert must be the epicenter of self-knowledge.With “Gunpowder & Lead,”“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and even the fiery, retributive “Kerosene,” the daughter of two Lone Star State private eyes demonstrates zero fear of standing up for herself in song.
Lambert has won nine Academy of Country Music (ACM) FemaleVocalist awards, as well as five Albums of the Year, on her way to breaking Brooks & Dunn’s record for most ACM wins. At the Country Music Association Awards, she’s taken seven FemaleVocalist awards as well as a pair for best Album, Single, Song, Musical Event, and Music Video—plus she’s won two Grammys for Best Female Country Performance and Country Album of theYear.
Still, she laughs when talking about “losing charm” and the state of men-
tal erosion that accompanies all things “glam”—especially the smile-and-look- pretty tediousness of photo shoots. Recog- nizing that, the woman who concedes that she’d “much rather run around in cutoffs with no shoes on” put her self-knowledge to use in the buildup to Wildcard, her new album debuting in November.
“I looked up photographers,” marvels the woman who just kicked off the third edition of her Roadside Bars & Pink Gui- tars tour, this time featuring an all-female rotating cast of seriously engaged country, rock, and roots stars.“First time I ever did that all on my own.”
She landed on Ellen von Unwerth, the iconic German high-fashion model turned femme-powering photographer. Known for her grasp of eroticism and extravagant femininity, Unwerth is miles
“I wanted to do something over-the-top, just really bright
and alive and crazy.”
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from Lambert’s barnyard bravado. She’s an equally large leap from the style of The Weight of These Wings, Wildcard’s harrow- ing but critically acclaimed double-disc predecessor.
“I think the sepia tone of the [Wings] cover wasn’t just the pictures. It really matched the tone and idea of the record,” Lambert explains.“This time, I wanted
to do something over-the-top, just really bright and alive and crazy. . . . I wanted to just let go and go for it! Just fall into it.
“And. . .” the woman with the pum- meling downstroke pauses for impact, “look at some of those shots.”
Lambert, sans “liquid courage,” sports
knee-high, rust suede stiletto boots, indus- trial fishnets, trapeze panties, and a serious satin corset top as she lies on her back on a zebra-print rug. Shades of Anita Pallen- berg—chic, knowing, bohemian, strong, and come-hither—ripple from the image. If the woman who’s won 74 major
awards is known for a hard-hitting, red-dirt country that falls between post-honkytonk-hero Steve Earle and classicist George Strait, Wildcard works a decidedly Rolling Stones edge as com- fortably as a stripper works a pole. Perhaps it’s the introduction of Iodine guitarist/ producer Jay Joyce, a multi-instrumental attack player whose credits include