Miranda Lambert’s ‘Marfa Tapes’ Extends Her Support of Songwriters

Miranda Lambert will be releasing a new album with fellow Texas songwriters Jack Ingram and Jon Randall called The Marfa Tapes on May 7th. No, don’t expect this to be a proper studio release from Lam Lam with radio singles and the like, or a replacement for Miranda’s other performing troika The Pistol Annies. The point of this project is to pull strings and scribble lyrics, and strip it all back to the heart of the songwriting process. Consider it Lambert’s contribution to pandemic-era records.
“They’re raw,” Lambert says about the album’s 15 songs. “You can hear the wind blowing, the cows mooing… We wanted you to feel like you were right there with us, sitting around the campfire, escaping the world, disappearing into the music.”
This isn’t the first time Miranda Lambert has shared song dispatches involving Marfa, Texas, or Jack and Jon. “Every time I need an escape, I go to Marfa TX,” she says. “Jack Ingram and Jon Randall come. We recharge. We get inspired by its beauty. We write songs. ‘Tin Man’ was the 1st we shared with you. ‘Tequila Does,’ the 2nd. In between, we’ve written 13 more. It’s about time to share them with y’all.”
And you can’t argue with the results so far. “Tin Man” was nominated for two Grammy Awards, two CMA Awards, and won the ACM Award for Song of the Year in 2018.
Known by some who study the supernatural for the unexplained lights that can be seen from the edge of town, Marfa is a tiny spot in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas with around 2,000 full-time residents. It’s bred wonder and creativity in artists and musicians for many years. Recently the town has gone from a well-kept secret to one of those spots folks love to travel to on weekends and brag about on Instagram. It’s not quite Santa Fe or Taos, NM in coolness, but time slows down within the Marfa borders, with the intoxicating blend of cowboy, Spanish, and Native American cultures stimulating the creative mind and spirit, and helping to reset one’s perspective on the world.
The Marfa Tapes is also yet another example of Miranda Lambert using her stardom to champion worthy songwriters, similar to what she’s done with The Pistol Annies, and with some of the principle songwriting contributors to many of her studio records. In previous eras, guys like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Shel Silverstein, and others received great respect and support from the mainstream for their songs, despite not being mainstream names themselves, whereas today it’s often the usual cast of professional characters working off of Music Row who seem to suck up all the opportunity and attention for mainstream songwriting.
However, the songwriting credits for Miranda Lambert are a clear exception. It’s pretty incredible to see the artists and songs she’s chosen to champion throughout her career, and not just names from the past with established legacies, but sometimes the downright obscure. John Prine, Patty Griffin, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, Fred Eaglesmith, Adam Hood, Natalie Hemby, Waylon Payne, Shake Russell, Allison Moorer, and Julie Miller are just some of the names Miranda has featured over the years. Here’s a list from 2018.

Beyond the support these artists have received from being the beneficiary of a Miranda Lambert songwriter credit, running through the list of Miranda Lambert contributors is simply a good way to discover some cool artists. This would certainly be the case with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall.
It will be interesting to see what this project has in store as Miranda shows us less of her country superstar side, and more of her songwriter side. The Marfa Tapes is now available for pre-order on vinyl, and the first song “In His Arms” can be heard below.
Tracklist:
- In His Arms
- I Don’t Like It
- The Wind’s Just Gonna Blow
- Am I Right Or Amarillo
- Waxahachie
- Homegrown Tomatoes
- Breaking A Heart
- Ghost
- Geraldene
- We’ll Always Have The Blues
- Tin Man
- Two-Step Down To Texas
- Anchor
- Tequila Does
- Amazing Grace (West Texas)
March 4, 2021 @ 7:33 pm
Lookin’ forward to this song driven, stripped down project. I’ve been a long time fan of Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, as well of Miranda Lambert. Oughta be a good ‘un. 🙂
March 4, 2021 @ 9:19 pm
Sounds like an interesting album. Something neat about the Marfa/Alpine/Fort Davis area. Took a trip there after Christmas a few years ago. Hope to get back again sometime.
March 4, 2021 @ 10:07 pm
Looking forward to hearing this one. Jack never had gotten the credit he deserves as a songwriter. Thanks Miranda for not forgetting your Texas roots!
March 5, 2021 @ 12:59 am
this song immediately touched my soul, such smooth grace…..love it, jphn
March 5, 2021 @ 4:25 am
I read something not too long ago, maybe in Texas Monthly, (maybe not), that the Marfa area has become infested with hipsters, from Houston mostly, trying to be cool and throwing their money around as though they are special- yeah, it was presented as though they’re being philanthropist, but, they ain’t. They just want to be a part of something beyond their reach and feel they can buy it- they don’t get it. That part of the world is beautiful and reminds me why I’m proud to be from west Texas- the infestations not so much.
That said- I liked the video, especially the guitar, but I could barely understand a word of the lyrics-
March 5, 2021 @ 5:22 am
Well DJ, there is the whole “Marfa Lights” UFO sightings phenomena too. That tends to draw tourist lunatics as well to the area.
Maybe, Marfas becoming a small scale Sedona, attracting hipsters, new agers, crystal people and other assorted free spirits.
March 5, 2021 @ 8:25 am
And going east, like Asheville.
March 5, 2021 @ 8:55 am
I visited the area multiple times when I was much younger (truth is, Alpine has always been cooler than Marfa), then went back about three or four years ago. Yeah, was disheartened by the amount of boutique affluent white hipsters aspiring to become artists running coffee and organic vegan dog stands. Nothing against organic vegan hotdogs, but that’s not what’s cool about Marfa.
March 5, 2021 @ 9:50 am
Those are the people who pay the bills.
