Miranda Lambert’s music is deeply personal and it’s part of what makes her songs so compelling—she doesn’t just sing country, she is country. When you grow up loving country music as much as I did, it's just in my blood, Lambert says simply. Like many, Lambert was raised in a household that always had the radio station set to country. She was inspired by country music legends, and her father played guitar in a country-rock band. Lambert started singing in country music talent shows and learning to write her own songs at the young age of 10.

Her background isn’t the only thing that gives her authenticity in the country music world, however. One of the most defining aspects of Lambert’s artistry is her honesty. Honoring her unique sound and her art has always been important to her, despite any potential risks to her career as a country music star. People sometimes don’t take me seriously. I haven’t been through a whole lot of tough times in my life, she once said at the start of her career. Though spoken with a nonchalant shrug, Lambert’s response highlighted her sincerity as an artist and even more so about the music she was singing. While in her teenage years she often sang about deep heartbreak, those stories, filled with truth and raw emotion, weren’t always necessarily her own. Rather, she gave a voice to those whose stories needed to be told, a key piece of her music that is still important to her and amplified in her lyrics today.

When Lambert stepped into the country music industry at 19, she brought with her an astute awareness of how to navigate the development of her career while preserving the authentic way of storytelling she admired most about country music. Lambert shares, I think the best advice that I've been given about being your authentic self came from my mom, and it was right when I was starting to want to do music. Probably about 17 years old, when you're really malleable, wide-eyed, and bushy tailed. She said, Know who you are and stick with it. And I think that has gotten me so far in not only my life, but also my career because it's just about being your authentic self.

Lambert was writing songs and playing bars across the Texas music scene for two years before she auditioned at age 19 for Nashville Star, a country music singing competition on USA Network and NBC. While Nashville Star is credited for launching her career, it is infamously known that she had no intention of winning the country music reality competition. Though the contestants could sing their original songs while competing on the show, the winners were contractually obligated to sing songs written by other people. And Lambert, a singer-songwriter who not only already knew who she was as an artist but was also picking up momentum within her music career, was not attracted to the idea of winning the contest and immediately having to head into the studio and record pre-written and pre-approved songs. If she was going to land a record deal, it would be to make a record that accurately represented her. So, she entered the contest with the main goal of promoting her sound, establishing herself as a songwriter, and gaining traction for her career in her own way.

Lambert’s dedication to sharing stories with the world through song has been her guiding post in the industry, and part of her success comes from putting her music first. Lambert explains, I never had a problem with wanting to change my sound or change my style or change the way that I told my stories. There definitely was pressure throughout the years. I've been doing this for 20 years, so there definitely were outside influences and crossover conversations. And I'm happy for my music to be wherever it wants to be heard or played, but it's definitely going to sound like me.

For Miranda Lambert, being a country music artist all comes down to sharing real stories that people connect with. Country music is really special, not just to me but to everybody, she says. And I think what makes it so special is that it's truth. It is real people telling their stories three chords and the truth and one song at a time. An icon in country music for the past two decades with no signs of slowing down, Miranda Lambert is sticking to her guns in her newest album, Postcards from Texas. Self-produced in her home state, Lambert describes the album as having the same kind of energy she had when she made her very first album. It’s a musical ode to Texas covering all styles of country music. In other words, it’s a Miranda Lambert album through and through—honest, raw, and true—and we have come to expect nothing less.