Miranda Lambert holds good memories of Cape venue

Country-music star Miranda Lambert may be in a better mood than usual when she performs Thursday at the Show Me Center as part of her Certified Platinum Tour.

Lambert has played at the Cape Girardeau venue before, with Dierks Bentley in 2007 and during her Revolution tour in 2011. Lambert acknowledged particularly fond memories of a 2008 concert at the Show Me Center with her then-future husband, Blake Shelton.

"We decided to do about three shows back in 2008, and that was one of them," Lambert said in an email interview with the Southeast Missourian. "The crowd was amazing and so into the music; it's so inspiring when that happens so early in one's career."

The upcoming show is a sellout, but Show Me Center marketing director Josh Hanlon said a small number of tickets likely will be released for sale to the public sometime next week. He advised fans to consult the Show Me Center's website at showmecenter.biz or its Facebook page for an announcement.

Doors at the Show Me Center open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.

Miranda Lambert will perform Thursday at the Show Me Center as part of her Certified Platinum Tour. The show is a sellout, but a few tickets likely will be released to the public next week. (Submitted)

Lambert's special guest will be singer-songwriter RaeLynn, who has accompanied Lambert on one cover during recent shows -- the Dixie Chicks' 1999 hit "Cowboy Take Me Away." The Dixie Chicks took a long hiatus after their last album in 2006 and haven't recorded since, although the band has gone on occasional tours, and its members have recorded solo material.

"I have been thinking that I miss the Dixie Chicks, so the next best thing was to sing one of their songs," Lambert wrote. "Who doesn't love 'Cowboy Take Me Away'?"

During the Certified Platinum Tour, Lambert also has covered Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and ZZ Top's "Tush."

"I like picking random covers," Lambert wrote. "I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, and so does my band."

In a decade of recording, Lambert has amassed a long list of accomplishments. She's logged seven No. 1 singles, including the megahit "The House That Built Me" and the recently released "Automatic." All five of her albums debuted at No. 1. Her trophy shelf bulges with more than 40 Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association honors. And she's fresh off a big win during the Grammy Awards for Best Country Album, for her newest album, "Platinum."

"Platinum" has been described as the most ambitious of her career. Lambert acknowledged she went into the project in a more reflective mood, having turned 30. She became more hands-on with the record and cowrote about half its songs.

"My writing reflects what is happening in my life at that time, and with 'Platinum,' I was just turning 30, and I had so much to say," Lambert wrote. "I love when I get to record a full album because it's just one awesome journey. I have some friends out on tour with me that also are great songwriters, so with a little luck, some of the material comes together that way."

Next month is the 10th anniversary of Lambert's first major-label album, "Kerosene." That record's first hit single told the tale of a spurned woman who burns down her ex-boyfriend's house, thus forever cementing Lambert's reputation as a spitfire Texan. Lambert was asked how she's changed since that time.

"That's a big question," she wrote. "I think between 20 and 30, you change the most, you figure out who you are and, more importantly, who you want to become. I have become a better songwriter and better live performer, simply because I have been doing it for so long. I always felt like I had something to say, no matter what age I was ... it's just different now."

Lambert's stardom has enabled her to rub elbows with a lot of people. But she revealed one as-yet-unfulfilled wish when asked whether there was anyone in the music industry she'd like to work with but hasn't yet.

"That is easy," Lambert wrote. "Beyonce of course! She is such a powerful, talented woman, and I have a profound amount of respect for her."

rwarnick@semissourian.com

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