Miranda Lambert On Why She Won’t Release a Live Album
Releasing a live record is seen as a rite of passage for many artists. And with the energy she brings to a live show, you would think Miranda Lambert would be a good candidate for one, especially these days with the hard-charging songs found on her latest record Wildcard produced by Jay Joyce. Many fans have been requesting a live record from Lambert for years, and now some 15+ years into her career, you would think she’s about due. But according to Miranda, it’s not going to happen.
Speaking recently to Broadway on Nash 93.1 out of Detroit, when asked if she’d ever release a live record, Miranda responded, “I’m kind of a more ‘Don’t you want to see it in person?’ kind of person. I mean, I don’t enjoy listening to live albums unless they’re vintage. I just feel like people should come have an experience, you know, and be there, and be part of it. So I probably won’t ever do it.”
There are some great live albums in country, but like Miranda said, most of them are older, like Willie Nelson’s Willie and Family Live from 1978, Merle Haggard’s Okie From Muskogee from 1969, and of course the Johnny Cash prison albums. But it’s hard to find anything more modern that fits the “legendary” profile. Eric Church and Garth Brooks have released some big live titles, but nothing that has become legendary on its own.
Miranda Lambert will be embarking on her Wildcard Tour starting January 16th, and like she’s known for, she will be taking some cool openers out with her, including Cody Johnson for the entirety of the tour, The Randy Rogers Band and Parker McCollum on select dates, as well as LANCO.
December 22, 2019 @ 11:58 am
Good for her! I honestly only like a handful of live albums. (Waylon LIVE! & some of the Billy Bobs)I don’t like them tweaking the tempo/lyrics. I don’t like the crowd noise. I think those moments are reserved for physically being there.
December 22, 2019 @ 11:59 am
Dwight Live was also a great live album IMO
December 22, 2019 @ 12:07 pm
Agreed. That version of “Thousand Miles From Nowhere” is my favorite. Also works as a great introduction to his music, like a Greatest Hits record.
December 22, 2019 @ 12:50 pm
It WAS my introduction. Or at least, that’s when I became a fan.
December 22, 2019 @ 3:27 pm
I was just going to mention this album as well…incredible live record and one that I still revisit to this day.
December 22, 2019 @ 7:50 pm
Suspicious Minds alone makes it worth checking out.
Wish the moths hadnt destroyed my This Time tour Tee.
December 22, 2019 @ 12:07 pm
“As well as LANCO.”
Hahahaha
December 22, 2019 @ 12:10 pm
Must be a favor to someone. LANCO is like one of those SAT questions of what thing doesn’t belong with the others.
December 22, 2019 @ 12:16 pm
LANCO? Good joke…
Oops…it’s not a joke. Right?
December 22, 2019 @ 12:21 pm
If I could have her lakeshake performance on a record that would be solid but I understand why she believes that. Will continue to see her live forever.
December 22, 2019 @ 1:17 pm
I’ll always go see live gigs but its great to have a live album too.
Been a few good live albums in recent years in my opinion.
Jason Isbell ~ Live From Alabama
Ryan Bingham ~ Live
American Aquarium ~ Live at Terminal West
Old Crow Medicine Show ~ 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde
Blackberry Smoke ~ Homecoming
December 22, 2019 @ 1:36 pm
I find it hard to take any artist totally seriously (Harry Nillson being an obvious exception) if they don’t have a classic live album. I think Joe Ely is a great example of a country/Americana artist who blows the doors off with live recordings, his Live at Antones was transformative in my personal musical journey. Tom Russell and Andrew Hardin are another fine example with Long Way Around (yes, it is half studio recordings). The other main influence for me was Clarence White who was amazing in studio but completely otherworldly on-stage (be it Kentucky Colonels, The Byrds or other projects). Of course the live album was probably best executed by Little Feat with Waiting For Columbus. As far as Miranda Lambert goes I don’t see myself listening to any of her music live or studio in the foreseeable future so I don’t really have any thoughts about whether she should or shouldn’t release a live album.
December 22, 2019 @ 1:42 pm
That makes sense. It is funny that she says she doesn’t like live albums unless they are vintage. They weren’t vintage when they were released lol. I could see a Miranda Lambert live record being something that people would still dig 30 years from now.
I like the Eagles live album more than their studio albums. I always thought their studio albums sounded bad up until Long Road out of Eden, but I don’t trust modern live albums. These days they can be and are easily doctored, anyway (vocals re-recorded, etc.) There aren’t many living performers I’d even want a live album from. Jason Isbell was one, but I couldn’t stand how that one ended up sounding.
