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he recentaccoladesareproof positive the
careerofMirandaLambert is red-hot—onfire, in fact,
as thenameofhercurrent toursoaptlysuggests.Most
recently, she tookhome theAlbumof theYear for
Four
TheRecord
andFemaleVocalistof theYear (for the
thirdyear ina row)at the47thAnnualAcademyof
CountryMusicAwards (ACM).Nodoubt, the trophy
caseat theShelton-Lamberthousehold isheavy, as
husbandBlake Shelton tookhome the honor of
MaleVocalistof theYearat theACMand thecouple
werenamedFemaleVocalistof theYearandMaleVo-
calistof theYearat the lastCountryMusicAssociation
Awards (CMA) aswell. Lambertwas alsoawarded
Albumof theYear for
CrazyEx-Girlfriend
in2008by
ACMand for
Revolution
in2010byboth theACMand
theCMA.TheGrammysbestowedonherTopCountry
FemaleVocalPerformance for“TheHouseThatBuilt
Me” in2011.And if that’snot enough,
People
magazine
named thepetiteblonde one of theMost Beautiful
Peopleof 2009.Quiteaheady listof accomplishments
fora28-year-old.
Countrymusic sensationMirandaLambert got her
luckybreakat theageof 16when sheentered the
TrueValueCountry showdown contest inherhome-
townof Lindale, Texas (population 5,097).While the
talented teenager didn’t win, she sang two of her
father’soriginal songsand thought, “Okay, I like this.
I’mprettygood at it, and Imight want to pursue
this.”And pursue shedid.
Influencedby themusicofher idolsLorettaLynn,
MerleHaggard, andTammyWynette, sheauditioned
for theTammyWynettemusical atNashville’s famed
RymanAuditorium, theoriginalhomeof theGrandOle
Opry (thepartwent tosomeonewithBroadwayexperi-
ence).Herexceptionalvocal tonewith itsTexas twang
rooted inSouthern soul caught theattentionof the
T
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SUMMER 2012
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