Some people got phone calls to participate in the Hunger Games soundtrack album, which just debuted at No. 1 on the sales chart. But you don't think Miranda Lambert is the sit-back-and-wait type, do you? She and her fellow non-wallflowers, Pistol Annies, sought the soundtrack people out.
"We actually all three read the book, all of the girls," she says, referring to Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, the cohorts in her much-lauded side-project band. "We were really inspired! I guess the way they do it usually is they show (song)writers the movie and then have them write for it. But we just were inspired by the book. And we wrote the song on the bus, and then we called our manager and asked her if there was any way she could try to get it on the soundtrack. And they loved our song"—the plaintive, spooky, supremely catchy "Run Daddy Run." "We're so thankful they let us be part of it," she says—a sentiment that surely runs both ways.
But right now, going into the ACMs, Lambert is actively promoting an even sadder solo single, "Over You," which she and husband Blake Shelton co-wrote to purge some unresolved feelings about the death of Blake's brother.
According to Country Aircheck, "Over You" has some of the top point gains of the past week among radio stations, so there's no doubting its reception. But did she ever think it might be too personal to be pushed as a single?
No. "I feel like 'Over You' is a song that is very simple... and I feel like it's commercial (too). Stories we've been getting, with people writing in and tell us the story of their loss, it really makes me realize that so many people are hurting and you don't even know it. It's healing me, and it's healing the fans. You've gotta face the emotion. I'm real proud of it."
Lambert at a previous ACM Awards showOn a lighter note, let's consider the ACMs, where she and Shelton seem like shoo-ins to repeat their wins as last year's female and male vocalist of the year. But she claims she's not invested in continuing to be the belle and beau of that ball.
"We've both won twice... and I'm not greedy," she told Yahoo! Music on the eve of the awards. Which doesn't mean she's so humble that there isn't another prize she has her continued eye on. "I'd really like to get album." She's up for Four the Record. "Album of the year would be awesome! That's a huge honor. I'm a writer, so my albums are my babies."
Meanwhile, don't expect her to do any more Twitter warring with Chris Brown over his re-acceptance into the music industry's (and Grammys') graces after his assault of then- and possibly future girlfriend Rihanna.
"It's kind of gone now," she says of the stir-up, which was sparked on her end by lingering feelings about the battered women she and her private-detective parents used to counsel. "It wasn't meant to be a big drama. People made it a big drama... I said my piece, and people may or may not agree, but I think it's over." When it comes to Chris Brown, she can really sing a different kind of version of "Over You."
[Content courtesy of Dial Global's Backstage at the ACMs, brought to you by Allegra - Fast, non-drowsy allergy relief that starts working in one hour. Visit Allegra.com to learn more.]