December 22, 2019 @ 1:53 pm
Live From Alabama sounds good though
December 23, 2019 @ 8:54 am
Live From Alabama is so much better than the Ryman live album.
December 22, 2019 @ 3:07 pm
You do realize that the Eagles Live album is one of the most doctored live albums of all time, right?
December 22, 2019 @ 3:16 pm
No. I was not aware of that. It just sounds more natural than their studio albums and I really like it.
December 22, 2019 @ 7:06 pm
Lol. I was going to write the same thing. The Eagles Live is hardly live. In fact, most ‘Live’ albums are barely live at all. I was in a studio in Nashville once, and a well-known act was there fixing their live album and DVD. Redoing the vocals, etc. When I saw the live convert the next year, I just laughed.
December 22, 2019 @ 1:52 pm
Some live albums are better than studio albums. The Whitey Morgan live album is my favorite of his
December 22, 2019 @ 2:41 pm
I just feel like people should come have an experience, you know, and be there, and be part of it.
I’m sorry, but this is just an incredibly lame excuse. Being able to go to live shows is great, but if you’re good enough, you can make a live album an experience. And great live albums are still being made, even at this late date. William Clark Green’s Live at Gruene Hall is a textbook example.
December 22, 2019 @ 2:44 pm
I love that Miranda Lambert always does things her own way. I agree the today’s live albums are not close to the older ones and the vibe is not the same has being there in the stands live. I would like like an album of her unrecorded or under-rated songs.
December 22, 2019 @ 3:46 pm
The only live album I actually own is Emmylou Harris’ Live from the Ryman. That’s probably the only one I’ve actually enjoyed listening to all the way through although a special shout-out has to be given to the 7 minute “Last of my Kind” on Jason Isbell’s own Live from the Ryman album for that beautiful guitar/fiddle instrumental by Isbell and Amanda Shires.
December 22, 2019 @ 3:57 pm
The Emmylou one is another great one, and arguably responsible for revitalizing the Ryman at the time which had been shuttered and partially condemned.
December 22, 2019 @ 5:19 pm
the thing about ML is that compared to most other country artists’ studio records which are riddled with synth -generated sonics , auto tuning , etc..her studio records have a LIVE-vibe . she doesn’t need to do a LIVE album , perse . she could do a ‘live’ album with just an acoustic guitar accompanying her ( Tin Man ) and it would get most fans’ attention cuz of the songs and her vocal gift . a ‘live’ on stage album would not only be somewhat redundant but would be a compromise in terms of sound quality .
December 22, 2019 @ 5:26 pm
I find it funny she makes this claim to the world is if there is some giant clamor for her to do one. Is even looking for a live Miranda Lambert release because this would likely be the most “doctored” live album in the history of live albums.
December 23, 2019 @ 12:38 pm
If you haven’t seen her live you have no room to talk..There are tons of artists that play recorded parts of there songs while performing live from Garth to Conway.. We have all been to those long awaited concerts to only find out your favorite singer is not so great live..But not Miranda.. It is dollars and cents with all performers…buy a ticket and see them live..maybe when she is as old as Willie she will release one..
December 23, 2019 @ 5:57 pm
I have seen her live. She puts on a decent live show with or without singing to a track which unfortunately many are doing now. That said her claim of having no intention of doing a live album would hold far more water if there was a huge fan base begging for it. Given the current nature of country music , especially pop country I can’t believe there is a market for a live record maybe with the exception of someone like Chris Stapleton or other similar artist.
December 22, 2019 @ 5:28 pm
one other comment on the ‘live ‘ album idea ….there are so few singers that don’t need technology’s help when it comes to fixing vocals in the mix . I can only imagine a jason aldean live album ……or fgl …..even george strait needed some smoke and mirrors for his live vocals and most of today’s ‘country’ vocalists couldn’t come close to a vocal performance like merle , joe nichols , reba , sara evans or even vince could deliver live . most are just NOT singers anymore. period .
December 23, 2019 @ 8:03 pm
I still hate how much they drowned Strait’s last live album with autotune. Even the guest performers were autotuned to death. How ironic is it to hear “Murder On Music Row” with autotuned vocals from Strait and Jackson.
December 23, 2019 @ 11:48 pm
sometimes singing when there’s so much crowd noise can be difficult …..I can understand why george had problems trying to pitch over those huge , loud stadium crowds .. but yeah …it was heavily tuned so he must have been struggling a lot .
you get spoiled listening to the trisha yearwoods and the vince gills who seem to nail it every time .