Scenes come and go, but there’s one constant: money. I hope Marfa blows up into a cool little hot spot for music and art and maybe become the next Austin. There’s plenty of time for it to become corporate, bloat like a beached whale, and explode. By then, something will have taken root elsewhere. In the meantime, musicians and artists can make enough of a living to create and have a little life.
You’ve seen these cycles, Trig. They’re only natural.
March 5, 2021 @ 10:03 am
A community like Marfa finds sustainability by being left alone. If every tech titan hipster from Austin wants to buy a 15-acre plot in the desert around Marfa to start an art studio, all of a sudden land prices skyrocket, property taxes go up for everyone, and all of a sudden you have the 4th generation Marfa families everyone wants to live by to be “authentic” getting kicked off their own land and moving to Austin to become Wal-Mart greeters so they can pay their apartment rent. I’m not saying this is happening in Marfa right now, but it very well could in the future, and something that needs to be guarded against. I’m speaking from experience here of having lived in a few of these “cool” towns. Keep Marfa Marfa.
March 5, 2021 @ 2:35 pm
”That said- I liked the video, especially the guitar, but I could barely understand a word of the lyrics- ”’ agree …and isn’t that WHY you write a song ?
March 5, 2021 @ 7:20 pm
Albert, I agree and am glad I am not the only that noticed that.
March 5, 2021 @ 6:27 am
I’m really looking forward to this one. this is how real country music is created.
March 5, 2021 @ 2:14 pm
Hi, Trigger! Long-time listener, first-time caller. Buddy, it’s already happening in Marfa; I’ve lived in El Paso my entire life, I have family who live in Fort Davis, I’ve been to Marfa a half-dozen times in the last five years, and it’s become this godforsaken hipster playground with its “Keep Marfa Weird” bumper-stickers, modern street art, and three-hour waits at each of the two decent restaurants in town. As you know, Marfa is literally split in half by railroad tracks, and once your cross that line, you’re in the land of tin-roof houses, wooden fences, and boarded up windows, so the difference between social classes couldn’t be more stark. I’m not sure why Miranda Lambert is equating “authenticity” with Marfa, but there are a number of other options out here- Terlingua and Silver City, NM right off the top of my head.
March 5, 2021 @ 3:22 pm
Thanks for the report. Sad to hear. That was sort of my assessment last time I was there. In some respects, it is cool that people care about Marfa. But attention is the often what kills the coolness of these towns. THey’re best to be enjoyed from afar.
Funny you mentioned the restaurants. Last time I was there (2017, 2018 maybe), tried to go to a restaurant, lines out the door. That’s how I ended up at what I thought was a hot dog stand, which it was, but it was more a gathering spot for affluent white hipsters to gossip about land purchase opportunities in the area. I literally stood there for 10 minutes trying to be acknowledged, let alone served a damn organic hot dog. Finally I walked off an ate in Alpine.
March 5, 2021 @ 6:45 am
There’s a reason I say “Miranda is as mainstream as I get these days.”
March 6, 2021 @ 10:39 am
Touche’
March 6, 2021 @ 10:42 am
Sorry, read that wrong.
Thought it said, “… as it gets these days.”
March 5, 2021 @ 7:18 am
Based on the first song released from it, I will be preordering the vinyl today. LOVE THIS!!! Excited for the new versions of Tin Man and Tequila Does as well
March 5, 2021 @ 7:39 am
Miranda as always , its awesome !!!!! She’s down to earth and what you get is true country, like George Strait the king of country music. She’s true to her God given musical talent!!! She’s not impressed by living a Hollywood life and pretending to be country . I love everything you put your heart and soul into Miranda and that’s everything you do !!
March 5, 2021 @ 7:54 am
Ranch between Alpine and Mara…I get it.
March 5, 2021 @ 11:53 am
It’s still early in the year, but of the upcoming 2021 releases I think I’m probably most excited by this one, as well as the Luke Combs/Billy Strings project (and several non-country releases as well).
March 5, 2021 @ 1:04 pm
very nice.
she knows how to find good tunes.
she seems like a genuine musician.
March 5, 2021 @ 1:15 pm
I prefer the Annies and this stuff from ML, but you can’t argue she has one of the great voices going around.
March 5, 2021 @ 2:20 pm
this song isn’t doing anything for me ….but the idea behind the stripped-down approach to the project is intriguing enough to make me wanna hear more . saying that ……a teaser like this makes me think about how much better it might have sounded as a studio project ….sonically speaking . indoors . separate mics . even one lead instrument …fiddle …mandolin ….just for colour ?
March 5, 2021 @ 6:40 pm
Not a big Miranda Lambert fan, but there is no arguing the girl has ‘it’. I definitely like a few of her songs.
Now Jon Randall and Jack Ingram, that’s a whole different story. Jon has been around forever and, like Ingram, is the real deal.
A side note: I met Lambert at an industry function in Nashville right after Nashville Star. Sony had just signed her (she was the one the label wanted to win, but the damn fans voted another way, which is why the voting system was changed for the following seasons). The girl was working the room like an old pro. I knew she would do well.
I’m really looking forward to this album, more for Jon and Jack, but Miranda sounds great on this first song.
March 5, 2021 @ 7:45 pm
I think it is great the way Miranda has always supported other songwriters. Love this song and really looking forward to the album. Glad three songwriters found their magical place in Marfa.
March 26, 2021 @ 10:30 pm
This is why I love authentic songwriters and their music . And I love TX music. Miranda has been
even more of a bright genuine star thru the hard times of the last few years. She loves creating beautiful music and sharing with her frIends and fans. Her songs always seem to come out just at the best time, she is always on the pulse of life blending in with artistry. When I first learned about who she was years back, I said she is beyond her years, a deep soul, big heart. Love how she always champions songwriters and always wants the girls to succeed in Country music. 🙂