December 22, 2019 @ 6:30 pm
An underrated live album from the Texas scene is Houston Marchman & the Contraband Live. A fantastic live album where the songs on this album outshine the studio version. A rare example of songs where I much prefer the live cuts over the studio versions.
December 22, 2019 @ 6:31 pm
Lanco might not be the greatest country band out there but they can at least sell $20 tickets to their own shows. They’re already giving away tons of tickets for Miranda’s first show with Cody Johnson. They can’t sell them for $20. She might want to reconsider that live album.
December 23, 2019 @ 2:34 am
Where are these free tickets of which you talk?
December 22, 2019 @ 6:57 pm
Does Live on Red Barn Radio count? I’ve listened to Rock Salt and Nails dozens of times.
December 22, 2019 @ 6:58 pm
Does anyone want to be Taylor Swift more than LANCO?
December 22, 2019 @ 7:03 pm
Jack Ingram Acoustic Motel is one of my favorites. REK Live Dinner No 2 is another one that never gets old. I’m not the biggest fan of live albums, but when done right, they can be great.
December 23, 2019 @ 8:51 am
“The Road Goes On Forever” needs to be live.
December 22, 2019 @ 8:27 pm
Almost all of the live at Billy Bob’s records are outstanding. Bleu Edmondson and No Justice are among my favs. I also have a MB20 one of a concert I attended and it takes me back every time. I think that it just had to be the write artist and venue that makes it great
December 22, 2019 @ 9:48 pm
David Allan Coes second album Live from Billy Bobs is one of my favorite records of all time!
December 22, 2019 @ 9:58 pm
John, If you get more of those Miranda Lambert Free tickets than you can give away, send a bucket load my way. I just may help get rid of them!
December 23, 2019 @ 2:50 am
She’s overestimating how many people actually want to see her live.
December 23, 2019 @ 5:16 am
1. Viva Terlingua: Jerry Jeff Walker
2. Volunteer Jam: Charlie Daniels Band
3. Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East
4. Marshall Tucker Band : Where We All Belong
5. The Outlaws: Bring it Back Alive
6. Ted Nugent : Double Live Gonzo
7. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band : Stars and Stripes Forever
8. Commander Cody Live From Deep in the Heart of Texas
9. Waylon Live
Not all country but a lot of Southern Rock in my list, admittedly. But man those Southern bands could really rock live.
December 23, 2019 @ 8:57 am
I still think the Allmans album is the best live album even if it wasn’t all from the same night.
December 23, 2019 @ 1:02 pm
Little Feat, Waiting for Columbus–would be at the top of many people’s lists.
December 23, 2019 @ 5:53 am
To a certain degree, at this stage a live album is kind of a relic. That doesn’t mean they can’t be quality, but all too often they’ve just been about having a product in the stores or fulfilling the terms of a contract. That’s outmoded now. In today’s music business, records aren’t selling that much. The revenue they generate from sales is minor in comparison to live performances, ancillary merch, and licensing fees, etc.
December 23, 2019 @ 6:44 am
There seems to be two kinds of people.
1. Those who live albums (that’s me)
2. Those that don’t.
I am contemptuous of live albums that are simply the greatest hits played fast.
A Live Album needs to be more than that. My guess is that Miranda will eventually figure out how to do that and she will release one someday.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:09 am
I feel the same about live albums as I do EPs. They should be handled very sparingly, because generally speaking, they tend to fail. But when they’re good, they can be legendary. You’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle.
December 23, 2019 @ 6:55 am
Live Bullet is probably my favorite live album. IMO the live version of Travelin’ Man / Beautiful Loser from that album is one of the two or three greatest live tracks ever recorded. Another that comes to mind is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s version of T For Texas recorded at Knebworth in 1976.
December 23, 2019 @ 7:36 am
Live Bullet is probably the best live album. It served to introduce Bob Seger to the masses, and it sounds great. Still holds up today. Emmylou’s is close.
December 23, 2019 @ 7:44 am
I saw Seger live a couple months ago and he played many of the tunes from Live Bullet, including Travelin’ Man with the segue into Beautiful Loser. It was just great.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:52 am
Live Bullet is the best kind of Live Album. It introduced the entire country to an superstar that had only had limited regional success up until then. It’s Number One on my list as well. Most Double Live albums have one or two sides that are merely OK. Live Bullet has four great sides. Hard to pick a favorite – although I am partial to Side Three because of Heavy Music.
Travelin Man/Beautiful Loser still gives me goosebumps.
December 23, 2019 @ 7:54 pm
Yep, I was reading down the comments saying “Live Bullet” under my breath the whole time. I think Frampton Comes Alive sold a few copies too. Deep Purple Made in Japan also!
December 23, 2019 @ 7:01 am
Emmylou’s At The Ryman has been mentioned as one of the great live albums and I agree. Her album Spyboy from later in the decade is another one. The band is led by Buddy Miller and is basically a mix of Mirror Ball material and like sounding stuff and songs from her classic ’70s period.
John Hiatt’s Comes Alive at Budokan? is one of my all time favorites. Just a joy to listen to from beginning to end. A gritty band The Gulty Dogs backs him. Being a long time Hiatt fan, I am intimately familiar with the songs, but the performances are just so impassioned so that it is not by any means a retread album. Paper Thin and Tennessee Plates are great examples.
Dale Watson’s Live In London made Trigger’s list of best albums from the previous decade. My favorite album of his and the kind of live album where you just wish you were in the room.
Live in Aught Three by James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards has a special quality. The songs are obviously top notch, but also the album captures that special something about McMurtry in concert.
December 23, 2019 @ 7:05 am
Jack,
I was going mention McMurtry. Live in Aught Three is great. Have you heard the live version of Hurricane Party from Live in Europe? That is my favorite live track of his. Lights of Cheyenne is great, too.
December 23, 2019 @ 9:50 am
I picked up Live in Europe maybe a couple of years ago at a McMurtry show, but haven’t spent as much time with it. Hurricane Party is certainly a great song and I’ll have to give it more attention. And Lights of Cheyenne is one of my favorites by him.
I agree that Live Bullet is a great live album and Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser on that album is out of this world.
December 23, 2019 @ 8:17 am
Just after the start of this year, and after decades of prodding, Linda Ronstadt came out with a live album of sorts, LIVE IN HOLLYWOOD, culled from a live TV concert performance she gave for the fledgling HBO cable channel in the spring of 1980. It was taped at CBS Television City in L.A.’s Fairfax District; and although it wasn’t the complete concert (twelve of the twenty songs she did ended up on the album), it was the absolute real thing (no overdubs or anything of that), and the track list included the three hits from her then-new (and controversial) new-wave album MAD LOVE (“How Do I Make You?”; I”I Can’t Let Go”; “Hurt So Bad”); “Blue Bayou” (the last verse in Spanish), and a version of her signature hit “You’re No Good” stretched to a mind-busting six and a half minutes. And this from a consumate singer who was reluctant to put a live album out at all because she never thought she sounded all that great (!!)
December 23, 2019 @ 9:01 am
Wasn’t she just pushing the whole women supporting women agenda a couple of months ago? I see she ditched all her female openers for men. Do as I say not as I do.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:07 am
This is a different tour. Yes, her fall tour had all-female openers, however, the venues were slightly smaller on that tour. This 2020 trek includes bigger arenas. And to bring in the numbers, you have to have the right support. A mix of art and business….and many people behind the scenes making those decisions. I think having Cody Johnson on this tour is a good move for her – he will definitely bring in legions of people.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:11 am
Yeah, not sure she’s “ditching” her female openers. She highlighted them on a tour, and now she’s highlighting some men. I’m sure she’ll have more women openers in the future.
December 23, 2019 @ 3:35 pm
Trigger do you know how her all female tour did? I couldn’t find her on Polllstars top 200 tour list. I figured to move to male openers was financially driven. Miranda’s tickets are a great deal for fans but one has to wonder how long she can keep playing arenas when she struggles to fill the already severely blocked off seating areas. Do arenas take a percentage of the box office take or is it a set fee?
December 23, 2019 @ 9:24 am
Charley Pride Live at Panther Hall. Great songs, terrific performance by Charley, and Lloyd Green on pedal steel.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:20 am
Willie Nelson Live at Panther Hall is excellent too – 1966. I have to go back and listen, but when he intros the band, it’s an soon-to- be allstar cast. It’s unbelievable.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:16 am
Growing up I loved live albums, but anymore live albums are just heavily edited performances from various tour stops spliced together with extra crowd noise added and all the fun warts edited out. Garth’s 98 double live album was the first live album I realized wasn’t recorded from a single performance.
But there are some good ones that are actually recorded from one night, in one venue that accurately reflect that artists’ concert experience.
Previously mentioned, Dwight Live is awesome. That is the best recording of “Two Door Down” ever. It comes right after a rowdy performance of “Wild Ride” and the crowd won’t calm down … right out of a honky-tonk. By the time “Rocky Road Blues” is played he has that crowd in a frenzy.
Since Dwight was brought up …. How about that lady screaming for Mike and the Moonpies to play some “Dwight Yoakam” throughout their set on their live album Live at WinStar World Casino & Resort? On their fan page, she is a legend on par with Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. That’s the stuff they edit out of live albums released on majors.
I still frequently listen to Steve Earle’s Just An American Boy live album. That stretch form “Hometown Blues” to “Guitar Town” is total bliss.
I love the Live at Billy Bob’s Texas series. I’ve listened to everyone of them and they are a great live albums.
Two I loved as a kid, but not so much today were Alabama Live and Waylon Live. Both of them you can cherry pick moments, but they are heavily spliced and edited. Three re-releases and 43 years ago, Waylon Live has morphed into 41 track double album (originally 11 tracks). They keep finding live tracks to add.
December 23, 2019 @ 12:53 pm
(Very Un-)Popular Opinion: i don’t like live albums.
I prefer the studio versions & how “live” are the “live” albums…remember the George Strait – The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium album? The little helpers like auto-tune?
December 23, 2019 @ 11:01 pm
That’s the absolute worst.
December 23, 2019 @ 1:05 pm
I love the Ronnie Milsap Live album form 1976 and still listen to it often. I happened across the Blues Medley from that album this past weekend while in the car, and I had forgotten how great that was, and I had forgotten how great he was in concert.
December 23, 2019 @ 2:09 pm
No one is going to mention how amazing Callin Baton Rouge off of Garth’s Double Live is?
“I spent last night in the arms of a girl in LOUISIANAAAA!!”
December 23, 2019 @ 2:24 pm
I would cut off a limb for a live concert video of Miranda playing the full TWOTW. Or, just deep cuts. I’ve seen her live many times, but I wish that she pulled a few more deep cuts on to the set list.
The Pistol Annies show at Town Hall on Interstate Gospel’s release day is still one of my favorite concerts of all time. I enjoyed it more than any of her solo shows that I’ve seen.
December 23, 2019 @ 7:31 pm
Her rationale seems kind of weak to me. I’m sure there are thousands of fans that either cannot afford concert tickets, are physically unable to go to a concert, or live in remote areas too far away from any venue she would perform at. Sure it’s not the same as being there but come on really Miranda?
December 23, 2019 @ 8:28 pm
She thinks it’s more advantageous to her for someone to pay $60 (or $20 looking at her upcoming tour) than to pay $10 or stream an album. Also, no one’s actually asking for this.
December 23, 2019 @ 8:29 pm
You forgot the #ad hashtag.
December 23, 2019 @ 10:43 pm
I think the best thing to do is just add a song or two from a live performance to a studio album. I’m probably in the minority, but I like the polished sound of a studio album and rarely listen to live cuts. Exceptions would include Carrie Underwood’s live versions of “Softly and Tenderly” and “How Great Thou Art”. If I want to hear any distortion or audience reactions, I’ll save up and go to a concert where I can be a part of it, too.
December 24, 2019 @ 8:43 am
Ok, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos Live at Carnegie Hall!
December 24, 2019 @ 10:18 am
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention it.
December 25, 2019 @ 8:47 am
I saw Ms. Lambert last year in Olympia. I feel that it is impossible to capture the intimacy she establishes with each individual in the primarily female audience. Completely impossible to capture the high frequency high decibel roar of high energy female empowerment that comprises the majority of her audience. Her stage presence is like she is one of your friends that got up on the stage with a “lets see what we can get away with ladies” smile and swagger. Honestly, you can’t capture this on film or vinyl.
December 28, 2019 @ 9:43 am
I know I’m late to this thread but once upon a time artists would put out a live album after their first 3 or 4 records didn’t do so well to highlight the best songs from those albums and bring the energy of a live show to a new audience that didn’t hear the (sometimes duller) studio versions etc…. I think Cody Jinks should’ve put out a live album of the I’m Not The Devil tour before he did Lifers. That set was incredible and I’m sure that live album would’ve been too. I think a killer live album can still help break an artist.
December 29, 2019 @ 11:16 am
VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson is one of my favorite live albums. I think it works better when the performance is more intimate. Like being in the room with them versus across a field or auditorium full of people.